July 5, 2008 (Saturday)
King Hezekiah got some bad news from the prophet Isaiah: “Get your house in order, because you are going to die.” He begged God to let Him live, and God granted him fifteen more years. Psalm 116 seems to reflect Hezekiah’s thoughts during that time.
Hezekiah faced a deep personal crisis that affected his body and soul. We all face lonely and painful experiences in our lives. How do we feel when those times come to us? The sufferer in this Psalm expressed himself, “In my discouragement I thought, they are lying when they say I will recover” (Ps 116:10 TLB). He cried, “Lord, save me!” (vs 4 TLB). Most of us pray that way when we have real troubles.
The Lord heard his cry and delivered him from the sorrow of his experience and also helped him to avoid doing anything that might bring this upon him again. He said, “He has saved me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. I shall live!” (vv 8-9 TLB).
His gratitude overflowed, and he vowed, “I will serve Him forever” (vs 16).
God is good. We must learn to trust Him. We need to love God. We need to praise God. We need to serve God.
Psalm 116 ends with two Hebrew words: “Halalu Yahh.” They are translated into English as, “Praise Ye the Lord!” (KJV). As you say the words aloud, you recognize a familiar English word, “Hallelujah.” When we say that word, we are really speaking Hebrew and calling upon others to praise the Lord.