Psalm 115–116

Psalm 115

The Impotence of Idols and the Greatness of God

^1dNot to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,

for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness.^*

²Why should the nations say,

“Where is their God?”^*

³Our God is in the heavens;

he does whatever he pleases.^*

⁴Their idols are silver and gold,

the work of human hands.^*

⁵They have mouths, but they do not speak;

they have eyes, but they do not see.

⁶They have ears, but they do not hear;

they have noses, but they do not smell.

⁷They have hands, but they do not feel;

they have feet, but they do not walk;

they make no sound in their throats.

⁸Those who make them are like them;

so are all who trust in them.^*

⁹O Israel, trust in the Lord!

He is their help and their shield.^*

¹⁰O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord!

He is their help and their shield.

¹¹You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!

He is their help and their shield.^*

¹²The Lord has been mindful of us; he will bless us;

he will bless the house of Israel;

he will bless the house of Aaron;

¹³he will bless those who fear the Lord,

both small and great.

¹⁴May the Lord give you increase,

both you and your children.^*

¹⁵May you be blessed by the Lord,

who made heaven and earth.^*

¹⁶The heavens are the Lord’s heavens,

but the earth he has given to human beings.^*

¹⁷The dead do not praise the Lord,

nor do any who go down into silence.^*

¹⁸But we will bless the Lord

from this time on and forevermore.

Praise the Lord!^*

Psalm 116

Thanksgiving for Recovery from Illness

¹I love the Lord because he has heard

my voice and my supplications.^*

²Because he inclined his ear to me,

therefore I will call on him as long as I live.^*

³The snares of death encompassed me;

the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;

I suffered distress and anguish.^*

⁴Then I called on the name of the Lord,

“O Lord, I pray, save my life!”

⁵Gracious is the Lord and righteous;

our God is merciful.^*

⁶The Lord protects the simple;

when I was brought low, he saved me.

⁷Return, O my soul, to your rest,

for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.^*

⁸For you have delivered my soul from death,

my eyes from tears,

my feet from stumbling.^*

⁹I walk before the Lord

in the land of the living.

^10eI kept my faith, even when I said,

“I am greatly afflicted”;

¹¹I said in my consternation,

“Everyone is a liar.”^*

¹²What shall I return to the Lord

for all his bounty to me?

¹³I will lift up the cup of salvation

and call on the name of the Lord;

¹⁴I will pay my vows to the Lord

in the presence of all his people.^*

¹⁵Precious in the sight of the Lord

is the death of his faithful ones.^*

¹⁶O Lord, I am your servant;

I am your servant, the child of your serving girl.

You have loosed my bonds.^*

¹⁷I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice

and call on the name of the Lord.^*

¹⁸I will pay my vows to the Lord

in the presence of all his people,

¹⁹in the courts of the house of the Lord,

in your midst, O Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord!^*