Sharper Iron — Spring into the Psalms – Psalm 116: Gracious Is the LORD and Righteous

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Psalm 116 finds its place in the life of the Church both on Maundy Thursday and during the Offertory in the Divine Service. Hearing the psalm first on the lips of Jesus, we hear Him pray for deliverance from death and receive comfort in knowing that the Father has answered Jesus by delivering Him into death for our trespasses and then raising Him from the grave for our justification. This helps us to cry out these same words in prayer to our heavenly Father who rescues us from death for the sake of Christ.

Rev. Harrison Goodman, Executive Director of Mission and Theology for Higher Things, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Psalm 116.

To learn more about Higher Things, visit higherthings.org.

Join Sharper Iron this spring to study selected Psalms. In the Psalter, God speaks His Word to us and teaches us how to speak back to Him in prayer. Even in the great variety of the Psalms, each one points us to our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scripture both in its broad context and its narrow detail, all for the sake of proclaiming Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Two pastors engage with God’s Word to sharpen not only their own faith and knowledge, but the faith and knowledge of all who listen. Submit comments or questions to: listener@kfuo.org

Sharper Iron is underwritten by Lutheran Church Extension Fund. Together in faith, LCEF helps to start, sustain and strengthen LCMS ministries through financial and strategic partnerships. Visit lcef.org.

Psalm 116

I Love the LORD

[1] I love the LORD, because he has heard

my voice and my pleas for mercy.

[2] Because he inclined his ear to me,

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

[3] The snares of death encompassed me;

the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;

I suffered distress and anguish.

[4] Then I called on the name of the LORD:

“O LORD, I pray, deliver my soul!”

[5] Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;

our God is merciful.

[6] The LORD preserves the simple;

when I was brought low, he saved me.

[7] Return, O my soul, to your rest;

for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.

[8] For you have delivered my soul from death,

my eyes from tears,

my feet from stumbling;

[9] I will walk before the LORD

in the land of the living.

[10] I believed, even when I spoke:

“I am greatly afflicted”;

[11] I said in my alarm,

“All mankind are liars.”

[12] What shall I render to the LORD

for all his benefits to me?

[13] I will lift up the cup of salvation

and call on the name of the LORD,

[14] I will pay my vows to the LORD

in the presence of all his people.

[15] Precious in the sight of the LORD

is the death of his saints.

[16] O LORD, I am your servant;

I am your servant, the son of your maidservant.

You have loosed my bonds.

[17] I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving

and call on the name of the LORD.

[18] I will pay my vows to the LORD

in the presence of all his people,

[19] in the courts of the house of the LORD,

in your midst, O Jerusalem.

Praise the LORD!

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language. Used by permission. All rights reserved.