How shall we live? Psalm 116

How do we respond to God? Psalm 116 reads like the testimony of God's saving grace and the psalmist's response to that grace. in verse 3, the state of man without God is described; The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. This is the state of all that are not saved. The weight of their sin swallows them up. God alone can save us from the punishment of His holy hatred for sin. But redemtion is found in the Lord and Him alone verses 4,5 :4Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. 5Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. What is the tangible effect of salvation? The testimony of the psalmist is seen in seen in verse 8:For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. And now How shall we live? verse 9: I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living. In this verse, the word walk comes from a Hebrew word meaning to be continually conversant. Now what is the confession of this man who has been redeemed,12 What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. This is a declaration of worship and a seeking of God's will that He might be glorified. It is saying I will drink down and seek all that you have for me. It is putting on all that God's will has purposed. These are the words of one who has "counted the cost" as Paul wrote. It is a life of surrender and living in the presence of God. Out of love and devotion the psalmist declares in verses:
16 O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds. 17 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD. 18 I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people, 19 In the courts of the LORD’S house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD. In reading this psalm, you can practically feel the thankfulness and love that the psalmist has for God. You see that as we come to know and understand God and what He has done in saving us, a love and devotion to God erupts out of the repentant heart.