What shall I render unto Jehovah, [for] all his benefits toward me?
The psalmist has just escaped the gates of death, and now he stops to count what God has done for him. His question — how can such kindness ever be repaid? — reaches every grateful heart, and the psalm's answer is not the one most people expect.
The question comes not from guilt but from a full view of what God has given. One writer notes how easily we slide into thinking God is standing over us with a bill.
The legal mind leads you to think that God demands payment from you. It makes you think He is making claims on you, and that He wants your services in one way or another. But remember: your first great business, your primary and all-important work, is to believe in Jesus. Rest quietly in Him, in what He has done for you on the cross, and in what He is doing for you on the throne. "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent." You remember the interesting question of the psalmist. He asked it when his eye rested on the size and number of the Lord's benefits.
The honest answer to "what shall I render" is: nothing that God needs.
What then could he do for One who needs no help from His creatures? For Him, "all the forests of Lebanon are not enough to burn, nor its beasts enough for a burnt offering." How could he repay Him? There could be only one way — to receive the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. He could not add one ray to God's glory. He was to receive from Him and so glorify Him.
The next verse answers the question, and it answers it backwards from how we would. The wording quoted for verse 13 here, "I will take the cup of salvation," comes from an older translation.
The psalmist asked, "What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits?" The answer is "I will take the cup of salvation." The way to "render" to God is to "take" yet more fully from His generous hand. To be a thankful, unquestioning receiver of grace glorifies God far more than all we could render to Him.
Something does come back to God, and it is not a payment but a song. Praise is what fits a soul that owes everything.
Looking at verses 12 and 13, we find that the most grateful return the vessel of God's mercy can make to the Creator of his joy is praise. "I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord." The Spirit keeps leading souls who have once tasted that the Lord is gracious to drink still deeper of the love of Christ. Praise then abounds, and with it strength for true and acceptable service. For faith can only work by love.
Another writer puts the same point negatively — the return owed is real, but it is not made in goods:
When I face the truth about myself along with "all men," I find the Lord answering in pure grace, so we know it is only right that we render some return to the Lord for all the great benefits He has supplied us with (v. 12). But the answer is not in giving material presents to the Lord. Rather, it is in receiving from Him the cup of salvation and calling on His name (v. 13).
The cup he lifts is the reverse of the one he had been drinking, and what he does with it is public.
The delivered soul owns its debt to the Lord. The cup of sorrow has been exchanged for a cup of salvation. The psalmist gladly takes this cup, and confesses the name of the Lord. His vows, made in the presence of death, will be paid to the Lord in the presence of all His people.
The vows mentioned later in the psalm might sound like a bargain struck with God. Commentators are careful to rule that out.
There are thanksgiving vows that in the day of coming blessing will be fulfilled. They imply no legality. They imply the awareness of what grace has done, and the praise that fills and strengthens the heart. Praise is now easy — even necessary… So these vows belong wholly to the gospel. They are connected with the "cup of salvation," and Another's work — the joyful assurance of what that work means for them.
The order in the psalm is fixed: rescue first, worship after.
Worship comes in when deliverance is completed. He worships as a delivered man, and because he has been delivered — not in order to be delivered. Saved in public, he will own it in public.
- Question. Counting God's benefits raises the debt question — but God is not standing over you with a bill.
- Impossible. No repayment exists; He needs no help from His creatures, and you cannot add one ray to His glory.
- Take. The way to render is to take. Receiving more from His hand glorifies Him more than anything you could hand back.
- Praise. What comes back is praise, and praise brings strength for real service.
- Public. The cup of sorrow is traded for the cup of salvation. He pays his vows in front of God's people — worship because he was rescued, not to get rescued.
I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of Jehovah.
The psalm writer has just escaped death, and verse 12 asks the obvious question: what can anyone give God in return? Verse 13 answers it — and the answer is not a gift handed up, but a cup taken.
One writer works through the problem and finds only one road open.
What then could he do for One who needs no help from His creatures, and for whom "Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering"? (Isa. 40:16). How could he repay Him? There could be only one way — to receive the cup of salvation and call on the name of Jehovah. He could not add one ray to God's glory. He was to receive from Him and so glorify Him.
The same writer marks the moment when worship begins.
In verse 4 he said he would call on His name for salvation. Now that he is saved, he will not forget Him... Worship comes in when deliverance is complete. He worships as a delivered man, and because he is delivered — not to get delivered.
One writer asks whether taking can count as giving God something back.
Is this the way to "render to the Lord"? Yes, this is the very way that pleases and glorifies Him. If you truly want to give back, you must take. Take what? "The cup of salvation" — a full and overflowing cup, without doubt. And as you drink of that cup, as the glories of God's salvation shine before your soul, streams of living praise will flow from your grateful heart. And you know He says, "The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies Me."
Scripture holds out more than one cup, and they are not offered to the same people. One commentator sets the two cups side by side.
