16
O Lord, truly I am Your servant;
I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant;
You have loosed my bonds.
17
I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving,
And will call upon the name of the Lord.
My Thoughts
In Psalm 116:16-17, the psalmist expresses deep gratitude to the Lord for liberation from bondage, declaring himself as God’s devoted servant. He acknowledges the obligations that come with such grace, emphasizing that true servitude is based on relationship and redemption rather than mere obligation. With heartfelt thanksgiving, he pledges to continually worship and call upon the Lord. This commitment reflects a profound sense of belonging to God, underscored by the understanding that being in His service is both an honor and a responsibility. This is also a call for us to come to the Lord in prayer often as Jesus did, to commune with our Abba Father in relationship as a child, and to come with an offering of thanksgiving and praise to hallow His name………Bill
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Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
The man of God, in paying his vows, re-dedicates himself unto God; the offering which he brings is himself, as he cries,
“O LORD, truly I am thy servant,” rightfully, really, heartily, constantly, I own that I am thine, for thou hast delivered and redeemed me.
“I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid,” a servant born in thy house, born of a servant and so born a servant, and therefore doubly thine. My mother was thine handmaid, and I, her son, confess that I am altogether thine by claims arising out of my birth. O that children of godly parents would thus judge; but, alas, there are many who are the sons of the Lord’s handmaids, but they are not themselves his servants. They give sad proof that grace does not run in the blood. David’s mother was evidently a gracious woman, and he is glad to remember that fact, and to see in it a fresh obligation to devote himself to God.
“Thou hast loosed my bonds,”— freedom from bondage binds me to thy service. He who is loosed from the bonds of sin, death, and hell should rejoice to wear the easy yoke of the great Deliverer. Note how the sweet singer delights to dwell upon his belonging to the Lord; it is evidently his glory, a thing of which he is proud, a matter which causes him intense satisfaction. Verily, it ought to create rapture in our souls if we are able to call Jesus Master, and are acknowledged by him as his servants.
“I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving.” Being thy servant, I am bound to sacrifice to thee, and having received spiritual blessings at thy hands, I will not bring bullock or goat, but I will bring that which is more suitable, namely, the thanksgiving of my heart. My inmost soul shall adore thee in gratitude.
And will call upon the name of the LORD,” that is to say, I will bow before thee reverently, lift up my heart in love to thee, think upon thy character, and adore thee as thou dost reveal thyself. He is fond of this occupation, and several times in this Psalm declares that “he will call upon the name of the Lord,” while at the same time he rejoices that he had done so many a time before. Good feelings and actions bear repeating: the more of hearty callings upon God, the better.
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Enduring Word
O LORD, truly I am Your servant: The singer dedicated himself to God’s service on the basis of loosed bonds. Set free by God’s great work, both honor and gratitude led him to forever be Yahweh’s servant. (Guzik)
i. Adam Clarke saw here the words of a bondservant, as in Exodus 21:5-6: “I am a servant, son of thy servant, made free by thy kindness; but, refusing to go out, I have had my ear bored to thy door-post, and am to continue by free choice in thy house for ever.”
ii. The son of Your maidservant: “Bless God for the privilege of being the children of godly parents. Better be the child of a godly than of a wealthy parent. I hope none of you are of so vile a spirit as to contemn your parents because of their piety.” (Manton, cited in Spurgeon)
iii. The son of Your maidservant: “Alas, there are many who are the sons of the Lord’s handmaids, but they are not themselves his servants. They give sad proof that grace does not run in the blood.” (Spurgeon)
I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving: Once again (also in Psalm 116:14), we find ourselves at the altar of sacrifice with the singer. He was happy and duty-bound to proclaim his gratitude to God and to call upon Him alone. (Guzik)
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Albert Barnes
O Lord, truly I am thy servant – In view of thy mercy in delivering me from death, I feel the obligation to give myself to thee. I see in the fact that thou hast thus delivered me, evidence that I am thy servant – that I am so regarded by thee; and I recognize the obligation to live as becomes one who has had this proof of favor and mercy.
The son of thine handmaid – Of a pious mother. I see now the result of my training. I call to my recollection the piety of a mother. I remember how she served thee; how she trained me up for thee; I see now the evidence that her prayers were heard, and that her efforts were blessed in endeavoring to train me up for thee. The psalmist saw now that, under God, he owed all this to the pious efforts of a mother, and that God had been pleased to bless those efforts in making him his child, and in so guiding him that it was not improper for him to speak. of himself as possessing and carrying out the principles of a sainted mother. It is not uncommon – and in such cases it is proper – that all the evidence which we may have that we are pious – that we are living as we ought to live, that we are receiving special favors from God – recalls to our minds the instructions of early years, the counsels and prayers of a holy father or mother.
Thou hast loosed my bonds – The bonds of disease; the fetters which seemed to have made me a prisoner to Death. I am now free again. I walk at large. I am no longer the captive – the prisoner – of disease and pain.
I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving – I will publicly thank and praise thee. See the notes at Psalms 107:22.
And will call upon the name of the Lord – Will worship and praise the Lord.
