PSALM 116v1-19 TEXT: v3 [THEN CALLED I UPON THE NAME/LORD]
Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.
It is true to say that not every mention of salvation in the Bible relates to salvation from sin, death and hell
Peter was already converted when he cried out and said: “Lord, save me” (Matthew 14:30)
The whole context shows how far the salvation extended:
But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
His desire was to be saved from a watery grave
Likewise, David was already a child/God when he wrote/text
Yet he often sought deliverance from God during his life
Most/time it related to the temporal salvation from the murderous hand of Saul
Later on, the deliverance sought was from the equally murderous hand of his own son, Absalom
But all these deliverance’s, although temporal, are used to
convey the greatest deliverance of all, summed up in the verse:
Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for he shall save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21)
This is the way that we want to look at our text
The similarities are too striking to miss
4 main thoughts:
1) WHAT THE PSALMIST SOUGHT:
Summed up in the words: deliver my soul
A/ This is what every sinner needs to seek:
The statement rightly presupposes three things
[i] That man has a soul
Some groups (notably the JW’s) tell you that man is a soul
They do not take the view that the body and soul are separate
Sometimes the Bible uses language that suggests their position:
And the LORD God formed man of the
dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;
and man became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7)
And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls. (Acts 27:37)
The writers here, however, are using a grammatical device where the most part/the subject (person/people) is put for the whole
We might refer to the crowns/Europe i.e. the kings/queens
However/Bible speaks of the body and the soul being separate
Note the division which Jesus Christ very distinctly set out:
And fear not them which kill the
body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is
able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)
Again notice how the soul is separated from the body here
I saw under the altar the souls of
them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which
they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord,
holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that
dwell on the earth? (Revelation 6:9-10)
They were slain – their bodies under the soil – but their
souls were still active and crying out to God for vengeance
Man has a soul
[ii] This soul is in great bondage and/or danger
Needs to be delivered
For us it is a both situation – Sin has bound us/brought us into
danger – because the soul that sins shall surely die (Ezekiel
18:4)
The Psalmist did not once dispute with the fact of his guilt
True (v11) that he branded all men as liars
Some think that he is referring to the deceit/others
Also possible/likely that he includes himself in the charge:
In my great distress I thought God
would not regard man, who is but lies and vanity, yet I overcame this
temptation and felt the contrary. (Geneva Bible notes)
B/ Let us not deny our guilt
A man who denies his guilt will not use these words
They insult his sense of pride
They hole his self confidence under the waterline
They put him on the same level as the worst cases/human race
They put him down there with the harlots/murders and druggies
But
until he admits what the Bible says i.e. no difference – all have
sinned an come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) – then he can
never be saved
C/ It is an awful thing to hold unto a hopeless hope
A Christless hope is a hopeless hope
We need to seek salvation for our souls
2) WHERE THE PSALMIST SOUGHT IT:
the name of the Lord…
A/ He did not seek it within
Man is the problem – he is not part of the solution
That’s the trouble with all those New Age self help books
They have rediscovered the excitement of the Serpent’s words: Ye shall be as gods! (Genesis 3:5)
Still as intoxicating as ever!
People still believe that they can discover their deified part
They can solve their spiritual problems through positive thinking
I think, therefore I am becomes I think I am, I am
But David had none of this
He saw himself (as every sinner must do) in the hold of the sorrows of death and the pains of hell (v2)
That is where the awakened sinner sees himself
There is a great sense/urgency in his soul
Some one who does not see the danger has not seen the sin
Or else: He has low views of [i] God [ii] sin [iii] eternal wrath
B/ David did not seek help from without
Or if he did – he soon discovered how useless such help was
Even the well meaning folk can’t help us here
The best help an outsider can give us is to point us to Jesus
I love the epitaph: the Spirit/God wrote of John the Baptist
John did no miracle, but that he spake of this man was true (John 10:42)
One sentence summarises John’s talk about Christ: Behold the Lamb of God (John 1:29)
When someone is anxious about their souls, the best thing we can do (only thing!) is to point away from ourselves to Christ
Who was in greater distress than the folk/Pentecost?
Peter had just powerfully indicted them for their all too recent sin of crucifying their Messiah
Event was still fresh/raw in their minds
Peter didn’t mince his words or offer any excuses/escape
When they cried out: Men/brethren – what shall we do?