The wine cup, the cup of trembling, the cup of His fury, the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath — these are different names for the same cup. It stands for God's judgments... The cup of salvation, on the other hand, expresses the joy of the kingdom... The cup drunk here by the people of the earth does not pass on to Messiah. He takes the other cup instead, and at once calls on the name of the Lord. The cup of anger is for their hand, the cup of salvation for His. He did once take the cup of sorrows, the cup of Gethsemane, for us poor sinners. But it is the cup of praise, the joy of the kingdom, that remains for Him now.
The second half of the verse names something believers have done from the very beginning.
From the earliest days of humanity, people turned to God and prayed. They called upon His name: "At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD" (Gen. 4:26). Calling on the name of the Lord became the mark of believers down the centuries, even in Old Testament times (1 Kings 18:24; Ps. 99:6; 116:13, 17).
Commentators differ over who is speaking here. Some hear the voice of a rescued Israel.
In this Psalm redeemed Israel tells Jehovah of her love — for His gracious rescues, for answered prayer, and for His salvation. During the great tribulation they were a faithful remnant, surrounded by the sorrows of death... Death stared them in the face. Then they cried to the Lord, and, as of old, He heard them and sent deliverance... And now they serve Him, taking the cup of salvation and performing their vows to the Lord.
Others hear the voice of Jesus Himself, on the night before the cross.
Many think, with good reason, that the hymn sung at the close of the Last Supper was part of the great Hallel (Psalms 115–118), which the Jews sang at the end of the Passover meal. If so, it included Psalm 116, which is Messiah's own words, celebrating His deliverance from the gates of death. How fitting that, before He entered that dark doorway, He could celebrate His deliverance from it in advance.
One writer turns the verse on the reader who thinks salvation is something to earn.
Perhaps you would like to work for salvation? The word of God tells us, "For by grace you have been saved through faith... it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." This shows that we cannot get salvation any other way: we receive it as God's free gift... This is the simple way into the blessing. Take that blessed cup now.
- Question — Verse 12 asks what we can give back to God. The honest answer is nothing: no creature can add one ray to His glory.
- Cup — So God fills the empty hands instead. He hands over a cup, and the one who wants to render must first take.
- Choice — Scripture holds two cups: the cup of God's fury, and the cup of salvation. Christ drank the cup of sorrow so that this one could be ours.
- Call — Taking the cup and calling on the Lord's name go together. That call has marked believing people since the earliest days.
- Consequence — Worship follows rescue, never buys it. As the cup is drunk, praise flows out — and that praise is the very thing that glorifies Him.
I will perform my vows unto Jehovah, yea, before all his people.
This verse is the turning point of the psalm. The speaker came to the edge of death, God heard him, and now he names where he will settle the promises made in that dark hour — in the open, before all God's people.
Psalm 116 celebrates this deliverance when they were at the very point of death. The Lord had heard them, and they would walk before the Lord in the land of the living... The soul so sorely tried could return to its rest. The death of His saints was precious in His sight. And now he would pay the vows he made in his distress, when he called on the Lord. He would pay them before all His people, in the courts of the Lord's house, in the middle of Jerusalem. He would offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving.
Just before this verse, the psalm asks what a rescued man can give back to God. One writer answers that question, and marks when worship begins.
How could he repay Him? There could be only one way — to receive the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. He could not add one ray to God's glory. He was to receive from Him and so glorify Him... "I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people." Worship comes in when deliverance is completed. He worships as a delivered man, and because he was delivered — not as a way to be delivered. Publicly saved, he will publicly own it.
Commentators hear Christ speaking here. One writer reads the verse next to the command not to misuse God's name, then names the vows Christ took on.
So also in the performance of vows: no one had ever fulfilled their obligations and promises to God. So our Lord warned them against taking oaths they could not keep (Matt. 5:33-37). But He could say, "Your vows are upon Me, O God" (Ps. 56:12); "I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people" (Ps. 116:14). What vows they were! — to glorify God about sin; to seek and to save the lost; to lay the eternal foundations of redemption deep, firm and broad; to bring many to glory. As we think about the cost of performing these vows, may we adore Him. He never made a rash vow. He never broke a single promise He made to His God and Father.
So what place do vows have for us? One writer goes back to the law, which allowed vows and exposed what man does with them.
Under law, people could make vows about what they might do in the future. As long as man is under law, he is on trial. But this testing of Israel — a sample of all mankind — proved one thing. Man cannot be trusted to keep what he promises... So vows have no place in Christianity. There is only One who has perfectly kept His vows. The Lord Jesus says in Psalm 116:18, "I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people." He did this at Calvary. So we rest on the absolute truth of His word, which could not fail, and not on our own reliability.
Another writer draws the same conclusion from the sacrifices, and adds relief to it.
In the light of that sacrifice, how petty are all legal vows! We may well bless God that, under grace, such vows have been annulled. The only One competent to make them is He who has fulfilled His vows and has paid them in the presence of the Lord's people (Ps. 116:14-18).
