Love That Answers being Loved First

Psalm 116
I love the LORD, because He has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.
Because He inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call on Him as long as I live.
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 L
ORD: “O LORD, I pray, deliver my soul!”
Gracious is the L
ORD, and righteous; our God is merciful.
The L
ORD preserves the simple; when I was brought low, He saved me.
Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the L
ORD has dealt bountifully with you.
For You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling;
I will walk before the L
ORD in the land of the living.
I believed, even when I spoke: “I am greatly afflicted”; I said in my alarm, “All mankind are liars.”
What shall I render to the L
ORD for all His benefits to me?
I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the L
ORD, I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all His people.
Precious in the sight of the L
ORD is the death of His saints.
O L
ORD, I am Your servant; I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant. You have loosed my bonds. I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the Name of the LORD.
I will pay my vows to the L
ORD in the presence of all His people, in the courts of the house of the LORD, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD! (ESV)

1. The Ground of Love: Prior Deliverance (vv. 1-3)

2. The Depth of the Distress: Death’s Snares (vv. 3–4)

3. The Character of the LORD who Saves (vv. 5–7)

4. The Response of Faith: Trust Through Affliction (vv. 8–11)

5. The Fruit of Love: Vows, the Cup, and Public Praise (vv. 12–19)