(In regards to the Lord’s Demise and Resurrection)
Psalm 116
Introduction: In my research final yr I got here throughout one thing I had by no means identified, however ought to have identified. Matthew and Mark each inform us that Jesus and His disciples sang within the Higher Room. I’ve tried to visualise that. I’ve tried to think about the voice of Jesus when He sang, and the sound of that male ensemble with their voices echoing in opposition to the stone partitions of that borrowed second-story room. It will need to have been essentially the most sacred choir on the earth, with Jesus among the many choir members. I’ve questioned if any of the disciples might play an instrument, or in the event that they sang acapella. We don’t know.
However there’s one factor we do know with relative certainty. We all know what they sang. We all know the lyrics. In accordance with virtually each commentary, there was a sure group of Psalms that have been sung by households or teams across the desk on the annual Passover meal. It was Psalms 113 by way of 118. This group of Psalms is named the Egyptian Hallel. The phrase Hallel means reward, as in Hallelujah. And this part of Psalms is named the Egyptian Hallel as a result of one of many Psalms celebrates Israel’s exodus from Egypt.
I started learning these six Psalms, excited about them from the attitude of the Higher Room. And I found that these six Psalms spell out the Gospel. It’s unimaginable to suppose! Jesus sang out the Gospel on the ultimate evening of His earthly life. I need to briefly present you this from Psalm 113, 114, and 115. After which we’ll dedicate most of our time to Psalm 116.
Overview
- Psalm 113:5-6 say: Who’s just like the Lord our God, who dwells on excessive, who humbles Himself to behold the issues which are within the heavens and within the earth. Discover that the everlasting God who dwells on excessive humbled Himself to come back all the way down to the place we’re on earth. That’s the incarnation. There’s a touch of the Christmas story right here.
- Psalm 114 begins: When Israel went out of Egypt…. The theme right here is redemption and deliverance from bondage and slavery.
- Psalm 115:9/11 say: Oh Israel, belief within the Lord; He’s their assist and protect. O home of Arron, belief within the Lord; He’s their assist and protect. You who worry the Lord, belief within the Lord. He’s their assist and protect. “Belief” is the Outdated Testomony verb for religion. Right here we’re referred to as to a lifetime of religion. It’s religion that claims the redemption of the God who humbled Himself to come back down and redeem us.
- Psalm 116, which we’ll take a look at right this moment, has a transparent and unmistakable theme—deliverance from demise. We’ve got a God who delivers us from demise. Let’s learn this whole tune. When it comes to a top level view, it appears to me verses 1-11 inform us about discovering victory over demise, and verses 12-19 exhibits us our response, how we must always then reside as those that have everlasting life.
Scripture Studying
I love the Lord, as a result of He has heard
My voice and my supplications.
2 As a result of He has inclined His ear to me,
Subsequently I’ll name upon Him so long as I reside.
3 The pains of demise surrounded me,
And the pangs of Sheol laid maintain of me;
I discovered bother and sorrow.
4 Then I referred to as upon the title of the Lord:
“O Lord, I implore You, ship my soul!”
5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
Sure, our God is merciful.
6 The Lord preserves the straightforward;
I used to be introduced low, and He saved me.
7 Return to your relaxation, O my soul,
For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
8 For You’ve delivered my soul from demise,
My eyes from tears,
And my toes from falling.
9 I’ll stroll earlier than the Lord
Within the land of the dwelling.
10 I believed, due to this fact I spoke,
“I’m significantly .”
11 I mentioned in my haste,
“All males are liars.”
12 What shall I render to the Lord
For all His advantages towards me?
13 I’ll take up the cup of salvation,
And name upon the title of the Lord.
14 I’ll pay my vows to the Lord
Now within the presence of all His folks.
15 Valuable within the sight of the Lord
Is the demise of His saints.
16 O Lord, actually I am Your servant;
I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant;
You’ve loosed my bonds.
17 I’ll supply to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving,
And can name upon the title of the Lord.
18 I’ll pay my vows to the Lord
Now within the presence of all His folks,
19 Within the courts of the Lord’s home,
Within the midst of you, O Jerusalem.
Reward the Lord!
Theme: The theme of this Psalm is deliverance from demise. I feel there are three ranges of utility right here.
1. Psalm 116 and Its Unique Author
The very first thing to contemplate is what these phrases meant to the unique author. It’s a really private Psalm. The author refers to himself 37 instances. We don’t know who the author was, however I’ve a hunch about it. It suits completely into the story of Hezekiah in 2 Kings 20. I’ll not take time to learn that story, however I can provide the gist of it. King Hezekiah was among the finest kings within the Outdated Testomony. He served the Lord faithfully, and the prophet Isaiah was one in every of his greatest associates and first advisors.
