What is the cup of salvation in Psalm 116:13?

When I face the truth concerning myself together with "all men," I shall find the Lord answering in pure grace, so that we know it is only right that we render some return to the Lord for all the great benefits with which He has supplied us (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).

He turns, therefore, to ask, "What shall I render to Jehovah for all His benefits toward me?" What is right and suitable when all that is of value is what I find in Him? Well, I can receive and own His grace: "take the cup of salvation; and call upon Jehovah's Name."

What then could he do for One who needs no help from His creatures (see Ps. 50:12), and for whom "all the forests of Lebanon are not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering?" (Isa. 40:16.) How could he recompense Him? There could be but 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. What a position is this to be placed in! He had said in verse 4, he would call on His name for salvation. When saved, he will not forget Him. "My vows will I pay to Jehovah now in the presence of all his people." Worship comes in when deliverance is completed. As delivered, and because delivered, not to be delivered, does he worship. Publicly saved, he will publicly own it. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." He learns this by being kept alive on the earth; for it is of saints kept alive, not of saints who die, that this verse speaks, as the context shows. Revelation 14:13 will afford comfort for those who die during the tribulation. Here it is one preserved alive who speaks. We have something analogous to this in Psalm 72:14. "He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence, and precious shall their blood be in his sight." God will not allow it to be shed. So here he looks to be preserved from death. And hence he prays, "O Jehovah, I beseech thee. I am thy servant, I am thy servant, the son of thine handmaid. Thou hast loosed my bonds." All will be accomplished, and he will stand before Jehovah in the courts of His house at Jerusalem. The heathen might, as they surely will, destroy the temple, and besiege Jerusalem; but the courts of the Lord's house shall again resound with the voice of joy and praise proceeding from a ransomed people. For the king shall build the temple of the Lord, as Solomon did in his day (Zech. 6:13), and Jerusalem be publicly owned as the city where Jehovah is (Ezek. 48:35) — a full answer to the taunt of the heathen, which elicited from the godly remnant, that "He was in heaven."

Is this the way to “render to the Lord"? Yes, this is just the way that gratifies and glorifies Him. If you really want to render, you must take. Take what? "The cup of salvation" — a full and brimming cup, most surely; and as you drink of that cup, as the glories of God's salvation shine in the vision of your soul, then will streams of living praise flow from your grateful heart. And you know He says, "Whoso offers praise, glorifies Me."

When the psalmist inquired, "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 largely from His bounteous hand. To be a thankful, unquestioning recipient of grace glorifies God far more than all we could render to Him.

(vv. 12-15) The delivered soul owns its indebtedness 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. If indeed, he had succumbed to death, instead of being recalled to the land of the living, his death would have been precious in the eyes of the Lord.

Having received so much from the hand of God it was surely a right desire to seek to express gratitude. But what can the creature give to God? God is not asking; He is offering: in His hand is the cup of salvation, and this we take with thankfulness, calling upon His Name. Christians do not make vows, but our hearts can overflow to God with adoration and worship. God does not always intervene to deliver His saints from death, and this we well know in passing 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." With the light of Christianity we know that death for the believer is but "to depart and be with Christ which is far better;" to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

Redeemed Israel expresseth in this Psalm her love to Jehovah for His gracious deliverances, for answered prayer and for His salvation. They were, during the great tribulation, as a faithful remnant; surrounded by the sorrows of death, the pains of Sheol were upon them. Death stared them in the face. Then they cried to the Lord, and, as of old, He heard them and sent deliverance. He dealt bountifully with them, delivered them from death, the eyes from tears, the feet from falling. And now they serve Him, taking the cup of salvation and performing their vows unto the Lord. The death of those who died in the tribulation period as martyrs is mentioned in verse 15. "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints." Compare with Rev. 14:13, which also refers to the Jewish martyrs during the tribulation. The Psalm ends with another hallelujah.

Perhaps you would like to work for salvation? The word of God tells us, "For by grace are ye saved through faith … it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." This clearly shows that we cannot get salvation apart from receiving it as God's free gift. Our Psalmist asked "What shall I render unto the LORD for all His benefits towards me?" His own answer was, "I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD." This is the simple way into the blessing. Take then that blessed cup now; for "Now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation." (R. — Wm. C. Reid.)

Various Hebrew words are so translated, having regard to the different uses to which the cup was put. It is frequently used for that which the cup contains, causing either joy or sorrow, as "I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord." Ps. 116:13. "In the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red . . . . the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out and drink them." Ps. 75:8: cf. Rev. 14:10; Rev. 16:19, etc. And so in many other instances; and especially in that of the cup of which the Lord Jesus drank when bearing sin. Matt. 26:27, 39, 42; John 18:11. In the Lord's Supper the 'cup' is put for the wine which was an emblem of the blood of Christ. 1 Cor. 10:16, 21; 1 Cor. 11:25-28.