Psalm Photos - 116 - LBW

Psalm 116

I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my supplications.

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, save my life!”

Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful.

The Lord protects 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 walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

I kept my faith, even when I said, “I am greatly afflicted”;

I said in my consternation, “Everyone is a liar.”

What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty 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.

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.

O Lord, I am your servant; I am your servant, the child of your serving girl. You have loosed my bonds.

I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice 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!

——

Today is Mother’s Day and on this day, I give thanks for my Mom (and my Dad) who made sure that virtually every Sunday we were in worship at 8:30am, even on those (many) Sundays when the last thing I wanted to do was be up and dressed for 8:30 in the morning. While much of my faith development grew deeper as I got into college, the foundation was laid by my parents’ persistence and for that I give thanks.

As I read the Psalm today and got about halfway through, I began to hear music from back in my Lutheran days. “What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me…” through the end of the Psalm - “…in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem…” I heard one of the sung responses that was a part of the Lutheran liturgy which used slightly different words, but from the same Psalm

What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me? I will offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call on the name of the Lord. I will take the cup of salvation and will call on the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the Lord’s house, in the midst of you, O Jerusalem.

So, Mom, thank you for the foundation of faith you and Dad laid for me. Thank you.