Psalms 116:16

16 O! Lord, for I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid (I am thy servant, and the son of thy servantess). Thou hast broken my bonds,

Psalms 116:16 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 116:16

O Lord, truly I [am] thy servant, I [am] thy servant
Not merely by creation, and as obliged by providential favours; but by the grace of God, which made him a willing one: and he was so, not nominally only, but in reality; not as those who say Lord, Lord, but do not the will of God; whereas he served the Lord cheerfully and willingly, in righteousness and true holiness: and this he repeats for the confirmation of it, and to show his heartiness in the Lord's service, and his zealous attachment to him; and which he mentions, not as though he thought his service meritorious of anything at the hand of God; but that his being in this character was an obligation upon him to serve the Lord, and him only, and might expect his protection in it;

[and] the son of thy handmaid;
his mother was also a servant of the Lord; and had trained him up in his infancy in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; so that he was inured to it early, and could not easily depart from it;

thou hast loosed my bonds;
the bonds of affliction and death in which he was held; these were loosed, being delivered from them, ( Psalms 116:3 Psalms 116:8 ) ; and the bonds of sin, and Satan, and the law, in whose service he had been, which was no other than a bondage; but now was freed from the servitude and dominion of sin, from the captivity of Satan, and the bondage of the law; and therefore, though a servant, yet the Lord's free man.

Psalms 116:16 In-Context

14 I shall yield my vows to the Lord before all his people; (I shall pay my vows to the Lord; in the sight of all his people.)
15 the death of saints of the Lord is precious in his sight. (The Lord is deeply moved by the death of any of his saints.)
16 O! Lord, for I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid (I am thy servant, and the son of thy servantess). Thou hast broken my bonds,
17 to thee I shall offer a sacrifice of praising; and I shall inwardly call the name of the Lord. (and so I shall offer a sacrifice of praise to thee; and I shall call on the name of the Lord.)
18 I shall yield my vows to the Lord, in the sight of all his people; (I shall pay my vows to the Lord, before all his people;)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.