Yea, Jehovah! for I am thy servant; I am thy servant, the son of thy handmaid thou hast loosed my bonds.
A rescued man speaks here: he calls himself God's servant twice, and gives one reason — God has cut his chains. Freedom comes first and service follows, so what were the bonds, and why does a free man call himself a slave?
Release comes first in the verse; ownership follows. One writer takes that order as the mark of real redemption.
This is a sign of perfect redemption in every age: "O LORD, I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant. You have loosed my bonds." (Ps. 116:16.) So redemption is the source of service, and shapes its character. And if we stand in the nearer and more wonderful place of sons of God, then the service of sons is simply the fullest and most joyful service of all.
This is not a warm word about family. Older translations read "the son of your handmaid," and the phrase belongs to the language of the household.
Others have judged "the son of your handmaid" (v. 16) to mean "your property, like the child of a female slave," someone "born in your house."
Some of the best known women in Scripture chose this same word for themselves when they prayed.
These words often refer in Scripture to a female slave, as with Hagar the Egyptian, Gen. 25:12. But women also used them of themselves as a term of humility: Hannah, when she spoke to the Lord and to Eli, 1 Sam. 1:11, 16, 18; Abigail, when she spoke to David, 1 Sam. 25:24-41; and Mary and Elizabeth, as handmaids of the Lord, Luke 1:38, 48.
Commentators differ on how far to press the word "bonds." One writer reads the psalm as a whole. He ties the bonds back to the earlier lines about the cords of death, and to Sheol, the place of the dead.
Psalm 116 records a similar experience. Whatever these words may say about release from spiritual death, verse 15 makes it clear that the ultimate deliverance in view is from death in Sheol. This must be the "death of His saints" which remains precious in the eyes of the Lord, and rescue from this is the reason for the thanksgiving, "You have loosed my bonds" (v. 16).
Another writer sets the verse against the hired worker, the man who serves for what he can get.
Grace alone breaks the dominion of sin, as the apostle says, "Sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace." The hired worker with God is the very picture of a self-seeker, of one who serves God for his own ends. But the power of Christianity shows itself in this, "that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised." The psalmist gives the principle and power for service under grace when he says, "You have loosed my bonds." It is a loved bond-service for bonds loosed!
One writer hears Israel speaking here, a nation that came within a step of destruction.
This does not complete the story. Psalm 116 comes in here to show how close Israel had been to those terrible jaws of death. Without the mercy of God they would have been swallowed up in utter ruin. It is the sense of this deliverance that brings their hearts to God, and makes them His servants for ever.
Freedom ends in public worship, and one writer applies that straight to us.
The closing verses present the psalmist as the servant of the Lord, loosed from his bonds. He thanks the Lord and calls on His Name. He pays his vows before all the people in God's house, and he calls on others to praise. What a blessed example for us! We are indeed the servants of God. He has set us free from the bondage of sin and Satan. He has delivered us from the authority of darkness, so that we may call on His Name and openly seek the things that please Him.
- Bonds — God cut the chains first. That release is the mark of real redemption.
- Belonging — "son of your maidservant" marks one born in the master's house: God's own by birth, not by hire.
- Death — one writer ties the loosed bonds to the cords of death. The rescue is rescue from the grave.
- Love — freed service is not a hired worker's deal for wages. It is loved bond-service for bonds loosed.
- Witness — the freed servant does not stay quiet. He keeps his promises in public and calls others to praise.
I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of Jehovah.
A man pulled back from the edge of death asks what he can give back to God. This verse is his answer: not a payment, but a thanksgiving sacrifice and a call on the Lord's name.
What can a rescued man give back to God? One writer shows the question has no answer if we treat it as a debt.
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"? 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. In verse 4 he had said he would call on His name for salvation. Now that he is saved, he will not forget Him. Worship comes in once the deliverance is complete. He worships as a delivered man, and because he is delivered — not to get delivered. Saved in public, he will own it in public.
The verse just before this one says God loosed his bonds. That order matters: release comes first, so the sacrifice that follows is not a duty.
The godly remnant of Israel sees her place as one of complete service to the Lord. This is not because a law commands it. God has loosed her completely from bondage (v. 16), so she is free to serve in the liberty of love. Their sacrifice no longer comes out of legal bondage. It is voluntary thanksgiving, offered as they call upon the name of the Lord.
The phrase is not a general word for gratitude. It names one particular offering, and its mark was that everyone involved got a share.
