I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.
It is the grateful resolve of one brought down to the pains of death and then rescued to keep living and walking before God among the living in this present life. Such rescue calls for a life of thankful service, asking what to give back and taking up salvation while calling on His name. To walk in that way is to live openly before Him in every thought, word, and act, with a clear conscience and faithfulness to duty, truth, and principle even in the smallest matters. The song belongs to the Passover praise sung with thanksgiving even in suffering, and sung by Jesus to close His last Passover as He trusted the Father before betrayal, Gethsemane, and the cross. It also points beyond present rescue to Christ rising through sorrow into life and joy, which secures the rising of His people, while those who held the other teaching understand the land of the living to be the future life after death where believers meet again and where praise belongs to the living because the dead do not praise.
Setting and Meaning
Psalm 116 belongs to the Hallel, Psalms 113-118, sung at the Passover meal, with Psalms 113-114 sung at the beginning of the meal and Psalms 115-118 sung at the close. Such singing was not required by the original Passover instructions. It was sung with praise and thanksgiving to God, sung in faith even in the face of suffering. It was part of the song Jesus sang to close His last Passover service, just before His betrayal, just before the agony of Gethsemane, just before the darkness of the cross. He sang with full knowledge that those sufferings lay before Him, yet with faith in the Father who is too wise to err and too good to prove unkind, as praise to Him from whom all blessings flow that glorifies God and brings greater blessings.
The psalm is numbered among the songs of the Jews returned from Babylonian captivity. Those songs express joy, sorrow, and anxiety connected with the rebuilding and dedication of the second temple and its triumphs. It celebrates the experience of being brought low and then saved by God, and that experience leads the saved person to join in praise. It pictures the righteous facing the pangs of death and crying to God for deliverance. The sorrows of hell are the pains that precede and lead to death.
The verse is the grateful resolve of one whom God has delivered from death, from tears, and from falling, to go on living and walking before the Lord in this present life. It expresses continued life among the living after God has rescued him from death's pangs. Walking before the Lord in the land of the living means continuing to live after being rescued from death.
Death and Future Hope
Psalm 116 is a resurrection psalm of Christ, whose rising from the grave brought Him through sorrow into life and joy. His resurrection is the assurance that His saints will also rise. The resolve to walk before the Lord in the land of the living shows expectation of praising Him while alive, proving that praise belongs to the living and that the dead do not praise God.
The land of the living is the future life after death where believers will meet again, the place where one walks before the Lord. This present world is not the land of the living but the land of the dying. The hope held out is of meeting again in that land of the living.
Grateful Life and Comfort
Deliverance from death and from bondage leads on to a life of grateful service lived before God in the land of the living. The one whom God has rescued from death, from tears, and from falling resolves to go on living and walking before the Lord in this present life. That gratitude asks what can be rendered to the Lord for all His benefits, and answers by taking the cup of salvation and calling upon the name of the Lord.
To walk before the Lord in the land of the living is to live as a true Christian in every thought and word and act. It is life with a clear conscience and with conduct that reflects Jesus. It shows itself in promptness in duty, in truthfulness, and in uprightness in business. It is faithfulness to God and to principle even in the smallest matters.
The psalm is for those facing affliction, to encourage trust in God when suffering and loss are hard to understand. The promise of walking before the Lord in the land of the living gives comfort and consolation in great suffering during last sickness. It helps to bear pain with patience.
The same resolve testifies to the wonderful healing power of the Lord and Saviour after restoration from the very brink of the grave. It fits recovery from deadly sickness such as pneumonia and pleurisy combined, where quick consumption was predicted yet no sign of it followed.
It is the grateful resolve of one brought down to the pains of death and then rescued to keep living and walking before God among the living in this present life. Such rescue calls for a life of thankful service, asking what to give back and taking up salvation while calling on His name. To walk in that way is to live openly before Him in every thought, word, and act, with a clear conscience and faithfulness to duty, truth, and principle even in the smallest matters. The song belongs to the Passover praise sung with thanksgiving even in suffering, and sung by Jesus to close His last Passover as He trusted the Father before betrayal, Gethsemane, and the cross. It also points beyond present rescue to Christ rising through sorrow into life and joy, which secures the rising of His people, while those who held the other teaching understand the land of the living to be the future life after death where believers meet again and where praise belongs to the living because the dead do not praise.
Setting and Meaning
Psalm 116 belongs to the Hallel, Psalms 113-118, sung at the Passover meal, with Psalms 113-114 sung at the beginning of the meal and Psalms 115-118 sung at the close. Such singing was not required by the original Passover instructions. It was sung with praise and thanksgiving to God, sung in faith even in the face of suffering. It was part of the song Jesus sang to close His last Passover service, just before His betrayal, just before the agony of Gethsemane, just before the darkness of the cross. He sang with full knowledge that those sufferings lay before Him, yet with faith in the Father who is too wise to err and too good to prove unkind, as praise to Him from whom all blessings flow that glorifies God and brings greater blessings.
The psalm is numbered among the songs of the Jews returned from Babylonian captivity. Those songs express joy, sorrow, and anxiety connected with the rebuilding and dedication of the second temple and its triumphs. It celebrates the experience of being brought low and then saved by God, and that experience leads the saved person to join in praise. It pictures the righteous facing the pangs of death and crying to God for deliverance. The sorrows of hell are the pains that precede and lead to death.
The verse is the grateful resolve of one whom God has delivered from death, from tears, and from falling, to go on living and walking before the Lord in this present life. It expresses continued life among the living after God has rescued him from death's pangs. Walking before the Lord in the land of the living means continuing to live after being rescued from death.
Death and Future Hope
Psalm 116 is a resurrection psalm of Christ, whose rising from the grave brought Him through sorrow into life and joy. His resurrection is the assurance that His saints will also rise. The resolve to walk before the Lord in the land of the living shows expectation of praising Him while alive, proving that praise belongs to the living and that the dead do not praise God.
The land of the living is the future life after death where believers will meet again, the place where one walks before the Lord. This present world is not the land of the living but the land of the dying. The hope held out is of meeting again in that land of the living.
Grateful Life and Comfort
Deliverance from death and from bondage leads on to a life of grateful service lived before God in the land of the living. The one whom God has rescued from death, from tears, and from falling resolves to go on living and walking before the Lord in this present life. That gratitude asks what can be rendered to the Lord for all His benefits, and answers by taking the cup of salvation and calling upon the name of the Lord.
To walk before the Lord in the land of the living is to live as a true Christian in every thought and word and act. It is life with a clear conscience and with conduct that reflects Jesus. It shows itself in promptness in duty, in truthfulness, and in uprightness in business. It is faithfulness to God and to principle even in the smallest matters.
The psalm is for those facing affliction, to encourage trust in God when suffering and loss are hard to understand. The promise of walking before the Lord in the land of the living gives comfort and consolation in great suffering during last sickness. It helps to bear pain with patience.
The same resolve testifies to the wonderful healing power of the Lord and Saviour after restoration from the very brink of the grave. It fits recovery from deadly sickness such as pneumonia and pleurisy combined, where quick consumption was predicted yet no sign of it followed.