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Psalm 116 Bible study: I love the LORD
In Hebrew, Psalm 116 opens with I love, and the LORD's name comes after listens: the LORD is named as the one who listens. Asked what he will give the LORD, the psalmist first says he will take "the cup of salvation" (116:13). And Paul quotes 116:10's "I believed" in the sentence that speaks of "he who raised the Lord Jesus" (2 Corinthians 4:14).
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“I love the LORD, because he listens to my voice, and my cries for mercy. Because he has turned his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.”
Try it · Did you catch it?
“Psalm 116 and Psalm 18 both say, "The cords of death surrounded me."”
Is that in Psalm 116, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
I love, because he listens
The psalm has no title, and it opens with its reason: "I love the LORD, because he listens to my voice, and my cries for mercy" (116:1) (tap love). Here is what almost everyone misses. In Hebrew the first word is ahavti, I love, and the next words are because ... listens; the LORD's name comes after listens. So in Hebrew I love comes first with no word after it saying whom, and the LORD is named as the one who listens. The next verse gives the reason again: "Because he has turned his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live" (116:2). Psalm 18's song begins "I love you, LORD, my strength" (Psalm 18:1) with another verb, and Psalm 18's notes say so.
Where it leads to Jesus
The same spirit of faith
Psalms 116:10leads to2 Corinthians 4:14
The psalm says, "I believed, therefore I said, “I was greatly afflicted.”" (Psalm 116:10). Paul, "an apostle of Christ Jesus" (2 Corinthians 1:1), writes, "But having the same spirit of faith, according to that which is written, “I believed, and therefore I spoke.” We also believe, and therefore we also speak" (2 Corinthians 4:13), and the same sentence goes on, "knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also through Jesus, and will present us with you" (2 Corinthians 4:14). 2 Corinthians doesn't name the psalm and gives only its first words, and the WEB words them a little differently (therefore I said in the psalm, and therefore I spoke in 2 Corinthians). Paul applies the words to himself and those with him, "We also believe" (2 Corinthians 4:13), not to Jesus, and doesn't say the psalm speaks of Jesus. What takes the line to Jesus is Paul's own sentence: those who believe and speak do so "knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also through Jesus" (2 Corinthians 4:14). The psalm itself doesn't speak of anyone being raised, and these notes don't read that into it.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Psalm 116
That was a taste
The rest of Psalm 116 is waiting in Favor
- Calling on the LORD's name, in trouble and in thanks
- "I believed"
- What will I give? I will take
- Lines other psalms share
- "Oh love the LORD, all you his saints"
- 7 questions as you read
- 14 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Psalm 116 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
אָהַבahavsay a-HAV
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "love". Strong's: "to have affection for". "I love the LORD, because he listens to my voice" (116:1): in Hebrew the verse opens with ahavti, I love, and the LORD's name comes after listens, not after I love. The Psalms have the verb 39 times in Hebrew, and some verses set it beside the LORD's saints: "Oh love the LORD, all you his saints!" (Psalm 31:23), and "You who love the LORD, hate evil!" (Psalm 97:10).
For your group
Psalm 116 Bible study questions
- 1"What will I give to the LORD for all his benefits toward me?" (116:12). What would you name among his benefits to you this year, and what would you like to give back?
- 2"I believed, therefore I said, “I was greatly afflicted.”" (116:10). Is it easier for you to hide what is hard or to say it out loud to God? Why?
- 3"Return to your rest, my soul, for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you" (116:7). The psalmist speaks to his own soul. What would you say to yours this week?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Psalm 116 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Favor takes the Bible as one story, in order, so you'll reach Psalm 116 with everything that leads up to it in view. Start from Genesis, or meet Jesus first in the Gospels. You can read the text of any chapter in Favor's Look up whenever you like.
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I've never really read the Bible. Is this for me?
Yes. Favor starts where you are and explains as it goes. The questions along the way aren't marked right or wrong: you answer, then see what the text shows.
Which Bible does Favor use?
The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home