“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 Lord: ‘O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!’ Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful. The Lord preserves the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me. Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.” Psalm 116:1-7.

Here the Psalmist had experienced “distress and anguish” and was brought near to death. However, he called upon the Lord to show mercy on him and deliver him. The Psalmist was delivered and was able to return his soul to the quiet rest based on trust in God. He would continue to call on the Lord for as long as he lived for he knew that God always heard him.

An important point to get from this passage is that God always hears the prayers of His people. He does not always answer them as we might like. He does allow his people to suffer and even perish at times, but even the death of His people are precious in His sight (verse 15), and all works for good within His marvelous plan. The ultimate destination for all Christians is to live eternally and blissfully with Him so even death is not a terror to a Christian.

The Lord does preserve the simple (naive), which is really all of us compared to God. Many times, like the Prodigal, we have to be brought low (humbled) to be saved. Further, the Lord is always merciful to us as we never get the full measure of what we deserve. He always deals bountifully with us and we can count on that. He always hears our prayers and our pleas for mercy and answers them righteously and for our best.