This sacrifice of thanksgiving is the "peace offering," though it is also called the "thanksgiving offering." It was a voluntary offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. We read of it in Leviticus 3 and 7, where it is called "the sacrifice of thanksgiving." It is a strikingly beautiful side of the sacrifice of Christ. In this sacrifice, God had first His own special share. The priest who offered it had his share. Aaron had his share, and there was a share for Aaron's sons, and the man who offered the sacrifice also had his share.
Calling on the Lord's name did not start with this psalm, and it did not end with it.
From the earliest days of humanity, people turned to God, called upon His name, and prayed. Scripture says, "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 through the centuries, even in Old Testament times (1 Kings 18:24; Ps. 99:6; 116:13, 17).
The verses around this one speak of paying vows. One writer measures such vows against the sacrifice of Christ.
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).
Verses 18 and 19 set this praise in the courts of the Lord's house. The Lord gains something there too.
He now delights to own that he is the willing servant of the One who has set him free. In the presence of all His people, in the courts of the Lord, in the middle of Jerusalem, he will pay his vows and offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving. So the Lord secures a loving and praising people to fill the courts of His house.
One writer takes the rescued man's response as an example for us, and reads his loosed bonds more widely.
The closing verses present the psalmist as the servant of the Lord, loosed from his bonds. He thanks the Lord and calls upon 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 are indeed the servants of God. He has set us free from the bondage of sin and Satan and delivered us from the authority of darkness, so that, calling upon His Name, we may openly seek the things that please Him.
- Rescued — the sacrifice follows deliverance; worship is the response of a saved man, not a bid to be saved.
- Received — God needs nothing from us, so the only return is to take the cup of salvation and call on His name.
- Released — God loosed his bonds first (v. 16), so the offering is free thanksgiving, never a legal duty.
- Shared — the thanksgiving sacrifice is the peace offering. God, the priest, and the one who brings it each get a share.
- Published — he pays his vows before all God's people, and a loving, praising people fills the courts of His house.
I will perform my vows unto Jehovah, yea, before all his people,
The verse repeats word for word what was said four verses earlier, and it stands at the end of the psalm rather than in the middle of the trouble. One writer ties the repetition to the point the psalm has reached: the danger is over, so the promise made in the danger can now be settled in public.
Notice that Psalm 116 is a psalm of thanksgiving. He does not love the Lord as someone under law. He loves as one God loved first — loved in deliverance, because God heard him when judgment and evil pressed on his soul. Christ leads this thanksgiving, this turning of the heart back to Jehovah, saying, "our God is merciful." The vows can now be paid, and paid in the middle of Jerusalem, because the deliverance is done.
The word "vows" can sound like bargaining with God. One writer reads it the other way round. These vows are not payments for a rescue. They flow out of one already given, and they belong with the cup of salvation.
There are vows now to pay to Jehovah, and the psalm repeats this in the same words before it closes. Israel failed completely to keep her legal vow, as we know, and she is still suffering the consequences of that failure. But there are thanksgiving vows that will be kept in the day of coming blessing. They carry nothing legal. They come from knowing what grace has done, and from the praise that fills and empowers the heart. Praise is now easy — necessary... These vows are gospel vows only. They are tied to the "cup of salvation," and to Another's work — the joyful assurance of what that work means for them.
Some writers hear this sentence on the lips of Christ. He alone kept every promise He made to God.
It is the same with keeping vows: no one had ever kept their obligations and promises to God. That is why our Lord warned people against taking oaths they could not keep (Matthew 5:33-37). But He could say, "Your vows are upon Me, O God" (Psalm 56:12, in an older translation); "I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all His people." 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 wide; to bring many to glory. Think of the cost of paying these vows. May we adore Him who never made a rash vow, and never broke a single promise He made to His God and Father.
So what is left for us to vow? Another writer answers:
Such vows are not those of promising something material to God. We see the vows of the Lord Jesus in His offering Himself as a sacrifice for sinners. He kept His vows perfectly, as Israel never did. But if the value of His sacrifice moves someone to resolve to give Him His place of supreme honour, that will count, in its own measure, as keeping a vow. "All His people" will witness the value of this.
What can a rescued man give back to God? One writer starts there.
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... Worship comes in when deliverance is completed. He worships as one delivered, and because he is delivered — not to get delivered. Publicly saved, he will publicly own it.
The psalm ends by showing what God gains from the whole rescue.
He now delights to own that he is the willing servant of the One who has set him free. In the presence of all His people, in the courts of the Lord, in the midst of Jerusalem, he will pay his vows and offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving. So the Lord secures a loving and praising people to fill the courts of His house.
