Psalms 113-118 are a collection of six psalms known as the Hallel which are recited at key Jewish festivals, including that of Passover. In this series of posts I will take a brief look at each of them in turn as we move through Lent. As I reflect on the Hallel I will have in mind the line that concludes both Matthew and Mark’s accounts of the Last Supper: ‘And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives’ (Matthew 26:30; Mark 14:26). It wouldn’t at all surprise me if the last hymn which Jesus sung was the Hallel…
Psalm 116 provides a lament from someone who is in the clutches of death. The vivid descriptions of death snaring and entangling a person, causing them to suffer distress and anguish (v3) in the midst of affliction and deception (vv10, 11) resulting in heartfelt pleas and bitter tears (vv1, 8), paint a picture of great suffering of someone whose life is about to be extinguished.
But alongside this, in an apparent contradiction of the circumstances being experienced, the psalmist is prompted to cry out for deliverance with a deeply held conviction that God will answer and save. The psalmist makes a series of decisions to throw themselves onto God, beginning with the opening verse: I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.
In order to appreciate the richness of this psalm it would be worth reading it through slowly a few times, each time focussing on a different aspect. As you meditate look for:
- descriptions of God’s character – His grace, righteousness, and mercy;
- actions of God towards the psalmist – He has heard, inclined His ear, preserved, saved and delivered;
- declarations by the psalmist – his love for God, decision to call on God for his whole life;
- convictions of the psalmist – he will flourish in due time, he will walk in the land of the living, he will worship.
Underpinning the whole psalm is the psalmist’s identity as the servant of the Lord (v16). This reality means that whatever the circumstances the psalmist faces it is possible for him to call on God with full confidence that God will hear and act. But even more than God meeting the psalmist in the current trials is the conviction that he will again worship. The repeated, ‘I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people’ (vv14, 18) carries a certainty that the psalmist will again visit the temple and gather with others in praise of the Lord. Even in the depths of despair hope springs up for the servant of the Lord. Even when facing death the hope of abundant life remains tangible.
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And so as Jesus sung these words at the Last Supper I wonder how much of the detail of what lay ahead He was able to anticipate. I am convinced that as He spoke these words of truth He would have believed them with every fibre of His being. And yet, with Gethsemane around the corner how do we square the language of God hearing His prayer with the cross and the suffering it entailed? With the cross not very many hours away, how do we understand His cry for deliverance from death (vv3-4)?
Surely the only thing which can make sense of this is the fact that after Gethsemane and the cross comes the empty tomb; after Maundy Thursday and Good Friday comes Easter Sunday. Jesus’ cries were heard and His prayers were answered in due course. But first He had to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving (v17) which was His own body, and drink the cup of salvation (v13) which was His blood.
On the cross Jesus proved Himself to be the long-awaited servant of the Lord (v16) whose death was precious in the sight of God (v15), and He did, in the words of verse 8, experience deliverance of His soul from death and the joy of resurrection. On Easter Day he did again walk before God in the land of the living (v9).
The Sharpened Sword 