In the future Hezekiah turned very sick, and nobody might assist him. He was clearly dying. Isaiah went to see him and instructed him plainly, “You’re dying. You’d higher get your affairs so as.” Hezekiah turned in his mattress so he was dealing with the wall, and he sobbed and earnestly requested God to heal him, to increase his life. Isaiah hadn’t even made it out of the palace when the Lord instructed him, “Return and inform Hezekiah I’ll heal him and prolong his life by fifteen years. On the third day from now he shall be properly sufficient to depart his mattress and go as much as the temple, the Home of the Lord, and worship (see 2 Kings 20:5). Discover that. On the third day he would depart his mattress of demise and go as much as the Home of the Lord.
Effectively, if Hezekiah is the creator of Psalm 116, discover the way it suits. Let me present you some chosen verses: I love the Lord, as a result of He has heard my voice and my supplications. As a result of He has inclined His ear to me, due to this fact I’ll name upon Him so long as I reside. The pains of demise surrounded me, and the pangs of Sheol laid maintain of me; I discovered bother and sorrow. Then I referred to as upon the title of the Lord: “O Lord, I implore You, ship my soul!”
And verse 8: You’ve delivered my soul from demise, my eyes from tears…
Verse 17 says: I’ll supply to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and can name upon the title of the Lord. I’ll pay my vows to the Lord now within the presence of all His folks, within the courts of the Lord’s home, within the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Reward the Lord!
I can’t show Hezekiah wrote this Psalm, but it surely completely suits his scenario. He was within the grips of a virus, and he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord delivered him from demise by suspending his demise. In response, he went as much as the temple and worshiped and mentioned, “Reward the Lord.”
2. Psalm 116 and Jesus Christ
However now, let’s take into account what may need been on the thoughts of our Lord Jesus Christ as He sang these phrases. We’ve got to recollect this Psalm is a tune of thanksgiving relating to deliverance from demise. However there are two methods God can ship us from demise.
First, there’s partial victory over demise by its postponement, as God did for Hezekiah. However there’s whole victory over demise by resurrection, and that’s what God did for Jesus. Once more let’s take a look at some chosen verses. Take a look at verse 3: The pains of demise surrounded me, and the pangs of Sheol laid maintain of me;
The NIV says, “The anguish of the grave came to visit me.” The phrase “anguish” is similar phrase within the Greek model of the Outdated Testomony as “agony” in Acts 2:24, when Peter mentioned, “However God raised him [Christ] from the lifeless, liberating Him from the agony of demise, as a result of it was not possible for demise to maintain its maintain on Him.” Peter was apparently referring to Psalm 116:3 when he preached Christ in Acts 2. God delivered Christ from the anguish of demise, not by the postponement of demise, however by its reversal.
Now take a look at verse 8: For You’ve delivered my soul from demise, My eyes from tears…
We recall how Jesus wept within the Backyard of Gethsemane, and Hebrews 5:7 (NIV) says, “In the course of the days of Jesus’ life on earth, He provided up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who might save Him from demise, and He was heard due to His reverent submission.”
Now take a look at verse 10: I believed, due to this fact I spoke, “I’m significantly .”
The apostle Paul quotes this verse in 2 Corinthians 4:13-14, saying: It’s written: “I believed; due to this fact I’ve spoken.” Since now we have that very same spirit of religion, we additionally consider and due to this fact communicate, as a result of we all know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the lifeless will even increase us with Jesus and current us with you to Himself.
Do you see how verses in Psalm 116 are echoed within the New Testomony in a means that factors to the resurrection of Jesus Christ?
Now take a look at verse 13: I’ll take up the cup of salvation, and name upon the title of the Lord. The cup of salvation! Jesus sang these phrases within the Higher Room on the very evening when He handed across the cup of wine and mentioned, “That is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for a lot of for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28).
Now take a look at verse 15: Valuable within the sight of the Lord is the demise of His saints. There’s some disagreement about what this verse means. The phrase “treasured” means “expensive, uncommon, treasured, costly, pricey.” We might fairly paraphrase this to imply, “Value to the Lord was the demise of His Son.” We are able to by no means perceive the fee! It can’t be calculated by the human thoughts.
Now take a look at verses 18-19: I’ll pay my vows to the Lord now within the presence of all His folks, within the courts of the Lord’s home, within the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Reward the Lord!