Peter’s reply did not take too long to come back:
Then
Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive
the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Acts 2:38)
C/ If the sinner isn’t looking to Jesus alone then they are not looking in the right place
They have been waylaid or misled
The Devil is the craftiest and most deceitful being/universe
He can cope with religion with no problem
What a job he did when he got hold on Cain
Cain the religionist – Cain the praying/hymn singing respectable church going and Bible carrying religionist
Cain who said: he believed in God and in creation and the fall/man
The type of questions the pollsters (particularly in the USA) like to ask – and still get good high scoring answers
Cain ticked all the right boxes
But he was in the hands of the devil – a mere plaything
He did not look to the blood/sprinkling (cp Abel)
He had religion – but his soul was still in the grip/sin
And he wasn’t willing to change
Anyone can make a mistake in divine things
But there is error that is soul damning
We ought to change when our errors are pointed out
This is something that Cain failed to do and was lost
D/ But the Psalmist did it
It is emphasised in our text
The name of the Lord is mentioned twice
[i] In the narrative and [ii] in the quoted words
If you were to go through this psalm and underline each and every reference to the Lord - you would cover the Psalm in ink
David is full of what he is saying here
He is certainly not ashamed of it because it is the gospel/Christ
David found salvation in the name of the Lord
3) HOW THE PSALMIST SOUGHT IT:
Then called I…O LORD, I beseech thee…”
A/ We have here the fact of the call: I called
This is the very evangelical language of the NT(x2)
Whosoever shall call upon the name/Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13)
Calling is entirely consistent with the thought/helplessness
It is not the action of the hands/feet
That would be consistent with the thought/self salvation: I used my hands and manufactured something to please God
Cain used his hands to present his vegetable offering
I used my feet and went on this/that pilgrimage
Here is a man who effectively says that he could do nothing
He can only call for help
The first thing a new born baby does is call for help
Nothing more helpless than a new born
Yet it makes known its need and usually gets it
Already seen where the Psalmist directed his call
It was not a call of hopeless desperation
It had a target in mind – it named the Lord as its helper
True faith always leads the soul to God
False faith leads to everywhere else
Here we have the fact of David’s call
He readily speaks about
He lives out his own words in v10
I have believed therefore have I spoken
These words were quoted by Paul (2 Corinthians 4:13)
Some people talk about a quiet faith
I am not so sure about that kind of faith
One thing: If you pit it against a loud brash shallow profession
Another: If you measure it by the word/God as you ought to do
Sometimes it simply means that the things/God were an embarrassment to the holder of it
B/ It was a fervent faith
He not only called – but he besought the Lord
We mentioned earlier (Introduction) about the various deliverance’s which occur in the Bible
Said that they all prefigure this great deliverance
Good to see where the Hebrew word for besought crops up
[i] It is used in Jonah 1:14 when the frightened sailors on Jonah’s ship thought that they were drowning:
Wherefore they cried unto the LORD,
and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish
for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O
LORD, hast done as it pleased thee.
What fervency would attend their cry in such circumstances!
Should not the sinner have a similar cry?
[ii] Used again when Hezekiah was told his sickness was/death
And said, Remember now, O LORD, I
beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect
heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept
sore. (Isaiah 38:3)
Again – a very fitting picture of the guilty sinner
It is not fanaticism to attend to the needs/soul
It is criminal irresponsible to neglect them
How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? i.e.
How can we escape the judgment/God for such carelessness?
C/ Yes – let the cry be a fervent one
It need not necessarily be a loud cry or even public
But
when the soul comes into contact with God - leave Him in no doubt (if
I can say such a thing) that you are anxious to be saved
Beseech him to show that this is an urgent matter
For so it is – time is short and eternity is real and pressing
4) WHY THE PSALMIST FOUND IT:
Gracious is the Lord and righteous, yea our God is merciful (v5)
A/ God being righteous on its own will not secure salvation
Indeed, standing alone, it can only make sure our damnation
B/ His righteousness is tempered (though not compromised) with grace and mercy and this makes the difference
They all come into play equally
There is a glorious difference between mercy and grace
But each is to the advantage of the sinner
[i] Mercy withholds that which we deserved i.e. wrath
Have
mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto
the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. (Psalm
51:1)
[ii] Grace gives us that which we were not due i.e. brought into
God’s family with the adoption/sons – eternal glory etc.,
Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption etc.,
C/ We can offer this salvation to each/every sinner
We can assure them that if they seek, then they will find
God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked
His pleasure is that they will look and live (Appeal)
THE END