Psalm 116
Psalm 116
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Psalm 116

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Psalm 116

Psalm 116 is the 116th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications". It is part of the Egyptian Hallel sequence in the Book of Psalms.

In the slightly different numbering system in the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate version of the Bible, this psalm begins with Psalm 114, counted as verses 1–9 of Psalm 116, combined with Psalm 115 for the remaining verses. In Latin, Psalm 114 is known as "Dilexi quoniam exaudiet Dominus", and Psalm 115 is known as "Credidi propter quod locutus sum". Psalm 116 in Hebrew is the fourth psalm in the “Egyptian Hallel”. The Septuagint and Vulgate open with the word "Alleluia", whereas the Hebrew version has this word at the end of the preceding psalm.

Psalm 116 is used as a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and other Protestant liturgies. It has often been set to music, including settings by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Anton Bruckner and Franz Schreker.

Psalm 116 is without a title in the Hebrew. The psalm was translated into the Greek Septuagint (about 250BC) in Hellenistic Egypt. There is a presence of Aramaisms in the psalm which has been interpreted by some biblical commentators as evidence of a late date, although this is not definitive. The psalm draws heavily from other psalms, so much so that the German commentator Hermann Hupfeld called it a "patched-up psalm".

It is a question of the praise of the Lord by all peoples. The second verse expresses the reason for the first verse: the goodness of the Lord has been experienced in the past, and his faithfulness will last forever. If we take into consideration the whole book of psalms, we see that this psalm seems to sum up and conclude all the psalms of the hallel, and even all the preceding psalms from Psalm 107 onwards, for they invite Israel and all nations to praise "Eternal".

Theodoret in the fifth century applied this psalm to the distresses of the Jews in the times of the Maccabees under Antiochus Epiphanes, while a small minority ascribe it to Hezekiah's sickness, recorded in Isaiah 38; Alexander Kirkpatrick notes a similarity in the wording. However, most commentators today ascribe it to King David. If David were the author, it is not certain whether it was composed upon any particular occasion, or "upon a general review of the many gracious deliverances God had wrought for him". The Syriac Church holds it was written on the occasion of Saul coming to the cave where David was hiding.

Verse 10 of the Psalm was quoted by Paul the Apostle in 2 Corinthians 4:13.

The Syriac Church applies it to converts coming into the church.

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