Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 116:10
I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted:
10, 11. In the extremity of his distress the Psalmist was compelled to recognise the delusiveness of human help, but he never lost faith in God. Such is the general sense, but the details of interpretation are doubtful. The A.V. I believed, therefore have I spoken follows the LXX ( , ), which is quoted by St Paul in 2Co 4:13; but this rendering must be abandoned as grammatically untenable. On the whole it seems best to render:
I believed [or as R.V. I believe], for I will speak:
I was exceedingly afflicted:
I said In my alarm,
All men are deceitful.
I believed may be understood absolutely, ‘I held fast to my faith in Jehovah’: but the Psalmist evidently (cp. Psa 116:9) still has in mind Psa 27:13 “I believe that I shall see the goodness of Jehovah in the land of the living,” and the use of the word there suggests that the sense here should be completed from Psa 116:9, “I believed that it would be so,” viz. ‘that I should walk before Jehovah in the lands of the living.’ This faith he retained though he was grievously afflicted. Further, I said in my alarm is borrowed from Psa 31:22, where the Psalmist confesses that in his peril he fancied himself deserted by Jehovah. ‘I said in my alarm, I am cut off from before thine eyes.’ Is not our Psalmist tacitly contrasting his own faith with that earlier Psalmist’s loss of faith? He had not ceased to trust in God, but he had learned not to depend on men.
Other renderings are, (1) I believed, when I spake [saying] ‘ I am exceedingly afflicted ’: i.e. I retained my confidence, even when I complained of the severity of my sufferings, and found myself deserted by men. Or (2) I was confident that I should speak ( thus); but as for me, I was sore afflicted: i.e. “he was fully confident that he would sooner or later have to record thanksgivings for deliverance, such as in Psa 116:5-9 ” (Cheyne).
all men are liars ] Cp. Psa 60:11; Psa 62:9; Rom 3:4.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
10 14. Faith’s triumph must be followed by grateful thanksgiving.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I believed, therefore have I spoken – This, in the Septuagint and Latin Vulgate, begins a new psalm, but without any good reason. This language is borrowed by the Apostle Paul to express his confidence in the truth of the gospel, and the effect which that confidence had on him in causing him to declare the truth. 2Co 4:13. The meaning here is, that in the time of his affliction the psalmist had true faith in God; and, as a result of that, he was able now to speak as he did. At that time he trusted in God; he called on him; he sought his mercy, and God heard his prayer; and now, as the consequence of that, he was enabled to give utterance to these thoughts. Faith was at the foundation of his recovery, and he was now reaping the fruits of faith.
I was greatly afflicted – In danger of death. The psalmist reviewed this now, and he saw that all that he had felt and dreaded was real. He was in imminent; danger. There was occasion for the tears which he shed. There was reason for the earnestness of his cry to God.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 116:10
I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted.
Opinions and convictions
There is sincerity, intensity, reality, in every line of this song. Nobody doubts the psalmist when he says, I believed, and therefore do I sing my song of trust in God, and thankfulness to Him for a great salvation. I know few portions of the: Bible more fitted than this psalm to bind our hearts with the bands of faith and gratitude to truth, and duty, and God, and to make us turn away from mere opinions and empty speculations on the high affairs of religion. While it is very desirable, for many reasons, that we should take broad views of the bearings of the Divine government, and especially of the plan of redemption, on the whole world of men, and while it may be very profitable that we even study the religions of the race, and see the points of contrast and comparison between these religions and the truth as it is in Christ, it is imperative that we, first of all, fix our attention on the personal necessities of our own nature, and character, and circumstances, and on the Divine methods of meeting these necessities. We must begin at home, not in the spirit of selfishness, but because that is the natural order of things, and because if we do not see how our own necessities can be compassed, we can only find in the regions outside of us matter for barren talk about religion, and for opinions changeable as the weather. If we cannot get to facts in our own capacities and circumstances, and in the Divine dealings with ourselves, we can never come within sight of facts in the spiritual condition of the world, and in Gods methods of working for the weal of mankind. Mark the prominence of the I, and the me, and my, in this psalm, and yet there is not the semblance of egotism. Gods Spirit deals with your spirit. Yourself cleave to Christ with full purpose of heart, and then you will speak because you believe, really believe. Although, if we are to have convictions and not mere opinions on the high affairs of religion, we must begin with ourselves, and a God and Saviour for ourselves, the spirit of faith in us must travel out over our neighbour, and the world, and out over a gospel adequate to meet the wants of the race. The gospel for ourselves is the gospel for the race, and if we are taught aright the truth to be believed, we get a glimpse of its adaptations for man everywhere, when we get a glimpse of its adaptations for our own selves. We can believe only for ourselves. We cannot by proxy believe for others. But our creed can compass a Christ, a complete Christ for every man. That confession of faith we can make, because we believe it. And it is a great confession of faith,–a real Saviour for the real wants of every man. When believed as a vast and blessed spiritual reality, it makes a man speak. (W. Bathgate, D.D.)
