Psalm 116

Thanksgiving for Escaping Death

116I love the Lord,

because he listens to my prayers for help.

²He paid attention to me,

so I will call to him for help as long as I live.

³The ropes of death bound me,

and the fear of the grave took hold of me.

I was troubled and sad.

⁴Then I called out the name of the Lord.

I said, “Please, Lord, save me!”

⁵The Lord is kind and does what is right;

our God is merciful.

⁶The Lord watches over the foolish;

when I was helpless, he saved me.

⁷I said to myself, “Relax,

because the Lord takes care of you.”

⁸Lord, you saved me from death.

You stopped my eyes from crying;

you kept me from being defeated.

⁹So I will walk with the Lord

in the land of the living.

¹⁰I believed, so I said,

“I am completely ruined.”

¹¹In my distress I said,

“All people are liars.”

¹²What can I give the Lord

for all the good things he has given to me?

¹³I will lift up the cup of salvation,

and I will pray to the Lord.

¹⁴I will give the Lord what I promised

in front of all his people.

¹⁵The death of one that belongs to the Lord

is precious in his sight.

¹⁶Lord, I am your servant;

I am your servant and the son of your female servant.

You have freed me from my chains.

¹⁷I will give you an offering to show thanks to you,

and I will pray to the Lord.

¹⁸I will give the Lord what I promised

in front of all his people,

¹⁹in the Temple courtyards

in Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord!