Psalms 116 · The Lantern

I am well pleased: that the Lord hath heard the voice of my prayer;

"I have loved," the psalmist says, "because the Lord will hear the voice of my prayer." It is not in the power of everyone to say "I have loved," but of him who is already perfect and beyond the fear of slavery and who has been formed in the spirit of adoption as children.

I have loved, because the Lord will hear the voice of my prayer. He did not say, I shall love: but, I have loved. He did not promise that he would do it, but he testifies that he has done it. I have loved. Why have I loved? Because the Lord will hear the voice of my prayer. "I have loved" belongs to time that is past; but in "will hear" it belongs to the future.

"I have loved, since the Lord will hear the voice of my prayer" [Psalm 116:1]. Let the soul that is sojourning in absence from the Lord sing thus, let that sheep which had strayed sing thus, let that son who had "died and returned to life," who had "been lost and was found;" [Luke 15:6, 24] let our soul sing thus, brethren, and most beloved sons.

That he hath inclined his ear unto me: therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.

"Because he has inclined his ear to me." "He inclined," he said, not that you might take some corporeal notion about God having ears and inclining them to a gentle voice, as we do, putting our ear close to those who speak low, so that by the nearness we may perceive what is said. But he said, "he inclined," in order that he might point out to us his own weakness.

Because he has inclined his ear to me. Since we are small and lowly, and cannot stretch ourselves up and lift ourselves high, for that reason the Lord inclines his ear and deigns to hear us. And so, since we are human beings and cannot become gods, God became man and inclined himself, according to that which is written: "He inclined the heavens, and came down."

But whence hath he hoped for this? Since, he saith, "He hath inclined His ear unto me: and in my days I have called upon Him." I loved, therefore, because He will hear; He will hear, "because He hath inclined His ear unto me." But whence knowest thou, O human soul, that God hath inclined His ear unto thee, except thou sayest, "I have believed"?

The snares of death compassed me round about: and the pains of hell gat hold upon me.

"The sorrows of death," he says, "have compassed me; and the perils of hell have found me." Properly the sorrows of death have been agreed on as the pains of childbirth, when the womb, distended with its burden, thrusts out the fetus; then, the generative parts, being compressed and stretched around the fetus by spasms and contractions of the muscles, produce in the mothers the…

I found tribulation and sorrow. He says a strange thing. He does not say, I found rest: he does not say, I found abundance. Now if he had said, tribulation found me, sorrow found me, there would be no question. But now what does he say? I found tribulation and sorrow. As one seeking, so he found: for nothing is found except what is sought.

And what are your days, since you have said, "In my days I have called upon Him"? Are they those perchance, in which "the fullness of time came," and "God sent His Son," [Galatians 4:4] who had already said, "In an acceptable time have I heard you, and in a day of salvation have I helped you"?

I shall find trouble and heaviness, and I will call upon the Name of the Lord: O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.

Gracious is the Lord, and righteous: yea, our God is merciful.

"The Lord is the keeper of little ones; I was humbled, and he delivered me." According to natural reason human nature would not stand unless the little ones and those still infants were kept by the Lord.

The Lord is merciful and just, and our God has mercy. Prick up your ears, sinner: the Lord is merciful. But do not be careless: for there follows, and just. If you are a great sinner, listen, the Lord is merciful: if you are careless, listen, he is also just.

"Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful" [Psalm 116:5]. He is gracious, righteous, and merciful. Gracious in the first place, because He has inclined His ear unto me; and I knew not that the ear of God had approached my lips, till I was aroused by those beautiful feet, that I might call upon the Lord's Name: for who has called upon Him, save he whom He fi…

The Lord preserveth the simple: I was in misery, and he helped me.

Turn again then unto thy rest, O my soul: for the Lord hath rewarded thee.

And why? thou hast delivered my soul from death: mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.

"For he has delivered my soul from death: my eyes from tears, my feet from falling." He describes the future rest by a comparison with things here. Here, he says, the sorrows of death have compassed me, but there he has delivered my soul from death.

Because he has rescued my soul from death. He has not yet returned into paradise, and already he says that he has returned into safety. He said, Turn, my soul, into your rest; and as though secure he says, Because he has rescued my soul from death. When did he rescue my soul from death?

"Since," he says, "He has delivered my soul from death." It is wonderful, most beloved brethren, that, after he had said that his soul should turn unto rest, since the Lord had rewarded him; he added, since "He has delivered my soul from death." Did it turn unto rest, because it was delivered from death? Is not rest more usually said of death?

I will walk before the Lord: in the land of the living.

I believed, and therefore will I speak; but I was sore troubled: I said in my haste, All men are liars.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our bo…

And if we must also comment on the statement, "I said in my ecstasy, Everyone is a liar," its meaning again is different. It is not at all like that of a person who is out of his senses and mentally deranged (God forbid), but of one who is greatly astonished and who thinks with the powers of reason customary to those who see and act in the proper way.

Therefore, in the same Lord Christ, not only as the Word, but also as the Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, both the ancient Fathers believed, and to us preached and prophesied the same faith. Whence the Apostle says: Having the same spirit of faith, as it is written: I believed, therefore I spoke.

What reward shall I give unto the Lord: for all the benefits that he hath done unto me?

I will receive the cup of salvation: and call upon the Name of the Lord.

What shall I render to the Lord for all the things that he has rendered to me? Since I have said, I shall please the Lord in the land of the living, and this very thing I believed, therefore have I spoken, and I was humbled exceedingly, and I said, Every man is a lie, every man is a shadow, every man is an image: for such great benefits, that I shall please the Lord in the land…

Indeed, I ought to love the Redeemer, and I know what he said to Peter: Peter, do you love me? Feed my sheep. This he said once, this he said a second time, this he said a third time. Love was questioned, and labor was commanded: because where there is greater love, there is lesser labor. What shall I render unto the Lord for all the benefits he has rendered unto me?

For it is absurd, the height of stupidity, no, of extreme insanity, for those only to sing the praises of the pilot who ride the rough waves and are borne on the breakers and who pass their lives in great misfortune, while those who are situated outside the range of fire, as the proverb has it, being spectators rather than contestants, hurl their blasphemous taunts at the ringm…

I will pay my vows now in the presence of all his people: right dear in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

Behold, O Lord, how that I am thy servant: I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid; thou hast broken my bonds in sunder.

I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving: and will call upon the Name of the Lord.

"For the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those who hope in his mercy, to deliver their souls from death," even eternal death, "and to nourish them in their hunger," that is, after eternal life.

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. Let the Jews now answer, how they say that every human body is unclean. Indeed in the Law, among the Jews, if anyone should die, whether a prophet, or a saint of whatever kind, if anyone should touch him, even if a priest, he is unclean until evening. This is written according to the letter in the Law.

Renounce pleasure, turn away from uncleanness, dispel luxury, flee unrighteousness, resist falsehood. When you see that you are waging a battle on many fronts, then you must also, in imitation of the martyrs, pursue a many-sided victory.

I will pay my vows unto the Lord, in the sight of all his people: in the courts of the Lord's house, even in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord.

When we read this, we correctly understand that Solomon was a natural and genuine son and do not consider him a servant just because we hear him so called.

O Lord, for I am your servant. And I have already said in the one hundred and fourteenth psalm, where it has "O Lord, deliver my soul," that in the Hebrew it has ANNA, which is translated I ask or I beseech. And here in the Hebrew it stands thus: "I ask, O Lord, for I am your servant." I am your servant. It seems to be a thing of humility, what is said.

Our Savior, dearly beloved, has ascended into heaven; therefore let us not be disturbed on earth. Let our spirit be in heaven, and peace will be here. Meanwhile let us ascend with Christ in heart, and when his promised day comes, we shall also follow in body. Nevertheless, we ought to know that pride or avarice or dissipation did not ascend with Christ.

Psalms116