Conviction is the spring of all action
Tozer says, Conviction lies at the root of all consistent action. A mechanical genius conceives an idea. It is as clear as noon-day in his mind, but ere that idea is embodied in a wheel, a spring or lever, he must believe in the possibility of its embodiment: and just in proportion to the strength of his conviction as to the practicability and probable success of his idea, will he be consistent and earnest in working it out. The mind must conceive and believe before the hand or foot will move. Columbus conceived the existence of a continent; the conception grew into a conviction; the conviction was followed by consistent action, and that action was crowned with success, by the discovery of America. A man believes that an observance of certain physical laws is conducive to health, and he acts accordingly. Another believes that obedience to certain moral laws is necessary to a good moral character, self-respect, and peace of conscience, and he obeys these laws. Christianity, then, by making mans pardon and happiness to hinge upon faith, acts in accordance with the laws of his mental and moral being. It is no arbitrary requirement; it is as necessary to holy obedience as any cause is to an effect. A man, for instance, must believe in God, or he will never serve Him; in law, or he will never obey it; in sin, or he will never see the necessity of a Mediator. (The Weekly Pulpit.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 10. I believed, therefore have I spoken] Distressed and afflicted as I was, I ever believed thy promises to be true; but I had great struggles to maintain my confidence; for my afflictions were great, oppressive, and of long standing.
It is scarcely worth observing that the letters called heemantic by the Hebrew grammarians, and which are used in forming the derivatives from the roots, are taken from the first word in this verse, heemanti, “I have believed;” as the prefixes in that language are found in the technical words Mosheh vecaleb, “Moses and Caleb;” and the formatives of the future are found in the word eythan, “strength.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I believed, to wit, Gods promise of deliverance and of the kingdom made to me by Samuel, which I was confident he would perform in spite of discouragements and difficulties.
Therefore have I spoken: so these words are translated, as by others, so by the apostle, 2Co 4:13. I have spoken; either,
1. What I have now said, Psa 116:9; or,
2. What I have uttered to others concerning Gods promises made to me; which I was not ashamed nor afraid to publish when I had occasion, because I was fully persuaded that God would make them good.
I was greatly afflicted; or, when I was, &c.; or, although I was, &c.; such particles being very frequently understood. The sense is, And this I did even in the midst of many and sore afflictions.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
10, 11. Confidence in Godopposed to distrust of men, as not reliable (Psa 68:8;Psa 68:9). He speaks from anexperience of the result of his faith.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
I believed, therefore have I spoken,…. Here the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, begin a new psalm, but without any foundation in the original; nor is it countenanced by the Targum; and is manifestly against the connection with the preceding verses. David expresses his faith in relation to what goes before, though the particulars of it are not mentioned, but are left to be supplied from thence: he not only believed there was a God, but that this God was gracious and merciful, and that he was his God; who had made a covenant with him, ordered in all things, and sure: he believed the promises of it; and particularly the grand promise of it respecting Christ, and salvation by him: he believed the Lord would deliver him out of all his troubles; that he should walk before him, and see his goodness in the land of the living; he believed a future state of happiness he should hereafter enjoy. The Apostle Paul quotes this passage, and applies it to himself and other Gospel ministers; declaring their faith in the resurrection of the dead, and an eternal weight of glory they were looking for, 2Co 4:13; and therefore spake so freely about these things. Faith gives boldness and freedom of speech to men; which believers use with God in prayer, in the believing views of him, as their God in Christ; and of Christ, his person, blood, righteousness, and sacrifice: it gives ministers boldness and freedom to speak out plainly, constantly, and boldly, the Gospel of Christ; it gives the same to private Christians, to speak freely one to another of their gracious experiences, and to declare publicly to the churches of Christ what God has done for their souls;
I was greatly afflicted; when he believed and spake, and yet nevertheless did; he might be afflicted, reproached, and persecuted for his faith, and his speaking of it; particularly as it respected his coming to the crown and kingdom of Israel. And it is no unusual thing for saints to be persecuted for their faith, and profession of it; and yet none of these things move them from it; their faith remains, and is much more precious than gold that perisheth; and they hold fast the profession of it. Many and great afflictions are the common lot of believers.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Since does not introduce anything that could become an object of belief, is absolute here: to have faith, just as in Job 24:22; Job 29:24, with it signifies “to be without faith, i.e., to despair.” But how does it now proceed? The lxx renders , , which the apostle makes use of in 2Co 4:13, without our being therefore obliged with Luther to render : I believe, therefore I speak; does not signify . Nevertheless might according to the sense be used for , if it had to be rendered with Hengstenberg: “I believed, therefore I spake,hy but I was very much plagued.” But this assertion does not suit this connection, and has, moreover, no support in the syntax. It might more readily be rendered: “I have believed that I should yet speak, i.e., that I should once more have a deliverance of God to celebrate;” but the connection of the parallel members, which is then only lax, is opposed to this. Hitzig’s attempted interpretation, “I trust, when ( as in Jer 12:1) I should speak: I am greatly afflicted,” i.e., “I have henceforth confidence, so that I shall not suffer myself to be drawn away into the expression of despondency,” does not commend itself, since Psa 116:10 is a complaining, but not therefore as yet a desponding assertion of the reality. Assuming that and in Psa 116:11 stand on the same line in point of time, it seems that it must be interpreted I had faith, for I spake (was obliged to speak); but , separated from by , is opposed to the colouring relating to the contemporaneous past. Thus Psa 116:10 will consequently contain the issue of that which has been hitherto experienced: I have gathered up faith and believe henceforth, when I speak (have to speak, must speak): I am deeply afflicted ( as in Psa 119:67, cf. Arab. na , to be bowed down, more particularly in captivity, whence Arab. ‘l – nat , those who are bowed down). On the other hand, Psa 116:11 is manifestly a retrospect. He believes now, for he is thoroughly weaned from putting trust in men: I said in my despair (taken from Psa 31:23), the result of my deeply bowed down condition: All men are liars ( , Rom 3:4). Forsaken by all the men from whom he expected succour and help, he experienced the truth and faithfulness of God. Striding away over this thought, he asks in Psa 116:12 how he is to give thanks to God for all His benefits. is an adverbial accusative for , as in Gen 44:16, and the substantive , in itself a later formation, has besides the Chaldaic plural suffix ohi , which is without example elsewhere in Hebrew. The poet says in Psa 116:13 how alone he can and will give thanks to his Deliverer, by using a figure taken from the Passover (Mat 26:27), the memorial repast in celebration of the redemption out of Egypt. The cup of salvation is that which is raised aloft and drunk amidst thanksgiving for the manifold and abundant salvation ( ) experienced. is the usual expression for a solemn and public calling upon and proclamation of the Name of God. In Psa 116:14 this thanksgiving is more minutely designated as , which the poet now discharges. A common and joyous eating and drinking in the presence of God was associated with the shelamim . (vid., Psa 115:2) in the freest application gives a more animated tone to the word with which it stands. Because he is impelled frankly and freely to give thanks before the whole congregation, stands beside , and , moreover, has the intentional ah .
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Grateful Acknowledgments; Devout Resolutions. | |
10 I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted: 11 I said in my haste, All men are liars. 12 What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? 13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. 14 I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people. 15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. 16 O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds. 17 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD. 18 I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people, 19 In the courts of the LORD‘s house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.
The Septuagint and some other ancient versions make these verses a distinct psalm separate from the former; and some have called it the Martyr’s psalm, I suppose for the sake of v. 15. Three things David here makes confession of:–
I. His faith (v. 10): I believed, therefore have I spoken. This is quoted by the apostle (2 Cor. iv. 13) with application to himself and his fellow-ministers, who, though they suffered for Christ, were not ashamed to own him. David believed the being, providence, and promise of God, particularly the assurance God had given him by Samuel that he should exchange his crook for a sceptre: a great deal of hardship he went through in the belief of this, and therefore he spoke, spoke to God by prayer (v. 4), by praise, v. 12. Those that believe in God will address themselves to him. He spoke to himself; because he believed, he said to his soul, Return to thy rest. He spoke to others, told his friends what his hope was, and what the ground of it, though it exasperated Saul against him and he was greatly afflicted for it. Note, Those that believe with the heart must confess with the mouth, for the glory of God, the encouragement of others, and to evidence their own sincerity, Rom 10:10; Act 9:19; Act 9:20. Those that live in hope of the kingdom of glory must neither be afraid nor ashamed to own their obligation to him that purchased it for them, Matt. x. 22.
II. His fear (v. 11): I was greatly afflicted, and then I said in my haste (somewhat rashly and inconsiderately–in my amazement (so some), when I was in a consternation–in my flight (so others), when Saul was in pursuit of me), All men are liars, all with whom he had to do, Saul and all his courtiers; his friends, who he thought would stand by him, deserted him and disowned him when he fell into disgrace at court. And some think it is especially a reflection on Samuel, who had promised him the kingdom, but deceived him; for, says he, I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul, 1 Sam. xxvii. 1. Observe, 1. The faith of the best of saints is not perfect, nor always alike strong and active. David believed and spoke well (v. 10), but now, through unbelief, he spoke amiss. 2. When we are under great and sore afflictions, especially if they continue long, we are apt to grow weary, to despond, and almost to despair of a good issue. Let us not therefore be harsh in censuring others, but carefully watch over ourselves when we are in trouble, Ps. xxxix. 1-3. 3. If good men speak amiss, it is in their haste, through the surprise of a temptation, not deliberately and with premeditation, as the wicked man, who sits in the seat of the scornful (Ps. i. 1), sits and speaks against his brother,Psa 50:19; Psa 50:20. 4. What we speak amiss, in haste, we must by repentance unsay again (as David, Ps. xxxi. 22), and then it shall not be laid to our charge. Some make this to be no rash word of David’s. He was greatly afflicted and forced to fly, but he did not trust in man, nor make flesh his arm. No: he said, “All men are liars; as men of low degree are vanity, so men of high degree are a lie, and therefore my confidence was in God only, and in him I cannot be disappointed.” In this sense the apostle seems to take it. Rom. iii. 4, Let God be true and every man a liar in comparison with God. All men are fickle and inconstant, and subject to change; and therefore let us cease from man and cleave to God.
III. His gratitude, v. 12, c. God had been better to him than his fears, and had graciously delivered him out of his distresses and, in consideration hereof,
1. He enquires what returns he shall make (v. 12): What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me? Here he speaks, (1.) As one sensible of many mercies received from God–all his benefits. This psalm seems to have been penned upon occasion of some one particular benefit (Psa 116:6; Psa 116:7), but in that one he saw many and that one brought many to mind, and therefore now he thinks of all God’s benefits towards him. Note, When we speak of God’s mercies we should magnify them and speak highly of them. (2.) As one solicitous and studious how to express his gratitude: What shall I render unto the Lord? Not as if he thought he could render any thing proportionable, or as a valuable consideration for what he had received; we can no more pretend to give a recompense to God than we can to merit any favour from him; but he desired to render something acceptable, something that God would be pleased with as the acknowledgment of a grateful mind. He asks God, What shall I render? Asks the priest, asks his friends, or rather asks himself, and communes with his own heart about it. Note, Having received many benefits from God, we are concerned to enquire, What shall we render?
2. He resolves what returns he will make.
(1.) He will in the most devout and solemn manner offer up his praises and prayers to God, Psa 116:13; Psa 116:17. [1.] “I will take the cup of salvation, that is, I will offer the drink-offerings appointed by the law, in token of my thankfulness to God, and rejoice with my friends in God’s goodness to me;” this is called the cup of deliverance because drunk in memory of his deliverance. The pious Jews had sometimes a cup of blessing, at their private meals, which the master of the family drank first of, with thanksgiving to God, and all at his table drank with him. But some understand it not of the cup that he would present to God, but of the cup that God would put into his hand. I will receive, First, The cup of affliction. Many good interpreters understand it of that cup, that bitter cup, which is yet sanctified to the saints, so that to them it is a cup of salvation. Phil. i. 19, This shall turn to my salvation; it is a means of spiritual health. David’s sufferings were typical of Christ’s, and we, in ours, have communion with his, and his cup was indeed a cup of salvation. “God, having bestowed so many benefits upon me, whatever cup he shall put into my hands I will readily take it, and not dispute it; welcome his holy will.” Herein David spoke the language of the Son of David. John xviii. 11, The cup that my Father has given me, shall I not take it and drink it? Secondly, The cup of consolation: “I will receive the benefits God bestows upon me as from his hand, and taste his love in them, as that which is the portion not only of my inheritance in the other world, but of my cup in this.” [2.] I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, the thank-offerings which God required, Lev 7:11; Lev 7:12, c. Note, Those whose hearts are truly thankful will express their gratitude in thank-offerings. We must first give our ownselves to God as living sacrifices (Rom 12:12Co 8:5), and then lay out of what we have for his honour in works of piety and charity. Doing good and communicating are sacrifices with which God is well pleased (Heb 13:15; Heb 13:16) and this must accompany our giving thanks to his name. If God has been bountiful to us, the least we can do in return is to be bountiful to the poor, Psa 16:2; Psa 16:3. Why should we offer that to God which costs us nothing? [3.] I will call upon the name of the Lord. This he had promised (v. 2) and here he repeats it, v. 13 and again v. 17. If we have received kindness from a man like ourselves, we tell him that we hope we shall never trouble him again; but God is pleased to reckon the prayers of his people an honour to him, and a delight, and no trouble; and therefore, in gratitude for former mercies, we must seek to him for further mercies, and continue to call upon him.
