Thinking of personal testimonies, I want us to look at Psalm 116 as a personal testimony. We do know that this man faced great peril and was delivered by the Lord. This is a very personal psalm, with the writer making reference to himself 37 times in 19 verses. Only in verses 5, 15, and 19, is there is not at least one personal pronoun used.
The exciting thing is that we can relate to this man’s testimony. As we study this passage we find that what was true of this man should be true for us as well. Because the Psalmist used the personal pronoun “I”, let’s you and I use the personal pronoun as well. In this passage let’s consider:
I love the Lord, for He heard my voice;
He heard my cry for mercy.
Because He turned His ear to me,
I will call on Him as long as I live.
Psalms 116:1 and 2
Many Psalms begin with praise. This Psalm alludes to praise, but is actually a statement of the Psalmists devotion, “I LOVE THE LORD!”
If someone were to ask us, “Do you love the Lord?” our natural inclination is to say “YES.” In this statement of devotion it is something that the Psalmist should, also, have thought about before making the statement. (I imagine that he did.) You and I should think about this statement, “I LOVE THE LORD!” It’s very easy to say ‘I LOVE THE LORD’ and a lot more difficult to actually practice that love!
And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the great and first commandment.
And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Matthew 22:37-39
Next the Psalmist says, I love the Lord BECAUSE… ”He turned His ear to me, I will call on Him…” I think we can sum up our love for the Lord with 1 John 4:19, “We love Him, because He first loved us.” The Psalmist’s expression of love is because the Lord heard and answered his prayer. (Re-read Verses 1-2).
The Psalmist was in grave trouble and the Lord came down and heard (so to speak). How many times has God done the same for us? When we’ve been in great need and cried out, He has been there for us!
Notice something else here. The Psalmist says, “Because He has turned His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live.” That should be our attitude as well—because the Lord has answered our prayers, we should continue to pray. He has shown Himself to be my God. I should treat Him as such and continue to call on Him.
The decision we can make today is to love the Lord. The psalmist gives a specific reason for loving the Lord. His reason was that God had heard his prayer. There are many more reasons for deciding to love the Lord. Some of the reasons we should love the Lord are because He loves us (1 John 4:10, 19), He died for us (2 Corinthians 5:21), He keeps us (John 10:27-30), He helps and protects us (Psalm 121), and He indwells us (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
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Lord God, thank You for ever-present help in times of my need. Thank You for answered prayers whenever I call unto You. You are a wonderful God. May Your name be glorified in all the earth! In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
