Psalm 116 is the 116th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications". It is part of the Egyptian Hallel sequence in the Book of Psalms. In the slightly different numbering system in the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate version of the Bible, this psalm begins with Psalm 114, counted as verses 1–9 of Psalm 116, combined with Psalm 115 for the remaining verses. In Latin, Psalm 114 is known as "Dilexi quoniam exaudiet Dominus", and Psalm 115 is known as "Credidi propter quod locutus sum". Psalm 116 in Hebrew is the fourth psalm in the “Egyptian Hallel”. The Septuagint and Vulgate open with the word "Alleluia", whereas the Hebrew version has this word at the end of the preceding psalm. Psalm 116 is used as a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and other Protestant liturgies. It has often been set to music, including settings by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Anton Bruckner and Franz Schreker.

Language

Psalm 116 is without a title in the Hebrew. The psalm was translated into the Greek Septuagint (about 250BC) in Hellenistic Egypt. There is a presence of Aramaisms in the psalm which has been interpreted by some biblical commentators as evidence of a late date, although this is not definitive. The psalm draws heavily from other psalms, so much so that the German commentator Hermann Hupfeld called it a "patched-up psalm".

Text

Hebrew

The following table shows the Hebrew text of the Psalm with vowels alongside an English translation based upon the JPS 1917 translation (now in the public domain).

King James Version

Theme

It is a question of the praise of the Lord by all peoples. The second verse expresses the reason for the first verse: the goodness of the Lord has been experienced in the past, and his faithfulness will last forever. If we take into consideration the whole book of psalms, we see that this psalm seems to sum up and conclude all the psalms of the hallel, and even all the preceding psalms from Psalm 107 onwards, for they invite Israel and all nations to praise "Eternal".

Authorship

Theodoret in the fifth century applied this psalm to the distresses of the Jews in the times of the Maccabees under Antiochus Epiphanes, while a small minority ascribe it to Hezekiah's sickness, recorded in Isaiah 38; Alexander Kirkpatrick notes a similarity in the wording. However, most commentators today ascribe it to King David. If David were the author, it is not certain whether it was composed upon any particular occasion, or "upon a general review of the many gracious deliverances God had wrought for him". The Syriac Church holds it was written on the occasion of Saul coming to the cave where David was hiding.

Uses

Judaism

New Testament

Verse 10 of the Psalm was quoted by Paul the Apostle in 2 Corinthians 4:13.

Syriac Christianity

The Syriac church applies it to converts coming into the church.

Catholicism

The Psalm has been used as public prayer by Pope John Paul II, who called it a "Prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord". The Psalm is used in the Rule of St. Benedict. However, Psalm 117 is now read in the Liturgy of the Hours.

Protestant Christianity

Matthew Henry calls it a thanksgiving psalm, while Charles Spurgeon saw it as "A Psalm of Thanksgiving in the Person of Christ". David Dickson wrote, "This Psalm is a threefold engagement of the Psalmist unto thanksgiving unto God, for his mercy unto him, and in particular for some notable delivery of him from death, both bodily and spiritual." On February 3, 1788 Anglican Minister, Reverend Richard Johnson delivered the first Christian church service ever on Australian soil to convicts of the First Fleet. The text of his sermon was Psalm 116:12-14.

City motto

The city of Belfast, Northern Ireland has as its motto Pro Tanto Quid Retribuamus, the Vulgate translation of Ps 116:12 ("what shall we give in return for so much?" or "What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me?")

Notable verses

This verse has also been translated "I said in my fear, Every man is a liar." and "In an ecstasy of despair, I said, the whole race of man is a delusion." Some take the word חפז, (chaphaz) to denote haste or flight rather than fear. Samuel Horsley translates the verse as "an ecstasy of despair".

Musical settings

Heinrich Schütz composed a metred paraphrase of Psalm 116 in German, "Meim Herzen ist's ein große Freud", SWV 214, for the Becker Psalter, published first in 1628. A collection Angst der Hellen und Friede der Seelen ("Fear of Hell and Peace of the Soul") combines sixteen motet settings of Psalm 116 in German, "Das ist mir lieb" (That is dear to me). It was commissioned by the Jena merchant Burckhard Grossmann in 1616, and published in 1623. The composers are Heinrich Schütz, Michael Altenburg, Christoph Demantius, Nicolaus Erich, Andreas Finold, Melchior Franck, Abraham Gensreff, Johannes Groh, Johann Krause, Christian Michael, Daniel Michael, Rogier Michael, Tobias Michael, Michael Praetorius, Johann Hermann Schein and Caspar Trost. Marc-Antoine Charpentier set Psalmus David 115 (in Vulgate numbering), Credidi propter quod locutus sum, H. 209 - H. 209a, for soloists, chorus and continuo in 1690. Anton Bruckner composed a setting of the first nine verses as Psalm 114 "Alleluja! Liebe erfüllt mich", WAB 36, in 1852. Franz Schreker composed a setting of Psalm 116 for three-part women's choir and orchestra as his Op. 6 in 1900.