Thy Strong Word - Psalm 116: Death's Exile to Temple's Passover, Lift the Cup as One

Rev. Thomas Eckstein, pastor of Concordia Lutheran Church in Jamestown, North Dakota, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Psalm 116.

“I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD.” Psalm 116 is used in so many ways in church tradition: during Easter, before communion, at funerals, and on Maundy Thursday. What ties it all together?

God’s people speak as one voice, as God’s servant raised from the death of exile. At the newly restored temple, God’s people finally could celebrate Passover together again. And our Lord Jesus sang this psalm with His disciples at their Passover celebration in the upper room. “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” So precious was Jesus, that God brought Him back from death itself, and us with Him. We long to gather as His body, the true temple.

Lutheran Heritage Foundation - Underwriter of Thy Strong Word — Underwriter of Thy Strong Word

Thy Strong Word is a daily in-depth study of the books of the Bible with host Rev. AJ Espinosa and guest pastors from across the country. Thy Strong Word is graciously underwritten by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation and produced by the LCMS Office of National Mission.

Psalm 116

I Love the Lord

116 I love the Lord, because he has heard
    my voice and my pleas for mercy.
²Because he inclined his ear to me,
    therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
³The snares of death encompassed me;
    the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
    I suffered distress and anguish.
⁴Then I called on the name of the Lord:
    “O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”

⁵Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
    our God is merciful.
⁶The Lord preserves the simple;
    when I was brought low, he saved me.
⁷Return, O my soul, to your rest;
    for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

⁸For you have delivered my soul from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    my feet from stumbling;
⁹I will walk before the Lord
    in the land of the living.

¹⁰I believed, even when^[a] I spoke:
“I am greatly afflicted”;
¹¹I said in my alarm,
“All mankind are liars.”

¹²What shall I render to the Lord
    for all his benefits to me?
¹³I will lift up the cup of salvation
    and call on the name of the Lord,
¹⁴I will pay my vows to the Lord
    in the presence of all his people.

¹⁵Precious in the sight of the Lord
    is the death of his saints.
¹⁶O Lord, I am your servant;
    I am your servant, the son of your maidservant.
    You have loosed my bonds.
¹⁷I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
    and call on the name of the Lord.
¹⁸I will pay my vows to the Lord
    in the presence of all his people,
¹⁹in the courts of the house of the Lord,
    in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!

Footnotes:

Psalm 116:10 Or believed, indeed; Septuagint believed, therefore

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. esv.org

Rev. AJ Espinosa

It’s no coincidence that the favorite hymn for Rev. AJ Espinosa, host of Thy Strong Word, is Thy Strong Word. Working on his PhD from Concordia Seminary St. Louis, Pastor Espinosa takes breaks from his studies by beating the competition in his favorite video and board games, reading “Mere Christianity,” or getting some quality sleep. When he’s not mixing curries or whipping up a fresh flan for dessert, you may find him researching cryptocurrency, watching Star Trek Discovery, or jamming out to the Coco and Moana Spanish-language soundtracks (with his daughter, of course). Pastor Espinosa lives in California, where he enjoys time at the beach with his wife, Gaby, precious little girls Ellie and Natalie, and exceptionally friendly black cat Heike.