It is a powerful experience, the psalmist testifies to us, when you recognize that God Almighty really is listening to your prayers: “I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my supplications. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live” (Psalm 116:1-2).

Not every answer to prayer is all that vivid, but this one is pretty spectacular. “The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish. Then I called on the name of the Lord: ‘O Lord, I pray, save my life!’” (116:3-4). If this is a metaphor, it has to be a metaphor for a very ragged emotional situation; and perhaps it’s not a metaphor at all, but a plain description of a life-and-death struggle. And God rescued me: “when I was brought low, he saved me. … you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling” (116:6-8).

This gracious mercy of our God (116:5) motivates the psalmist – and us! – to wonder how to respond with gratitude and thanksgiving. “What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me?” (116:12). It is a question well worth asking, every day.

The psalmist names several specific actions for demonstrating gratitude. “I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord” (116:13) – that is, in the midst of public worship, I am going to testify that God is the one who has saved me, and I will offer earnest prayer of thanksgiving. And “I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people” (116:14). We’ve all made promises to God, and then skimped on them: but the psalmist has a renewed sense of following through on his vows.

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We thank you, Lord, for your immense generosity, steadfast and faithful, sustaining us in the midst of every crisis we face. We praise your name. We give you the thanksgiving of our hearts. And we pledge that we will live out our vows in steadfast dedication.

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