One writer still finds a vow for us to keep.
Such vows are not promises of something material to God. The vows of the Lord Jesus are seen in His offering Himself as a sacrifice on behalf of sinners, and His vows were perfectly kept, as Israel's were not. But if the value of His sacrifice moves someone to purpose to give Him His place of supreme honour, this will in its measure be counted as keeping a vow. "All His people" will witness the value of this.
The end of the psalm shows what a freed servant does.
The closing verses present the psalmist as the servant of the Lord, freed from his chains. He thanks the Lord and calls on His name. He pays his vows before all the people in the middle of His house, and calls on others to praise. What a wonderful example for us! We really are the servants of God. He set us free from the bondage of sin and Satan, and delivered us from the authority of darkness — so that, calling on His name, we might seek in public the things that please Him.
- Distress — the vows were made at the point of death. God heard him and brought him back to walk in the land of the living.
- Deliverance — worship starts where rescue ends. He worships because he is saved, not to get saved. He can add nothing to God's glory.
- Christ — commentators hear the perfect vow-keeper here. He vowed to glorify God about sin, to seek the lost, and to bring many to glory. He paid at Calvary.
- Rest — man on trial could not keep his promises. So we rest on the truth of His word, not on our own reliability.
- Witness — the payment is public. The freed servant gives Christ supreme honour in front of all His people, for all the benefits he received.
Precious in the sight of Jehovah is the death of his saints.
Psalm 116 is the song of a man God pulled back from the edge of the grave. In the middle of his thanksgiving he turns from his own rescue to say something about God: the death of His godly ones costs Him something. Commentators ask two questions here. What makes a death "precious" to the Lord? And does this verse promise rescue from death, or comfort in it?
The verse sits inside a story of answered prayer. One writer traces the psalm from distress to rest:
Psalm 116 celebrates this deliverance when they were at the very point of death. The Lord had heard them, and they would walk before the Lord in the land of the living. It is a continual retelling of the Lord's gracious mercy: they were brought low and He helped them. It drew out their love to Him. Such was the Lord's character. He preserves the simple. The soul that had been tried so hard could return to its rest. The death of His saints was precious in His sight.
The word behind "saints" does not point to a title. It points to the heart:
It is not "holy ones" here, but those whose heart toward Himself the Lord recognises and acknowledges.
Another commentator, writing to a grieving family, shows how far that word reaches:
The word "saints" in this verse is a beautiful word. It means more than those who are set apart for God, though it includes all such. It means those marked by piety, grace and goodness… What made her what she was as wife, mother, sister and friend? Was it not first of all and most of all the grace of the Lord within her?
If something is precious, it is not spent carelessly. Here that has a practical edge: nothing reaches God's people without His permission:
The hairs of their head were all numbered. Satan could do nothing that was not permitted… for "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints"; He did not lightly permit it.
The worth is not manufactured by the dying believer. One writer roots it in another death entirely:
It may seem strange that verse 15 comes here… but it reminds us of the most precious of all deaths, that of the Lord Jesus. That death should move every heart to adore Him. The death of every one of His saints is precious because of the value of His death… The death of His saints is worth more to God than all their so-called good works.
Commentators differ over what the verse promises. Some read it with the psalm's own setting — the words of a man kept alive:
He learns this by being kept alive on the earth. As the context shows, this verse speaks of saints kept alive, not of saints who die… So here he looks to be kept from death.
Others take the words to cover those who do die, including those killed for their faith:
The death of His saints is precious in the Lord's sight. This is true of them all. He is always glorified in those who can make a sober claim to endless life and blessedness in the hour when nature breaks down. They can do so because their trust is in the living God. He is not ashamed of such people. But He is glorified even more in those who are given, for Christ's sake, to suffer for His name to the point of death.
The verse is not only about the last hour. The same writer draws out a present, moral meaning:
Do not overlook the moral meaning of this verse. To carry about in a body still alive the dying of the Lord; to die a daily death; to be willing to hate one's present life in order to know the power of the resurrection better — such things are pleasing in the Father's sight.
And where God does not step in to prevent death, the promise still holds:
God does not always step in to save His saints from death. We know this well when we walk through a scene of death. But how comforting it is to realise that "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." In the light of Christianity we know that for the believer death is only "to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better." To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
- Precious — because of His death. A believer's death is precious because of the worth of Christ's death, not because of the believer's record.
- Precious — so not lightly permitted. Nothing touches God's people without His permission. He does not spend what He counts precious.
- Precious — to His godly ones. "Saints" means those whose heart toward God He Himself recognises. The mark is grace and goodness, not a title.
- Precious — while alive, too. Commentators differ. Does the verse promise rescue from death, or honour those who die? Either way, dying daily with Christ pleases the Father.
- Precious — therefore comforting. When God does not prevent death, He still values it. For the believer, death is departing to be with Christ — far better.