Let me return to Hezekiah for a second. In accordance with 2 Kings 20, Hezekiah was on a mattress of demise, however God reversed that and on the third day He went into the temple to reward the Lord. On the third day he rose and got here into God’s presence. On the third day, Jesus was delivered from demise, not by its postponement, however by its whole defeat within the face of the Easter resurrection. That is clearly a Psalm of thanksgiving for the best way God willingly delivers us from demise, both by its postponement or by resurrection. Each phrase will need to have been sung by the Lord Jesus with everlasting gratitude.
The nice Scottish pastor Andrew Bonar wrote, “[Psalm 116] is Christ’s resurrection tune, sung by His personal lips within the Higher Room on the Passover in anticipation of the darkness of Gethsemane and Calvary passing away into glory.”
The English scholar, Graham Scroggie, wrote, “The phrases of the Psalm certainly remind us that our Redeemer additionally was delivered, not from dying, however from demise, in reply to His prayers, and this will need to have been in His ideas as He sang the Psalm that evening.”
3. Psalm 116 and You
So we’ve checked out what this Psalm will need to have meant to its unique creator, maybe Hezekiah. We’ve pulled again only a little bit of the curtain and regarded what this Psalm will need to have meant to Jesus who sang the phrases on the evening earlier than His crucifixion. However let’s end by taking a look at what this Psalm means to you and me.
With out the resurrection of Jesus Christ in our lives, there are a variety of issues about demise and dying that trouble us.
First, we marvel what’s going to occur in the intervening time of demise? What’s going to we expertise?
Second, we fear about the potential for ache, of being unable to get our breath, of suffocating or struggling unbearably within the last moments of demise.
Third, we grieve over the unavoidable separation from our family members.
Fourth, we fear about when it would occur. All of us are topic to sudden demise at any second. Previously hour roughly 8,000 folks have died someplace on earth. Some in automotive wrecks. Some in acts of violence. Some by sudden coronary heart assaults, and others by lingering sicknesses. Are you aware, Wikipedia has an installment dedicated to uncommon deaths. It tells a couple of man right here in California who was flying his distant management airplane. The solar blinded him for a second and he misplaced monitor of the place it was, and it struck him within the chest and killed him.
Fifth, we fear about our family members dying. This causes me extra nervousness than excited about my very own demise. We fear about our youngsters once they journey by automotive, for instance.
Six, we fear about demise as a result of we’ve been taught by secularism there’s nothing for us on the opposite facet. Our lives simply finish, and fairly quickly the world will overlook that we even existed.
William Lane Craig wrote concerning the implications of this, saying, “If there is no such thing as a God, then man and the universe are doomed. Like prisoners condemned to demise, we await our unavoidable execution. There isn’t any God, and there’s no immortality. And what’s the consequence of this? It implies that life itself is absurd. It implies that the life now we have is with out final significance, worth, or objective.”
There isn’t any good reply for any of this besides those we discover within the demise and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The Psalmist right here mentioned: You’ve delivered my soul from demise, my eyes from tears, and my toes from falling. I’ll stroll earlier than the Lord within the land of the dwelling.
What’s the land of the dwelling? If you concentrate on it, there’s a actual sense that it isn’t right here on earth. That is the land of the dying. We go away the land of the dying and go to the land of the dwelling.
Psalm 27:13 says, “I’d have misplaced coronary heart, until I had believed that I’d see the goodness of the Lord within the land of the dwelling.”
It’s the resurrection of Jesus Christ that adjustments every thing. President Jimmy Carter handed away this week on the age of 100. He as soon as mentioned, “I simply requested God to provide me a correct angle towards demise. And I discovered that I used to be completely and fully comfy with demise. It didn’t actually matter to me whether or not I died or lived. I’ve, since that point, been completely assured that my Christian religion consists of full confidence in life after demise. So, I’m going to reside once more after I die.”
You’ve in all probability heard about Alexei Navalny, the Russian dissident who died in a Siberian jail. He opposed Vladimir Putin. In 2020, Navalny was hospitalized with extreme poisoning with a nerve agent. He survived solely to be imprisoned and mistreated and killed.
What chances are you’ll not know is that for a few years Alexei Navalny was a militant atheist. However there are studies that when he was combating for his life after being poisoned, he started trying to find a satisfying reply to the issue of demise. He obtained in contact with some Christians, and he embraced Jesus Christ as his Savior. Within the closing arguments of his case in a Russian courtroom throughout his sham trial, Navalny mentioned:
“ I don’t know what to speak about anymore, your honor. In order for you I’ll discuss to you about God and salvation…. The actual fact is that I’m a Christian, which normally reasonably units me up for example for fixed ridicule within the Anti-Corruption Basis, as a result of principally our persons are atheists and I used to be as soon as fairly a militant atheist myself. However now I’m a believer, and that helps me rather a lot in my actions, as a result of every thing turns into a lot, a lot simpler. I take into consideration issues much less. There are fewer dilemmas in my life, as a result of there’s a Ebook by which, basically, it is kind of clearly written what motion to absorb each scenario.”
