In these first verses of this psalm, the psalmist describes different ways & situations in which the Lord is merciful, hears your prayers, delivers you from troubles and deals bountifully, generously with you. Like a beautiful trumpet, verse five declares great truths about God: Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful.
1 I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.
2 Because He inclined His ear to me,
therefore I will call on Him as long as I live.
3 The snares of death encompassed me;
the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish.
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord: “O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”
5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful.
6 The Lord preserves the simple;
when I was brought low, He saved me.
7 Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
8 For You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling;
9 I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.
Think about times when the Lord has helped you, delivered you, healed you from sickness or suffering, and so on. But truthfully, we often wonder if God does hear our prayers when He may not answer them in the way or time we'd like. But in all cases, God is always merciful, loving and always does what is best for us.
Now read this psalm and think of your relationship with God through a different lens, through the lens of your sinfulness. The snares of death is a phrase which describes our sinfulness very well. Your sins separate you from God, and the wages of your sins is death. Without God's mercy, your sins would separate you from God eternally; that is to be damned to hell.
But your God is merciful! He saved you! He has delivered your soul from death, from eternal death in hell! Jesus Christ, God Himself, died on the cross and rose from the dead to set you free from sin and restore your relationship with God. Forgiven sin no longer separates you from God, because God has separated your sins from you!
Return, O my soul to your rest; for God is merciful!
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