October 12, 2025 - Psalm 116:1-10 - "Gracious and Righteous is the LORD"

Psalm 116:1-10

"I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me. Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living. I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted:"

“I love the LORD, because He hath heard my voice and my supplications.” These are the words of Christ, the voice of our Redeemer praying to His Father. Psalm 116 is the song and prayer of the Son of God, the Mediator, the Surety of His people. It is the thanksgiving of the One Who, having borne sin and wrath, was delivered and heard in His hour of anguish.

When He says, “I love the LORD,” it is the perfect love of the Son to the Father—love displayed in obedience and submission, love that endured the cross and despised the shame. “He hath heard My voice” points us to Gethsemane and to Calvary, to the cry that rose from the garden and from the tree: “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Psalm 22:1). The psalm unfolds as Christ praying through suffering into victory, through death into life.

“The sorrows of death compassed Me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon Me.” None could ever speak those words as He could. The curse of the law fell upon Him; justice demanded satisfaction, and He found trouble and sorrow. In His agony He cried, “O LORD, I beseech Thee, deliver My soul.” That prayer was heard. As Hebrews 5:7 declares, He “was heard in that He feared.” The Father received the cry of His obedient Son and brought Him up out of death, for grace and righteousness met together. “Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.” (Psalm 116:5)

In that one verse stands the wonder of redemption—how God can be both gracious and righteous. Romans 3:25–26 declares, “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood… to declare His righteousness… that He might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” At the cross, mercy and truth met together; righteousness and peace kissed each other (Psalm 85:10). God remained just, even while justifying the ungodly, because His Son bore the judgment due to sin.

“Return unto thy rest, O My soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.” This is the voice of the risen Redeemer, Who, after the travail of His soul, was satisfied (Isaiah 53:11). The work is finished, the ransom paid, the rest obtained. The Father has raised Him from the dead, declaring Him to be the Son of God with power. “Thou hast delivered My soul from death, Mine eyes from tears, and My feet from falling.” Death could not hold Him. The sorrow and tears of the Man of Sorrows are forever gone. His feet stand firm in resurrection glory on behalf of His people (Ephesians 2:6). This psalm is therefore the song of Christ, Who once was compassed by death but now lives forevermore. It is the voice of the Shepherd Who walked through the valley for His sheep and brought them safely out with Him. Because He was heard, we are heard. Because He lives, we shall live also.

“I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.” These are the words of triumph, the confession of the Redeemer and of all who are in Him. The Father heard His cry and accepted His offering. Now all who are united to Him by faith walk in the light of His life. Gracious is the LORD and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. He heard His Son, and in His Son He hears us.

This is, in essence, a Resurrection Hymn of the LORD Jesus in His successful work on behalf of His people that the Father gave Him to save. In this psalm, we see Christ's agonizing prayer in death, but also His deliverance through resurrection, His rest and joy in the Father's presence, and now His eternal intercession and constant communion with the Father and His saved ones.

The LORD heard Him — not by sparing Him from the cross, but by raising Him from the dead, vindicating His righteousness, and glorifying Him with the glory He had before the world was (John 17:1-5).