One writer applies this to believers today:
What a wonderful example for us! We are indeed the servants of God, set free from slavery to sin and Satan, delivered from the authority of darkness. So, calling on His name, we should openly seek the things that please Him... What a praising people we should be!
- Delivered first. The vows are paid only after the rescue is complete. Worship follows salvation. It never buys it.
- Freed, then vowing. The speaker is a servant whose bonds God has loosed. What he brings is free thanksgiving, not legal debt.
- Christ's vows. Only One ever made promises to God and kept them all — to glorify God about sin, to seek the lost, to bring many to glory.
- Paid in public. Publicly saved, he publicly owns it, in the courts of God's house before all His people.
- God's aim. The Lord secures a loving, praising people for Himself. That same calling belongs to everyone He has set free from the authority of darkness today.
In the courts of Jehovah's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Hallelujah!
Psalm 116 ends by naming a place: the courts of God's house in Jerusalem, where a rescued man keeps the promise he made. The last words turn the song outward into a call to praise — so why own a rescue in public, and why in that one place?
One writer notes that the psalmist has nothing to give God, only something to receive. That fixes the order: worship answers rescue, it does not buy it.
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. What a position is this to be placed in! He had said in verse 4 that he would call on His name for salvation. When saved, he will not forget Him. "I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all His people." Worship comes in when deliverance is complete. He worships as a delivered man, and because he is delivered — not as a way to get deliverance. Publicly saved, he will publicly own it.
The verse names a house and a city. Under Israel's law you could make a vow anywhere, but you could pay it in only one place.
They could pay their vows only in Jerusalem, the place the LORD had chosen to put His name. They might make them far from home, in the land of Jordan and the Hermonites, as we read they will (Psalm 66:13-14). But to pay them, they must be at Jerusalem, and the house must be rebuilt.
Verse 18 repeats the promise of verse 14. So who can keep a promise made to God? One writer hears these words as Christ's own, and draws a conclusion about the promises we make.
So vows have no place in Christianity. Only One has kept His vows perfectly. In Psalm 116:18 the Lord Jesus says, "I will pay My vows to the LORD in the presence of all His people." He did this at Calvary. We rest on the certain truth of His word, which could not fail, and not on our own reliability.
Just before this verse the speaker calls himself God's servant, set free from his bonds. The last line shows what God gains by that freedom.
He now delights to own that he is the willing servant of the One who has set him free. In the presence of all His people, in the courts of the LORD, in the midst of Jerusalem, he will pay his vows and offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving. So the Lord secures a loving and praising people to fill the courts of His house.
The closing words name where the whole vision lands.
The psalm now adds the circumstances, and they show us the scene where the vision ends: "in the courts of the house of the LORD, in your midst, O Jerusalem." The LORD has taken His place once more among His gathered people. That is the sign that the day has now come for the earth, and for the "gathering of the peoples" so long foretold, at last to Shiloh (Genesis 49:10).
Commentators differ on how much of this is future. Some read the whole psalm as the voice of a delivered remnant after great suffering, with the thanksgiving in the courts of the house as the outcome for those who came through and for those who died in it:
Then, together with those who have been delivered and brought through the tribulation, there will be the sacrifice of thanksgiving in the courts of the LORD's house in the midst of Jerusalem, as is shown at the end of the Psalm.
The psalm signs off with "Praise the LORD!" — older translations render it "Hallelujah". That word is rarer in the Psalms than most readers expect.
Other Psalms in this book end in the same way — Psalm 115:18, 116:19, 117:2, 135:21, 146:10, 147:20, 148:14, 149:9, 150:6. And Psalms 135 and 146—150 also begin with it. But until the Lord Jesus is viewed as having returned to Zion, this word "Hallelujah" is not found in the Psalter.
One writer takes these closing verses as an example for us to follow now.
The closing verses present the psalmist as the servant of the Lord, set free from his bonds. 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 blessed example for us! We are indeed the servants of God. He has set us free from the bondage of sin and Satan, and delivered us from the authority of darkness. So now, calling on His name, we may openly seek the things that please Him.
- Loosed — the speaker is a freed servant, and that freedom drives everything else in the verse.
- Paid — you can make a vow anywhere, but you pay it in God's house; and only Christ kept His vows perfectly, paying them at the cross.
- Public — worship answers rescue; it never buys it. Publicly saved, publicly owned, before all His people.
- Placed — the courts and the city matter: God has taken His place again among His gathered people.
- Praise — the song ends in "Praise the LORD!", the word "Hallelujah" that the Psalms hold back until the Lord is seen returned to Zion.