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John Gill
O Lord, truly I [am] thy servant, I [am] thy servant,…. Not merely by creation, and as obliged by providential favors; but by the grace of God, which made him a willing one: and he was so, not nominally only, but in reality; not as those who say Lord, Lord, but do not the will of God; whereas he served the Lord cheerfully and willingly, in righteousness and true holiness: and this he repeats for the confirmation of it, and to show his heartiness in the Lord’s service, and his zealous attachment to him; and which he mentions, not as though he thought his service meritorious of anything at the hand of God; but that his being in this character was an obligation upon him to serve the Lord, and him only, and might expect his protection in it;
[and] the son of thy handmaid; his mother was also a servant of the Lord; and had trained him up in his infancy in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; so that he was inured to it early, and could not easily depart from it;
thou hast loosed my bonds; the bonds of affliction and death in which he was held; these were loosed, being delivered from them, Psalm 116:3; and the bonds of sin, and Satan, and the law, in whose service he had been, which was no other than a bondage; but now was freed from the servitude and dominion of sin, from the captivity of Satan, and the bondage of the law; and therefore, though a servant, yet the Lord’s free man.
Verse 17. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving,…. For deliverance from afflictions and death; for loosing his bonds, in every sense; for all mercies, temporal and spiritual; see Romans 6:17; Such sacrifices are according to the will of God; are well pleasing to him, when offered up through Christ, and in faith, and are a glorifying of him. These are more acceptable than all ceremonial sacrifices; and therefore, the psalmist determined to offer this, and not them;
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Matthew Henry
He will oblige himself to be God’s servant all his days. Having asked, What shall I render? Here he surrenders himself, which was more than all burnt-offerings and sacrifice (v. 16): O Lord! truly I am thy servant. Here is,
[1.] The relation in which David professes to stand to God: “I am thy servant; I choose to be so; I resolve to be so; I will live and die in thy service.” He had called God’s people, who are dear to him, his saints; but, when he comes to apply it to himself, he does not say, Truly I am thy saint (that looked too high a title for himself), but, I am thy servant. David was a king, and yet he glories in this, that he was God’s servant. It is no disparagement, but an honor, to the greatest kings on earth, to be the servants of the God of heaven. David does not here compliment God, as it is common among men to say, I am your servant, Sir. No; “Lord, I am truly thy servant; thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I am so.” And he repeats it, as that which he took pleasure in the thoughts of and which he was resolved to abide by: “I am thy servant, I am thy servant. Let others serve what master they will, truly I am thy servant.“
[2.] The ground of that relation. Two ways men came to be servants:-
First, by birth. “Lord, I was born in thy house; I am the son of thy handmaid, and therefore thine.” It is a great mercy to be the children of godly parents, as it obliges us to duty and is pleadable with God for mercy.
Secondly, by redemption. He that procured the release of a captive took him for his servant. “Lord, thou hast loosed my bonds; those sorrows of death that compassed me, thou hast discharged me from them, and therefore I am thy servant, and entitled to thy protection as well as obliged to thy work.” The very bonds which thou hast loosed shall tie me faster unto thee. Patrick.
I will call upon the name of the Lord. This he had promised (v. 2) and here he repeats it, v. 13 and again v. 17. If we have received kindness from a man like ourselves, we tell him that we hope we shall never trouble him again; but God is pleased to reckon the prayers of his people an honor to him, and a delight, and no trouble; and therefore, in gratitude for former mercies, we must seek to him for further mercies, and continue to call upon him.
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Adam Clarke
I am thy servant — Thou hast preserved me alive. I live with, for, and to THEE. I am thy willing domestic, the son of thine handmaid, like one born in thy house of a woman already thy property. I am a servant, son of thy servant, made free by thy kindness; but, refusing to go out, I have had my ear bored to thy door-post, and am to continue by free choice in thy house for ever. He alludes here to the case of the servant who, in the year of jubilee being entitled to his liberty, refused to leave his master’s house; and suffered his ear to be bored to the door-post, as a proof that by his own consent he agreed to continue in his master’s house forever.
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The Pulpit Commentaries
O Lord, truly I am thy servant; rather, even so, O Lord, for I am thy servant. Entitled, therefore, to thy care and consideration. I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid (comp. Psalms 86:16). “Thine handmaid”—the Church; or, if the writer is Hezekiah, “thy handmaid, Abiyah, the daughter of Zechariah,” who “had under standing in the vision of God” (2 Chronicles 26:5; 2 Chronicles 29:1). Thou hast loosed my bonds. The “cords of death” (verse 3) are probably intended.
I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Scarcely an actual sacrifice. Rather, simple thanksgiving, which, from a sincere heart, is the best sacrifice (see Psalms 50:14 and Hosea 14:2), And will call upon the Name of the Lord (comp. Psalms 116:4 and Psalms 116:13).
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Cross-References
Psalm 86:16 (KJV )
16 O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me;
Give thy strength unto thy servant,
And save the son of thine handmaid.
Psalm 143:12 (KJV )
12 And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies,
And destroy all them that afflict my soul:
For I am thy servant.
Psalm 119:125 (KJV )
125 I am thy servant; give me understanding,
That I may know thy testimonies.
Psalm 107:22 (KJV )
22 And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving,
And declare his works with rejoicing.
Psalm 116:13 (KJV )
13 I will take the cup of salvation,
And call upon the name of the Lord.
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Geneva Bible 1560
Psalm 116:16-17
16 Behold, Lord: for I am thy servant, I am thy servant, and the son of thine hand maid: thou hast broken my bonds.
17 I wil offer to thee a sacrifice of praise, and wil call upon the Name of the Lord.
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Closing Thoughts
For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 2Corinthians 5:1-5 NKJV
17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 2 Corinthians 4:17 (KJV)
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