(2.) He will always entertain good thoughts of God, as very tender of the lives and comforts of his people (v. 15): Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints, so precious that he will not gratify Saul, nor Absalom, nor any of David’s enemies, with his death, how earnestly soever they desire it. This truth David had comforted himself with in the depth of his distress and danger; and, the event having confirmed it, he comforts others with it who might be in like manner exposed. God has a people, even in this world, that are his saints, his merciful ones, or men of mercy, that have received mercy from him and show mercy for his sake. The saints of God are mortal and dying; nay, there are those that desire their death, and labour all they can to hasten it, and sometimes prevail to be the death of them; but it is precious in the sight of the Lord; their life is so (2 Kings i. 13); their blood is so, Ps. lxxii. 14. God often wonderfully prevents the death of his saints when there is but a step between them and it; he takes special care about their death, to order it for the best in all the circumstances of it; and whoever kills them, how light soever they may make of it, they shall be made to pay dearly for it when inquisition is made for the blood of the saints, Matt. xxiii. 35. Though no man lays it to heart when the righteous perish, God will make it to appear that he lays it to heart. This should make us willing to die, to die for Christ, if we are called to it, that our death shall be registered in heaven; and let that be precious to us which is so to God.
(3.) He will oblige himself to be God’s servant all his days. Having asked, What shall I render? here he surrenders himself, which was more than all burnt-offerings and sacrifice (v. 16): O Lord! truly I am thy servant. Here is, [1.] The relation in which David professes to stand to God: “I am thy servant; I choose to be so; I resolve to be so; I will live and die in thy service.” He had called God’s people, who are dear to him, his saints; but, when he comes to apply it to himself, he does not say, Truly I am thy saint (that looked too high a title for himself), but, I am thy servant. David was a king, and yet he glories in this, that he was God’s servant. It is no disparagement, but an honour, to the greatest kings on earth, to be the servants of the God of heaven. David does not here compliment God, as it is common among men to say, I am your servant, Sir. No; “Lord, I am truly thy servant; thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I am so.” And he repeats it, as that which he took pleasure in the thoughts of and which he was resolved to abide by: “I am thy servant, I am thy servant. Let others serve what master they will, truly I am they servant.” [2.] The ground of that relation. Two ways men came to be servants:–First, by birth. “Lord, I was born in thy house; I am the son of thy handmaid, and therefore thine.” It, is a great mercy to be the children of godly parents, as it obliges us to duty and is pleadable with God for mercy. Secondly, By redemption. He that procured the release of a captive took him for his servant. “Lord, thou hast loosed my bonds; those sorrows of death that compassed me, thou hast discharged me from them, and therefore I am thy servant, and entitled to thy protection as well as obliged to thy work.” The very bonds which thou hast loosed shall tie me faster unto thee. Patrick.
