Year 2, Day 245: Psalms 116-117

Psalm 116

At first, Psalm 116 sounds like a fairly self-serving psalm.  After all, in the ESV it literally reads, “I love the Lord because He has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.”  This sure sounds like a “since God did for me, I’ll believe in Him” approach.  At first glance, this psalm appears to start of rather self-centered.

However, when we step back from the psalm and see the bigger picture we can see that this really isn’t the point of the words.  When we look at the psalm in context of verses 5-7 we can see that the psalmist is completely aware of grace and mercy.  The psalmist knows that he did not deserve the Lord’s influence in His life.  Rather, the psalmist is grateful for the Lord’s action.  This puts the earlier verses in complete perspective.  The psalmist does love the Lord because of His work – because of His gracious, merciful, and completely undeserved work.

This point brings me to verse 12 of the psalm.  “What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits to me?”  This is an incredible question to ask because it can be taken in so many fruitful ways.  I think it is also an incredible question to ask because it is a question that any genuinely repentant person can ask of God.  What can we actually give to God?  What can I give to God that He cannot procure for Himself?

The impact of this verse is deeper than a simple reflection on the fact that we cannot bring anything to the table that God cannot get for Himself.  There is a serious side to this question as well.  Even though I cannot bring anything on my own to give to God, that does not mean that I should not bring to God.  God does desire things – things like worship, sacrifice, relationship – even if He does need to help us bring them to Him. 

Think about that for a second.  God desires our worship, even if He has to help us do it.  He desires our sacrifice, even if He is the one that gives us the courage to sacrifice.  He desires a relationship with us, even if He is the one who has to come and initiate such a relationship.  For anyone who is a parent, this makes absolute sense.  Does it matter that your child uses your money to get you (or even make you) a Christmas present?  Does the fact that a child used your food lessen the experience of breakfast in bed?  Of course not.  It is the same with God.  Even though we can bring nothing on our own, God still desires us to bring something to Him even if He has to help us bring anything at all.

That’s a pretty cool God if you ask me.  One might think that an almighty God would get frustrated with always having to help us.  But that is one of the differences between us and God.  We might get frustrated.  We might lose patience.  But not God.  God desires a relationship with us so much that He is willing to come and help time and time again.

Why would we not desire to be the servant of this God?  I don’t know about you, but these reflections on this psalm only serves to draw me into a greater desire to be in a relationship with God.  This psalm – and the thoughts buried within – leads me to genuinely desire to be called His servant.  I don’t need to be self-centered.  I don’t need the self-monger lingering around.  What I need is to recognize God’s action in my life and then to be genuinely in awe of His grace and mercy.  That’s what I need more than anything else.

Psalm 117

Turning to Psalm 117, I have got to believe that this is the absolute shortest chapter in the Bible.  There is not much to this psalm.  It’s a simple psalm of praise.

I’m not going to do any disserve to this psalm.  The psalm is simple enough to stand on its own.  It is clearly a psalm encouraging us to praise God.  So let’s do that.  Go, glorify our Father.  Listen to the Son.  Teach the nations to do the same.  His steadfast love for us will never end.

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