Psalm 116

1. I love the LORD; his faithfulness I praise.
   He heard my cries, for he is always near me;
   in tender mercy he bent down to hear me.
   I call on him in worship all my days.
   
   
2. The cords of death held me in deep despair;
   great was my anguish when they tightly bound me.
   The torments of the grave were all around me.
   In my distress I turned to God in prayer.
   
   
3. I cried to him, “Deliver me, O LORD!
   Preserve my life, O faithful God and Saviour.”
   The LORD is just; he shows his grace and favour.
   In his compassion he fulfils his word.
   
   
4. To helpless ones the LORD a shield will be;
   he rescued me from peril and affliction.
   Come, O my soul, find rest in his protection.
   God in his mercy has been good to me.
   
   
5. LORD, you have saved my soul from death’s abyss.
   My tears you’ve dried; my feet you’ve safely guided,
   kept them from stumbling. Grace you have provided,
   that I may live to walk before your face.
   
   
6. I kept my faith, and therefore did I speak
   when I was made to suffer tribulation;
   I said in haste and bitter consternation:
   “All men are false, and guileful ways they seek.”
   
   
7. What shall I render to my Saviour now
   for all the riches of his consolation?
   I will lift up the cup of his salvation
   and call upon his name with thankful vow.
   
   
8. In all his people’s presence I will pay
   my vows to him, the LORD so good and gracious.
   To God the death of all his saints is precious;
   in times of grief he is their help and stay.
   
   
9. I am, O LORD, your servant, bound yet free,
   your humble slave, whose shackles you have broken.
   I’ll offer you my sacrifice as token
   of thankfulness, and praise you constantly.
   
   
10. Before God’s people, O Jerusalem,
    right in your midst, within his habitation,
    I shall fulfil my vows with jubilation.
    Shout hallelujah! Zion, praise his name!