(4.) He will make conscience of paying his vows and making good what he had promised, not only that he would offer the sacrifices of praise, which he had vowed to bring, but perform all his other engagements to God, which he had laid himself under in the day of his affliction (v. 14): I will pay my vows; and again, (v. 18), now in the presence of all his people. Note, Vows are debts that must be paid, for it is better not to vow than to vow and not pay. He will pay his vows, [1.] Presently; he will not, like sorry debtors, delay the payment of them, or beg a day; but, “I will pay them now,” Eccl. v. 4. [2.] Publicly; he will not huddle up his praises in a corner, but what service he has to do for God he will do it in the presence of all his people; nor for ostentation, but to show that he was not ashamed of the service of God, and that others might be invited to join with him. He will pay his vows in the courts of the tabernacle, where there was a crowd of Israelites attending, in the midst of Jerusalem, that he might bring devotion into more reputation.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
10. I have believed That his wonderful deliverance may appear the more conspicuous, he again relates the imminent danger in which he had been placed. He begins by declaring that he spake in the true sincerity of his heart, and that nothing proceeded from his lips but what was the fruit of long reflection, and mature deliberation. Such is the import of the clause, I have believed, therefore I will speak; words which proceed from the full affection of the heart. In 2Co 4:13, Paul, quoting this passage, follows the Greek version, “I believed, therefore I have spoken.” I have elsewhere remarked that it was not the design of the apostles to repeat every word and syllable; it is enough for us that the words of David are appropriately applied in their proper and natural sense to the subject to which Paul there refers. Having referred indirectly to the Corinthians, who were exalting themselves above the clouds, as if they had been exempted from the common lot of mankind, “I believed“ says he, “and therefore I have spoken, that he who hath once raised Christ from the dead, will also extend Christ’s life to us;” that is, I believe, and therefore I speak. Thus he charges the Corinthians with being inflated with foolish pride, because they do not humbly submit to the cross of Christ; especially as they ought to speak in the exercise of the same spirit of faith with himself. The particle כי, ki, which we translate therefore, is by some Hebrew interpreters understood as a disjunctive particle; but the more correct meaning, and which is supported by the best scholars, is, I will speak nothing but the sentiments of my heart. The drift of the passage, too, requires this; namely, that the external professions of the lips correspond with the internal feelings of the heart: for many talk inconsiderately, and utter what never entered into their hearts. “Let no person imagine that I employ unmeaning or exaggerated terms; what I speak, the same I have truly believed.” From this we learn the useful doctrine, that faith cannot remain inoperative in the heart, but that it must, of necessity, manifest itself. Here the Holy Spirit unites, with a sacred bond, the faith of the heart with outward confession; and “what God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” Those dissemblers, therefore, who spontaneously envelop their faith in obscurity, treacherously corrupt the whole Word of God. We must remember, however, that the order which David here observes is demanded of all God’s children, their believing, before they make any professions with their lips. But, as I said, he speaks of his imminent danger, that he may the more enhance the safety and deliverance which God had vouchsafed to him.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(10, 11) I believed, therefore have I spoken.This is the rendering of LXX. and Vulg., and it has become almost proverbial from St. Pauls adaptation of it (2Co. 4:13; see New Testament Commentary). And no doubt this is the sense of the words, though the particle kh has been taken in a wrong connection. Mr. Burgess has certainly given the true explanation of the use of this particle. It sometimes follows instead of preceding the verb affected by it. We must render, It is because I believed that I spoke (of Gods graciousness, &c.). What follows then comes in as an antithesis. I was in great trouble; I said in my pain, All men are untrustworthy or deceitful Or (LXX.), In an ecstasy of despair I said, The whole race of mankind is a delusion. The meaning of the whole passage may be thus put: It is through trust in God that I thus speak (as aboveviz., of God being glorious and righteous, and of His preserving the souls of the simple). It was not always so. Once in distrust I thought that God did not care for man, and that the whole of humanity was a failure. The word chphez, rendered in Authorised Version haste, more properly alarm, is in Job. 40:23 contrasted with trust, as it is here with faith. For the sense failure or vanity for the word rendered in Authorised Version liars, see Isa. 58:11 (fail; margin, lie or deceive).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
10. I believed, etc. Literally, I believed, for I spoke. Quoted from the Septuagint, 2Co 4:13. The psalmist here casts his eye backward to the struggles of his soul described Psa 116:3; Psa 116:8. There, contending against the powers of this world, he believed in God against all conflicting opinions and events, and spoke as the fruit and expression of that faith.
