Psalms 116:4
in Psalms 116Then I called on the name of the LORD: “O LORD, deliver my soul!”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then called I upon the name of Jehovah: O Jehovah, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.
KJV
Then called I upon the name of the Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.
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This verse in Psalms 116
Commentary
12 notes on this verseO Lord, deliver my soul. Neither the Greek nor the Latin can express the peculiar force of the Hebrew. For "O" the Hebrew has ANNA. Now anna is interpreted "I beg" and "I entreat." And what he says is this: I entreat you, Lord, deliver my soul. For it is not the feeling of one wondering, but of one entreating: for he is set in enormous peril.
This site's exposition
The ropes of death entangled me
on Psalms 116:3-4
The ropes of death are chebel, a twisted cord used of a noose, and the anguish of Sheol is metsar, a tight place. Trouble and sorrow found him there, and he called on the name of the LORD. The prayer is four Hebrew words: deliver my soul.
This site's exposition
Then I called on the name of the LORD
Spurgeon said the psalmist called in the trouble and sorrow of verse 3, when things were at their worst. He read calling on the name as calling on all the name of the LORD holds. Gill noted the Hebrew can be read as calling in the name of the LORD.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"The sorrows of death," he says, "have compassed me; and the perils of hell have found me." Properly the sorrows of death have been agreed on as the pains of childbirth, when the womb, distended with its burden, thrusts out the fetus; then, the generative parts, being compressed and stretched around the fetus by spasms and contractions of the muscles, produce in the mothers the sharpest pains and most bitter pangs. He transferred the name of these pains to those that besiege the animal in the division of soul and body at death. He says that he has suffered nothing moderately but that he has been tried even to the sorrows of death and has arrived at the peril of the descent into hell. Now, did he endure only these things for which he is exalted, or did he endure these things frequently and unwillingly? Nothing that is forced is praiseworthy. But, look at the nobility of nature of the athlete. When the sorrows of death compassed me and the perils of hell found me, I was so far from succumbing to these trials that I willingly proposed to myself even much greater trials than these. Trouble and sorrow, I, as it were, willingly devised for myself; I was not unwillingly seized by them.Indeed, in the preceding words we read, "The perils of hell have found me," but here, "I met with trouble and sorrow." For, since I was found to be unyielding there in regard to what was brought on by the tempter, in order that I might show the abundance of my love toward God, I added trouble to trouble and sorrow to sorrow, and I did not rise up against these sufferings by my own power, but I called upon the name of the Lord. […]
But after "I too found trouble and heaviness, I called upon the Name of the Lord." For trouble and profitable sorrow I did not feel; trouble, wherein He giveth aid, unto whom it is said, "O be Thou our help in trouble: and vain is the help of man." For I thought I might rejoice and exult in the vain help of man; but when I had heard from my Lord, "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted:" I did not wait until I should lose those temporal blessings in which I rejoiced, and should then mourn: but I gave heed to that very misery of mine which caused me to rejoice in such things, which I both feared to lose, and yet could not retain; I gave heed to it firmly and courageously, and I saw that I was not only agonized by the adversities of this world, but even bound by its good fortune; and thus "I found the trouble and heaviness" which had escaped me, "and called upon the Name of the Lord; O Lord, I beseech Thee, deliver my soul." Let then the holy people of God say, "I called upon the Name of the Lord:" and let the remainder of the heathen hear, who do not as yet call upon the Name of the Lord; let them hear and seek, that they may discover trouble and heaviness, and may call upon the Name of the Lord, and be saved. ...
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Then called I upon the name of the Lord,.... Upon the Lord himself in prayer for speedy deliverance; or "in the name of the Lord" (h), in the name of the Messiah, the only Mediator between God and man; "saying", as follows, and which word may be supplied, O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul; from these sorrows and pains, from these afflictions and distresses, from death and the grave, and from wrath, and a sense of it, and fears about it. (h) בשם יהוה "in nomine Domini", Montanus, Musculus, Vatablus.
He tells us what his prayer was; it was short, but to the purpose: " O Lord! I beseech thee, deliver my soul; save me from death, and save me from sin, for that is it that is killing to the soul." Both the humility and the fervency of his prayer are intimated in these words, O Lord! When we come to the throne of grace we must come as beggars for an alms, for necessary food.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Then I called upon the name of the Lord. Prayer is never out of season, he prayed then, when things were at their worst. When the good man could not run to God, he called to him. In his extremity his faith came to the front: it was useless to call on man, and it may have seemed almost as useless to appeal to the Lord; but yet he did with his whole soul invoke all the attributes which make up the sacred name of Jehovah, and thus he proved the truth of his confidence.
