Psalms 114-116

Thoughts

Psalm 114

Psalms 113-118 is known as the Egyptian Hallel to remember all God did for His people in Egypt

Tremble at the Presence of the Lord

When Israel went out from Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
Judah became his sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.

• Recalling the Exodus
• Judah becoming God’s sanctuary means God dwelled among His people
• God took his people for Himself to shepherd.

The sea looked and fled;
Jordan turned back.
The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.

• the Red Sea parting
• “Jordan turned back”  the river stopping for Joshua (Josh 3).
• The mountains and hills “skipping” -creation moves at God’s presence.

What ails you, O sea, that you flee?
O Jordan, that you turn back?
O mountains, that you skip like rams?
O hills, like lambs?

• The questions draw attention to God’s authority.

Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
who turns the rock into a pool of water,
the flint into a spring of water.

• “Flint into a spring” shows that God brings life 
• creation recognizes its Creator.

Psalm 115

To Your Name Give Glory

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Our God is in the heavens;
he does all that he pleases.

• The psalm begins with humility: all glory belongs to God
• The nations mock Israel because idols can be seen while Israel’s God is invisible.

Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
They have mouths, but do not speak;
eyes, but do not see.
They have ears, but do not hear;
noses, but do not smell.
They have hands, but do not feel;
feet, but do not walk;
and they do not make a sound in their throat.
Those who make them become like them;
so do all who trust in them.

• Idols are manmade and powerless
• They look alive but cannot act, speak, or help.
• “Those who make them become like them” people resemble what they worship: lifeless

O Israel, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.
O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.
You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.

• A triple call:
  • Israel (the people),
  • house of Aaron (the priests),
  • all who fear the Lord 

The Lord has remembered us; he will bless us;
he will bless the house of Israel;
he will bless the house of Aaron;
he will bless those who fear the Lord,
both the small and the great.

• God “remembers” His people
• Blessing is promised to all: people, priests, and anyone who fears the Lord. “Small and great” 

May the Lord give you increase,
you and your children!
May you be blessed by the Lord,
who made heaven and earth!
The heavens are the Lord’s heavens,
but the earth he has given to the children of man.

• Blessing includes multiplication
• “The earth he has given to the children of man” means humans are entrusted with stewardship and responsibility within creation.

The dead do not praise the Lord,
nor do any who go down into silence.
But we will bless the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore.
Praise the Lord!

• In the ancient Hebrew perspective, the dead were silent. Praise must happen now while life lasts.

Psalm 116

I Love the Lord

I love the Lord, because he has heard
my voice and my pleas for mercy.
Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
The snares of death encompassed me;
the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
I suffered distress and anguish.
Then I called on the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”

• The psalmist begins with love rooted in experience as God heard him.
• The crisis was life-threatening “snares of death… pangs of Sheol.”
• Prayer becomes the turning point

Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
our God is merciful.
The Lord preserves the simple;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
Return, O my soul, to your rest;
for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
For you have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling;
I will walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.

• The psalmist celebrates three core attributes of God: gracious, righteous, merciful.
• “Preserves the simple” means God protects the vulnerable

I believed, even when I spoke:
“I am greatly afflicted”;
I said in my alarm,
“All mankind are liars.”

• Faith existed even in the middle of fear and discouragement.
• “All mankind are liars”  people had failed him 
• This highlights that he could trust only in God during the crisis.

What shall I render to the Lord
for all his benefits to me?
I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord,
I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.

• “Cup of salvation” may refer to a thank offering shared in the sanctuary.
• Public gratitude (“presence of all his people”) 

Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his saints.
O Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the son of your maidservant.
You have loosed my bonds.
I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call on the name of the Lord.
I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
in the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!

• “Precious… is the death of his saints” means God deeply values the lives of His faithful ones
• “Son of your maidservant”  a generational identity of belonging to God.
• “You have loosed my bonds” indicates freedom 

Questions

Application

Psalm 114 retells the Exodus with creation imagery. Obstacles that feel immovable (like seas or mountains) are not immovable to Him. Psalm 115 shows the line between the living God and lifeless idols. Idols look impressive but cannot see, speak, or help. Psalm 116 is one of  thanksgiving. God meets us when we struggle.