I was greatly afflicted Greatly prostrated, humbled. This was his condition when he spoke. What he said is contained in the subsequent verses of the psalm.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 116:10-11. I believed, therefore have I spoken I believed (for I will speak it; I was very low), I said in my haste, The whole race of man is a lie. These two verses express the low state of spirits to which he had been reduced. Thus Mudge. Green, referring the verses to David, translates them thus; I spoke, because I believed it: (I was in great affliction) and I said in my flight, [namely, from Absalom] All men are deceitful. Mr. Fenwick has it,
I now believe; but yet I own, So very low I once was brought, My hurried spirits made me almost say, Men are all lies;
That is mere vanity. This would have been the case, if Christ had not prevailed in those dreadful conflicts with the powers of darkness, to which for our redemption he submitted, and which seem to be here pointed at.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psa 116:10 I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted:
Ver. 10. I believed, therefore have I spoken ] Fundamentum et fulcrum verae spei est fides viva. Hope is the daughter of faith, but such as is a staff to her aged mother; and will produce a bold and wise profession of the truth before men, as also earnest prayer to God. It is as the cork upon the net, though the lead on the one side sink it down, yet the cork on the other keeps it up. Some translate the words thus: “I believed when I said I am greatly afflicted: I believed when I said in my haste all men are liars.” q.d. Though I have had my offs and my ons, though I have passed through several frames of heart and tempers of soul in my trials, yet I believed still, I never let go my hold, my grip of God, in any perturbation.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
I believed = I believed[Him]. Quoted in 2Co 4:13.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
The whole Psalm is one of joyous thanksgiving because of Gods mercy to the singer. He had been in deep waters of trial and affliction, but had not been suffered to sink. He had known fierce assaults of sin that threatened tearful eyes and falling, stumbling stops, but God had upheld and strengthened. As he recalls all this, he longs to make some return by way of praise, and witness to others. Hence he now inquires.
Psa 116:10-11. I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted: I said in my haste, All men are liars.
And uncommonly near the truth he came, even though he was in a hurry in saying it, for if you trust in any men they must be liars to you. They will fail you, either from want of faithfulness, or else from want of power. There are pinches where the kindest hand cannot succor. There are times of sorrow when she who is the partner of your bosom cannot find you alleviation. Then you will have to come to God, and God alone, and you will never find him fail you. The brooks of the earth are dry in summer, and frozen in winter. All my fresh springs are in thee, my God, and there neither frost nor drought can come. Happy man who has got right away from everything to his God.
Psa 116:12. What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits towards me?
Here we see gratitude is springing up in this mans breast. He lives upon God, and he loves God, and now the question comes, What shall I do for God? Service is not first. We make a mistake when we begin with that. No: we begin as he did, with I love the Lord. Tell what the Lord has done for you, and then go on to, What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits toward me?
Psa 116:13-15. I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people. Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
We do well to notice those deaths, for God notices them. They are among his precious things. And if God thinks so much of dying saints, depend upon it he will not forget the living ones. He will help us. He will help us to the end.
Psa 116:16. O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid; thou hast loosed my bonds.
What a sweet thing to be the servant of God. Well does David say it twice over. Well does he delight to look upon himself as a slave that was born in his Masters house. My mother, says he, was one of thy servants. I am the son of thy handmaid. Oh! It is a blessed thing to be able to be Gods every way to feel in looking back, I am not only his by redemption and by the new birth, but I seem as if I was bound to be his by a long ancestry of men and women, whom his sovereign grace called to himself. Grace does not run in the blood, but it is a great mercy when it runs side by side with it; and when the handmaiden of the Lord is mother of a man who is a child of God as well as her child. Thou hast loosed my bonds. You are never quite free, you have never got your bonds all loosed till you can doubly feel the bonds of God. Read that: I am thy servant. I am thy servant. That is two blows. Thou hast loosed my bonds. There is no freedom except in perfect subjection to the will of God. When every thought is brought into captivity to the mind of God, then every thought is free. You have heard much of the freedom of the will. There is no freedom of the will till grace has bound the will in fetters of divine affection. Then is it free, and not till then. I am thy servant thy servant; thou hast loosed my bonds.
Psa 116:17. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.
He has been doing it. What a man has done he will do. Oh! it is a blessed thing that the children of God at last catch a habit of devotion. Just as the sinner continues in his sin, so may I venture to say, Shall the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? If so, then he that has once heartily learnt to praise his God may begin to forget to do so. Use is second nature, and the holy use to which God has put us by his grace shall be our nature for ever.
Psa 116:18-19. I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people, In the courts of the LORDS house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.
I see that David liked company. He would have been happy here, though we meet under conditions not wholly pleasant. He would have been glad to be in the midst of a smiling company of grateful saints, who could all say, That is true, David. What you have written of yourself, you might have written of each one of us, and we can each one say, I love the Lord because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.