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
Then I called upon the name of the Lord. Prayer is never out of season, he prayed then, when things were at their worst. When the good man could not run to God, he called to him. In his extremity his faith came to the front: it was useless to call on man, and it may have seemed almost as useless to appeal to the Lord; but yet he did with his whole soul invoke all the attributes which make up the sacred name of Jehovah, and thus he proved the truth of his confidence. We can some of us remember certain very special times of trial of which we can now say, "then called I upon the name of the Lord." The Psalmist appealed to the Lord's mercy, truth, power, and faithfulness, and this was his prayer, —O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. This form of petition is short, comprehensive, to the point, humble, and earnest. It were well if all our prayers were moulded upon this model; perhaps they would be if we were in similar circumstances to those of the Psalmist, for real trouble produces real prayer. Here we have no multiplicity of words, and no fine arrangement of sentences; everything is simple and natural; there is not a redundant syllable, and yet there is not one lacking.
THE great trouble which is here described very probably happened to David long after he had been a Believer. He had been living the life of faith, perhaps, for years, in a calm, happy and quiet manner. But by-and-by he met with outward tribulation and not a little of inward conflict. At some time or other it generally happens to a Believer, between the setting out at the wicket gate and the crossing of the last river, that he endures a great fight of afflictions.
THE great trouble which is here described very probably happened to David long after he had been a Believer. He had been living the life of faith, perhaps, for years, in a calm, happy and quiet manner. But by-and-by he met with outward tribulation and not a little of inward conflict. At some time or other it generally happens to a Believer, between the setting out at the wicket gate and the crossing of the last river, that he endures a great fight of afflictions. My observation leads me to notice that those who begin with rough times frequently have a smooth path afterwards, while others, whose first experience was very sunny and peaceful, meet with fierce conflicts farther on. Those who have enjoyed a long, calm and comparatively easy life, may meet their stormiest hours at the close of their days, for some of the best of God's children, to use an old Puritan's expression, "are put to bed in the dark." Their sun sets in clouds, but doubtless it rises again in the full splendor of the eternal morning! Somewhere or other, Brothers and Sisters, you will learn to acknowledge that— "The path of sorrow, and that path, alone, Leads to the land where sorrow is unknown." The saints above who sing the new song are, at least many of them, described by the words, "These are they which came out of great tribulation." That is the general way to Heaven and perhaps few travelers reach Paradise by any other road. Let Believers, therefore, not count upon immunity from trouble, but let them reckon upon sufficient Grace for it. Let them believe that God's choicest letters of love are sent to us in black-edged envelopes. We are frightened at the envelope, but inside, if we know how to break the seal, we shall find riches for our souls. Great trials are the clouds out of which God gives great mercies.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Then called I upon the name of the Lord - Upon the Lord. I had no other refuge. I felt that I must perish unless he should interpose, and I pleaded with him for deliverance and life. Compare the notes at Psa 18:6. O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul - My life. Save me from death. This was not a cry for salvation, but for life. It is an example for us, however, to call on God when we feel that the soul is in danger of perishing, for then, as in the case of the psalmist, we have no other refuge but God.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּבְשֵֽׁם־ | uveshem- | and on [the] name of | H8034 → | 864 times |
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶקְרָ֑א | ʾekra' | I called | H7121 → | 733 times |
| אָנָּ֥ה | ʾanah | I beg you | H577 → | 13 times |
| יְ֝הוָ֗ה | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| מַלְּטָ֥ה | maletah | deliver ! | H4422 → | 95 times |
| נַפְשִֽׁי׃ | nafshi | life my | H5315 → | 754 times |
וּבְשֵֽׁם־and on [the] name of
uveshem-H8034 →864 times
יְהוָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶקְרָ֑אI called
ʾekra'H7121 →733 times
אָנָּ֥הI beg you
ʾanahH577 →13 times
יְ֝הוָ֗הO Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
מַלְּטָ֥הdeliver !
maletahH4422 →95 times
נַפְשִֽׁי׃life my
nafshiH5315 →754 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 118:5In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered and set me free.
it leads to
- Psalms 18:19
He brought me out into the open; He rescued me because He delighted in me.
- Psalms 18:6
In my distress I called upon the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for His help reached His ears.
- Psalms 120:1
In my distress I cried to the LORD, and He answered me.
- Psalms 107:19
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress.
- Psalms 130:1–2
Out of the depths I cry to You, O LORD!
- Psalms 18:19
Through
Psalms 22:20Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of wild dogs.
it leads to
- Psalms 35:17
How long, O Lord, will You look on? Rescue my soul from their ravages, my precious life from these lions.
- Zechariah 13:7
Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the man who is My Companion, declares the LORD of Hosts. Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn My hand against…
- Psalms 17:13
Arise, O LORD, confront them! Bring them to their knees; deliver me from the wicked by Your sword,
- Psalms 35:17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 116; Basil of Caesarea, HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 22; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 5; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1216: “To Souls In Agony” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jerome, Homily 39, on Psalm 114; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.