Psalm 116:1-9 – Dealing with Death’s Effect – Bible study

Psalm 116:1-9 Dealing with Deaths Effect Death is a strange enemy. Over the dying Christian, it has no effect! Thanks to what Jesus Christ did on the third day, death has been defeated! That means for the departing saint who walks through the valley of deaths shadow, death cannot touch him. The departing saint simply closes his eyes on this plane and immediately opens them in the presence of the Savior. However, we who are alive must still grapple with death. We are not the ones walking through the valley. We are the ones who have to deal with the results and for us, death still causes grief. In the long run, death is defeated; but in the here-and-now, death leaves those left behind with a loneliness and a hurt. The writer of this Psalm did combat with death. I do not think the writer faced death. I think one he loved did, but that left him to deal with the loss. He fought death, and he won. Lets see how he did it. I. \#3\ The Need A. Deaths sorrows had compassed this man about. Psalm 116:3 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. 1. That is not an unusual phrase in the book of Psalms. a. To be honest, I do not preach often from this book. b. The reason why is because there is a lot of repetition. c. The plot of a lot of chapters is the same. (1) There will be an enemy. It might be physical, spiritual, or metaphorical. (2) There will be a prayer. Someone being attacked will call on God in obedience and faith. (3) There will be a deliverance. God will rescue the one who called upon Him. d. You might ask, "If it is so common, why did God keep repeating it?" Because life is hard and Gods people need constant reminders to call upon the Lord. e. We are so blessed we forget that for most people on this globe, life is not so easy. (1) Most do not live so happy. (2) Most do not live so healthy. (3) Most do not live so long. (4) Most do not live so comfortable. (5) Most do not live so secured. 2. In this Psalm, death is a common enemy. a. However, I dont think death came for the writer. b. I think death came for the writers friend or family. c. Notice, the writer does not say that death surrounded him, but the sorrows of death. (1) For the believer, death can be relatively easy. (2) For the believer, death is just a door to take you to Jesus. (3) As Brother Mike testified, death is just part of the journey from salvation to the Savior. (4) Notice what this writer said of death Psalm 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. (5) However, for the loved ones left behind, there is the sorrows of death that we must live with. 3. It was not death which caused this man to cry unto the Lord, but the battle with sorrow which caused him to do so. 4. By the way, that is normal and naturaleven for the most spiritual of people. B. The pains of hell got hold of him. 1. The word for hell here is a broad term. a. It can mean anything from a whole in the ground to hell itself. b. 29 times the word is translated grave. c. 31 times it is translated hell. d. I say that not to correct the King James, but to say to you that the use of word doesnt necessarily have to mean that someone went to hell. e. It could just mean that they have died and are in the grave. 2. However, it is not hell or the grave that got this person, it was a great pain. a. The word pain means misery. b. Death can leave behind a sorrow, a loneliness, a sadness, an emptiness, a discouragement, a pain, a misery that can take hold of those that are left behind. c. It had gotten this writer, C. As a result, this man was left with trouble and sorrow. II. \#4-6\ The Solution A. \#4\ He called upon the Lord. Psalm 116:4 Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. 1. He prayed. Talking to God helps. 2. He asked for deliverance. Asking for deliverance brings it. 3. He was asking for deliverance for his soul not his body. a. Again, the writers life was not being threatened. b. Soul is where our mind and emotions abide. c. This man was being broken. d. But God heals broken hearts too! B. \#5\ He found God to be: Psalm 116:5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. 1. The Bible does not say what God did for this broken man. a. I believe if God had healed his loved, the Bible would have told us. b. I believe if God had erased the memory of his loss, the Bible would have told us. c. I believe if God had erased the hurt of this loss, the Bible would have told us. d. I dont think God did any of those things. 2. I think what God did was made Himself so real to this person that he was able to keep the memory and the hurt of his loss and still rejoice. 3. He found God. Not in salvation, but in other ways. a. He found God to be gracious. b. He found God to be righteous. c. He found God to be merciful. 4. This writer felt the presence of God so close that he could bear the hurt he was going through. 5. I do not mean to be pompous, but hurt can open a new door in the relationship between you and your God that nothing else can open. C. \#6\ God thus helped him. Psalm 116:6 The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me. III. \#8\ The Deliverance – Because of Gods presence Psalm 116:8 For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. A. The mans soul was delivered from death. 1. The soul is still the seat of our emotions and intellect. 2. The Psalmist was not saying God delivered his body from death, but his soul from it. 3. His heart was broken and filled with misery and sorrow, but God became real to himso real that his heart was in timemended. a. No one "gets over" the death of a loved one, but everyone must mend. b. Your life will never be the same, but it can still be good and in fact, it can be better. c. God gives life to the living and as long as a Christian is alive, God wants us to have a full and joyous life. John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. d. We lay the dead in the grave, but there is no reason for the living to get into one. e. God will deliver you from deaths sorrows if you will let Him. B. This mans eyes were delivered from tears. 1. That means God gave him back his joy again. 2. In the beginning, he did not think it was possible but God delivered him! 3. And God will deliver you tooif you will receive it. C. This mans feet were delivered from falling. 1. What does that mean? 2. When one falls, he stops. He goes down. He loses his ability to continue on. 3. To stumble is a picture of a Christian quitting on God. a. Grief kept can become a load too heavy to carry. b. God did not intend us to carry our grief but to work our way through it. (1) There is no time schedule for it. (2) There is no right or wrong way to do it. (3) Each person must find their way of getting to the other side, but there is an other side. c. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, and God will get us to the other sideif we will let Him. 4. God got this man through it. IV. The Promise A. As a result of God helping him, this man was going to do some things for God. 1. He was going to love God. Psalm 116:1 I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. 2. He was going to call even more on God. Psalm 116:2 Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. 3. He was going to live right. Psalm 116:9 I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living. 4. He was going to believe God. Psalm 116:10 I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted: 5. He was going to pay his vows. Psalm 116:14, 18 I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people. 6. He was going to thank God. Psalm 116:17 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD. B. Why are all of these things listed? 1. Because the writer wanted us to know that he was not quitting! 2. He did not stumble and quit on God and he did quit living. 3. He grieved, and it was unbearable; but he called upon the Lord who helped him, and then he lived a good, godly, full, and faithful life! C. I don’t know who the writer lost. wife? child? frend? It does not matter who it was. What mattered was it placed him in the tunnel of grief, but God brought him through to the other side. D. And if we will let Him, God will do that for us too. We who are alive must face not the stinger of death but the sorrow of death, but we are also victors thanks to God.