This exposition consisted of readings from Psa 116:10-19; Son 2:1-7.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Psa 116:10-11
Psa 116:10-11
THE MOST DIFFICULT VERSES OF THE PSALM
“I believe, for I will speak:
I was greatly afflicted:
I said in my haste,
All men are liars.”
It is by no means clear to this writer exactly what is meant here. As Leupold said, “These verses are admittedly difficult, even to the despair of some commentators.
The various versions translate this with amazing differences.
RSV: I kept my faith even when I said, “I am afflicted.” I said in my consternation, “Men are a vain hope.”
MOFFATT: Though I cried out, “I am crushed,” thinking in my distraction, all men are a failure,” yet I had faith.
NIV: I believed, therefore I said, “I am greatly afflicted.” And in my dismay, I said, “All men are liars.”
DOUAY: I was confident, even when I said, “I am greatly afflicted”; I said in my fear, “Every man is deceitful.”
GOOD NEWS BIBLE: I kept on believing, even when I said, “I am completely crushed,” even when I was afraid and said, “No one can be trusted.”
LXX (translated): I believed, wherefore have I spoken: but I was greatly afflicted. And I said in mine amazement, Every man is a liar.
(Apparently, this is the version Paul referred to when he wrote, “But having the same spirit of faith, according to that which is written, “I believed, and therefore did I speak”; we also believe, and therefore also we speak, 2Co 4:13).
One must admit that the exact meaning of the passage fails to appear in any of the above versions. We shall offer two explanations, one by Professor Cheyne, and the other by Kidner.
CHEYNE: He rendered the passage: “I was confident that I should speak thus,” even while my affliction was going on. I felt confident that relief would come, and that I should one day speak as I have just spoken. I was, however, too afflicted to give utterance to my feelings. Instead of so doing, I vented my unhappiness in abuse of my fellow-men. Rawlinson’s comment on this `explanation’ was, “Both the rendering and the connection are doubtful.
“KIDNER: James Denney remarked that, “The open confession of God as a duty of faith, pervades the psalm.” So the author here makes the point that to feel `crushed’ (Psa 116:10) or `disillusioned’ (Psa 116:11) and to say so, even in the wild tones of panic (The New English Bible’s word for `consternation’) is no proof that faith is dead. It may even vouch for its survival, as pain betokens life.
Among so many different opinions, this writer feels quite secure in offering some of his own. From the usage Paul made of the first half of Psa 116:10, that verse evidently means that, “Faith carries with it the duty to speak the truth.” The statement in Psa 116:11 that “All men are liars. or deceivers” simply means that lying and deceitful enemies of the gospel should not prevent the proclamation of it. It also may apply to what such men had been saying about his illness prior to his recovery, and that his refusal to believe them contributed to his recovery.
In my Bible class, I confessed my uncertainty regarding the meaning of this line that says, “All men are liars”; and L. W. Carpenter said, “Maybe his doctor had told him he could never get well”! This was greeted with a storm of laughter.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 116:10. In other words, the Psalmist was not merely desiring the things of which he had been speaking. Or, using a familiar proverb that “the wish was father of the thought,” David was more settled than that in his conclusion. He believed the things he had named, and that was the reason he had been outspoken on the subject.
Psa 116:11. Haste is from a Hebrew word that includes the meaning of fear or distraction. In his distracted state of mind over the many afflictions imposed upon him, David had felt that about everybody was unreliable.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
I believed: 2Co 4:13, Heb 11:1
therefore: Num 14:6-9, Pro 21:28, 2Pe 1:16, 2Pe 1:21
I was greatly: Psa 116:3
Reciprocal: 1Sa 2:25 – because 1Sa 30:6 – was greatly
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 116:10. I have believed Gods promise of deliverance; therefore have I spoken What I have now said; or, I have firmly believed, and trusted in Gods almighty power, and ever watchful providence, and therefore have addressed my prayer unto him with confidence in my greatest dangers and distresses. In this, or a similar sense, this clause is quoted by St. Paul, 2Co 4:13, with application to himself and his fellow-ministers, who, though they were exposed everywhere to sufferings for Christs sake, and were even in danger of being put to death wherever they came; yet were neither ashamed nor afraid to own him, because they confided in the promise he had made them of a blessed resurrection.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
116:10 {f} I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted:
(f) I felt all these things, and therefore was moved by faith to confess them, 2Co 4:13.