1I love the Lord , who listened
to my voice in supplication,
2Who turned an ear to me
on the day I called.
3I was caught by the cords of death;[#: death is personified here; it attempts to capture the psalmist with snares and nets, cf. Ps 18:6.; #Ps 18:5; Jon 2:3.]
the snares of Sheol had seized me;
I felt agony and dread.
4Then I called on the name of the Lord ,
“O Lord , save my life!”
5Gracious is the Lord and righteous;
yes, our God is merciful.
6The Lord protects the simple;
I was helpless, but he saved me.
7Return, my soul, to your rest;
the Lord has been very good to you.
8For my soul has been freed from death,
my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
9I shall walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.
10I kept faith, even when I said,[#: even in the days of despair, the psalmist did not lose all hope.]
“I am greatly afflicted!”
11I said in my alarm,
“All men are liars!”
12How can I repay the Lord
for all the great good done for me?
13I will raise the cup of salvation[#: probably the libation of wine poured out in gratitude for rescue, cf. Ex 25:29; Nm 15:5, 7, 10.]
and call on the name of the Lord .
14I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
15Dear in the eyes of the Lord[#ord : the meaning is that the death of God’s faithful is grievous to God, not that God is pleased with the death, cf. Ps 72:14. In Wis 3:5–6, God accepts the death of the righteous as a sacrificial burnt offering.]
is the death of his devoted.
16Lord , I am your servant,
your servant, the child of your maidservant;
you have loosed my bonds.
17I will offer a sacrifice of praise
and call on the name of the Lord .
18I will pay my vows to the Lord[#Jon 2:10.]
in the presence of all his people,
19In the courts of the house of the Lord ,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Hallelujah!