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Gustave Doré’s engraving of David standing crowned and bowed as he mourns Absalom

Psalm 116

One of the psalms St Athanasius said to pray when the Lord has heard you and you want to thank Him, in a letter from the 300s.

  • 19Verses
  • 1Situation

St Athanasius, Letter to Marcellinus

When to pray it

In the 300s, St Athanasius of Alexandria wrote a letter to his friend Marcellinus about praying the Psalms. In it he matched psalms to what people go through. This is what he gave this one for.

Your own people turned against you. You called on the Lord, He heard you, and now you want to thank Him.

If, hounded like that by your own people, you called on the Lord and He heard you, and now you want to give thanks, sing Psalms 4, 75 and 116.

Letter to Marcellinus

For this, the quiz gives Psalm 4, and verses 1 to 9 of this psalm beside it.

19 verses, Berean Standard Bible

The whole psalm

Psalm 116

  1. 1I love the LORD, for He has heard my voice— my appeal for mercy.
  2. 2Because He has inclined His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live.
  3. 3The ropes of death entangled me; the anguish of Sheol overcame me; I was confronted by trouble and sorrow.
  4. 4Then I called on the name of the LORD: “O LORD, deliver my soul!”
  5. 5The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.
  6. 6The LORD preserves the simplehearted; I was helpless, and He saved me.
  7. 7Return to your rest, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you.
  8. 8For You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
  9. 9I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.
  10. 10I believed, therefore I said, “I am greatly afflicted.”
  11. 11In my alarm I said, “All men are liars!”
  12. 12How can I repay the LORD for all His goodness to me?
  13. 13I will lift the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD.
  14. 14I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all His people.
  15. 15Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.
  16. 16Truly, O LORD, I am Your servant; I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant; You have broken my bonds.
  17. 17I will offer to You a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD.
  18. 18I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all His people,
  19. 19in the courts of the LORD’s house, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Hallelujah!

Psalm 116 is 114 and 115 in the Greek numbering Athanasius used, which Orthodox Bibles and some older Catholic ones still follow.

After God has brought you through

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All 53 situations, in one guide.

Your turn

Which Psalm are you living right now?

A few honest taps about your life right now, and the psalm an early Church Father gave for exactly that.

  • 3 min
  • 7 questions
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Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Athanasius’s advice is paraphrased from his Greek.