He was referring to the Bible. Within the grip of demise, this Russian hero discovered life, and in that Siberian jail he left the land of the dying to maneuver into the land of the dwelling.
I discovered an outdated story of a Christian within the 1800s named Isaac Bridgeman. He was a British minister who developed coronary heart congestion when he was in his mid-fifties. He undoubtedly had all the identical sorts of fears all of us have. However sooner or later he was out within the backyard, within the bower, meditating. Someway God gave him an excellent sense of the presence of the Lord. His soul and thoughts have been flooded with ideas of the glories and joys of heaven. He noticed the flowers within the backyard, they usually reminded him of Jesus, the Rose of Sharon. He noticed the fruit bushes within the backyard, they usually reminded him of the Tree of Life alongside the riverside of New Jerusalem. From that second on, he had excellent peace.
He instructed his spouse, “I could also be higher tomorrow, and that shall be properly. I could also be worse tomorrow, and that shall be properly. For the hand of God is on me, the love of God is in me, and the heaven of God is earlier than me….” He handed away shortly thereafter with excellent peace and pleasure.
Wouldn’t all of us wish to have such a visitation from the Lord within the bower of a backyard! However the fact is we are able to all do what Jimmy Carter did and ask the Lord to provide us a correct angle towards demise. We are able to all do what Alexei Navalny did and say, “I’ve a Ebook.” We are able to all do what Isaac Bridgeman did and get a powerful glimpse of Heaven—of the New Heavens, the New Earth, and the everlasting metropolis of New Jerusalem.
The Psalmist mentioned, “Absolutely goodness and mercy shall observe me all the times of my life, and I’ll reside in the home of the Lord ceaselessly” (Psalm 23:6).
Jesus mentioned: “I’m the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, although he could die, but shall he reside. And whoever lives and believes in me shall by no means die” (John 11:25-25).
He additionally mentioned, “And that is everlasting life, that they could know You, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom You’ve despatched” (John 17:3).
The apostle Paul mentioned, “For to me, to reside is Christ and to die is achieve. If I’m to go on dwelling within the physique, this can imply fruitful labor for me. But what shall I select? I have no idea. I’m torn between the 2; I want to depart and be with Christ, which is much better; however it’s extra vital for you that I stay within the physique” (Philippians 1:21-24 NIV).
He mentioned, “So long as we’re on this physique we’re away from the Lord. For we reside by religion and never by sight. We’re assured, I say, and would like to be away from the physique and at dwelling with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6-8 NIV).
The Bible says, “In accordance with the Lord’s phrase, we inform you that we who’re nonetheless alive, who’re left till the approaching of the Lord, will definitely not precede those that have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet name of God, and the lifeless in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who’re nonetheless alive and are left shall be caught up along with them within the clouds to fulfill the Lord within the air. And so we shall be with the Lord ceaselessly. 18 Subsequently encourage each other with these phrases (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 NIV).
The ebook of Revelation says: “Then I noticed ‘a brand new heaven and a brand new earth,’ for the primary heaven and the primary earth had handed away, and there was now not any sea. 2 I noticed the Holy Metropolis, the brand new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, ready as a bride superbly dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the many folks, and he’ll dwell with them. They are going to be his folks, and God himself shall be with them and be their God. 4 He’ll wipe each tear from their eyes. There shall be no extra demise…” (Revelation 21:1-4).
An incredible outdated Easter anthem says:
Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes.
He arose a victor from the darkish area,
And He lives ceaselessly with His saints to reign.
Conclusion
So Psalm 113 tells us that God loves us a lot He turned a person to dwell amongst us. Psalm 114 talks about how He redeems His folks. Psalm 115 tells us that solely religion within the true and solely God can save us. And Psalm 116 tells us that this salvation gives us victory over demise.
Lots of of years earlier than Christ got here to earth, the progress of the Gospel fact was embedded within the very songs He would sing on the final evening of His pure life. And these very songs may give us pleasure in understanding, as Job 19 says, that our Redeemer lives and He shall stand ultimately on the earth, and even after our our bodies perish, this we all know, that in our flesh we will see God.
