Psalms 116

The Chaldaisms of Psalms 116:7; Psalms 116:12; Psalms 116:19, (De Wette,) with other strong Aramaic colouring of language, (Delitzsch,) determine the postexilic date of this psalm. In this critics generally agree. It is written as an individual experience, but the individual represented the nation. From great peril and suffering the author, in answer to prayer, is restored. For this his love is excited and his lips pour forth praise. His acknowledgments are before all the people, on a day of sacrifice, at Jerusalem. The rearing of the great altar was the first notable occasion of national thanksgiving after the return of the exiles, (Ezra 3:1-7,) which, as a date of the psalm, well suits the freshness of the joy of deliverance and of the remembered sufferings of the captivity. As the deliverance was great, so the joy and love and vows of fidelity are unbounded. “The psalm is an evidence of the truth and depth of the religious life in individuals after the return from the exile.” Perowne. The Septuagint and Vulgate, without authority, divide this psalm into two, ending the first at Psalms 116:9, and inserting “hallelujah” in the title of each. In like manner, as we have seen, they join into one Psalms 114, 115. The Davidic style, which discovers itself throughout, only shows how strongly the author was impressed with the spirit and writings of David. The strophic divisions are not clearly marked, but may be resolved into two. After the introduction, (Psalms 116:1-2,) the first, (Psalms 116:3-11,) describes chiefly the psalmist’s deliverance; the second, (Psalms 116:12, to the end,) his vows and his gratitude.