The author and date of this psalm are unknown. It seems to be rather of a private than a public character, and there are expressions in it which must have been drawn from the personal experience of its writer. It is adapted to public use only because in all public assemblages there are those who would find their own experience represented by the language of the psalm. It may have been composed after the return from Babylon, but there is nothing in the psalm to limit it to that time, and the language is such that it may have been composed at any period after Jerusalem became the place of public worship, Psalms 116:19.
The Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate, which combined the two previous psalms into one, divide this into two, at the end of Psalms 116:9. The reason why this was done is unknown.
The psalm appears to have been composed in reference to a dangerous sickness, or some deep affliction which threatened life, Psalms 116:3, Psalms 116:8-9, Psalms 116:15; and it expresses a purpose to praise and serve God in view of the fact that the author had been delivered from impending death, and that his days had been lengthened out upon the earth.
The psalm embraces the following points:
I. An expression of love and gratitude in view of the mercies of God, and of a purpose to serve him as long as life should last, Psalms 116:1-2.
II. A description of his sufferings, as if the pains of hell had seized him, Psalms 116:3-4.
III. A description of the mercy and goodness of God as interposing in answer to his prayer, and delivering him, Psalms 116:5-11.
IV. A solemn declaration of his purpose to praise God for all his mercies; to take the cup of salvation and call on his name; to pay his vows in the presence of the people of God; to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving; to worship in the courts of the Lord’s house, in the midst of Jerusalem, Psalms 116:12-19.