Faithful Thanks for Healing and Restoration

Text: Psalm 116

Reflection and Question: There were apparently no copyright laws at the time the Psalms were compiled. This Psalm is a patchwork of sections and verses found elsewhere, Psalm 18 and Psalm 56, for example. This suggests that the speaker is a faithful person whose heart was full of the prayers of Israel and rearranged them according to particular circumstance. Death seems to be on his or her mind. For the Psalmist, the only thing to do in the face of death is to call on the name of God. When do you pay your vows to God?

Prayer: Eternal God, I kept my faith even when I said, “I am greatly afflicted,” and You delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. I walk before You in the land of the living. Therefore all praise and glory are Yours. Amen.

This meditation is based on the Daily Lectionary Year 1 from the Book of Common Worship for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (1993).