Psalms 116:12

WHAT SHALL I GIVE TO GOD IN GRATITUDE?

"What shall I render unto Jehovah

For all his benefits toward me?

I will take the cup of salvation,

And call upon the name of Jehovah.

I will pay my vows unto Jehovah,

Yea, in the presence of all the people."

"Vows were never commanded in the Old Testament; the point stressed was that, once made, they had to be kept punctiliously."[15] Apparently, vows were often made and seldom kept. In the case of Jonah's prayer from the belly of "the great fish" he promised God that, "I will pay that which I have vowed" (Jonah 2:9). Here the rescued psalmist asks, "Just what could be appropriate as a gift to God in appreciation for all he has done for me?" It would be well indeed for every Christian to ask himself the same question.

We naturally ask questions similar to this when we have received outstanding favors from our earthly friends. "How much more proper is it to ask such a question in view of the favors we receive from God?"[16] As we come to think of it, indeed, "What can be an adequate return for love like God's, - for mercies so great, and so undeserved?"[17]

The pledge of the healed psalmist here is that he shall engage in a ceremony of thanksgiving in the Temple before all the people and that his gift shall also be presented.