Psalm 116:5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.

We see here three descriptions of the Lord: gracious, righteous, and merciful. God must be righteous before He can be gracious or merciful. Because God is holy, He has to be righteous. Psalm 99:9 Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the LORD our God is holy. If God was not holy, He would not be just or righteous, and His grace and mercy would only be given according to His whims or fancy. Because of His holiness, God cannot just forgive sin without a reason or repentance from the sinner. Sin cannot be forgiven by God if He is not sinless in the first place. God is the moral authority of everything. God is righteous ahead of everything. God is not going to forgive sin unless He is just and righteous first. He is righteous; He is holy; He is just, but He also wants to be merciful and cannot do anything that goes against His nature. Proverbs 17:15 tells us: He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD. That is exactly what God did: He justifies the wicked (those the believe in Jesus Christ) and condemned the just (Jesus Christ). That was the only way to pay my penalty for my sin – the death, burial, and resurrection of the sinless, unblemished Lamb of God. He took my place at the judgment seat and paid my penalty. Because Jesus Christ did that, He can now be merciful to those that come to Him. Note how grace and mercy are on either side of righteous in verse 5. It is as if God’s righteousness is flanked by the demonstrations of God’s Love.

Psalm 116:6, 7 The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me. Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.

The Lord takes care of those that come to Him is simplicity. Jesus Christ wants people to come to Him as little children and simply trust in Him. Matthew 18:3-4 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. (4) Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Those that are secure in their wisdom and their religion do not believe that they need Him. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 9:12, 13 They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

God preserves the simple. God saves the lowly. God saves the humble in spirit. Jesus Christ calls for sinners to repent. He cannot call the “righteous” as He states in verse 13, because they do not realize their need for salvation. They do not realize that their sinner separates them from God. Instead, they believe that their good deeds will preserve them and make them righteous before God. Until they know otherwise, they are on their way to hell.

In Psalm 116:7, the writer states that his soul should return to its rest. That implies that his soul had been at rest before, but when? When he fully trusted on God. When we trust on God and in His promises, we will know rest and peace. But when we take our eyes off of God and start to look to worldly things, our rest and peace goes away. Our sins of the season please for a moment, but when that moment passes, we are left trying to fill a void that can only be filled by Jesus Christ. When the believer loses his rest or peace, they need to rush back to God to regain it and not look for rest or peace in TV, movies, music, or people.

Romans 8:5-6 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. (6) For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

True peace can only come from God. When we are in the miry clay of worldly pleasures and see that we have no peace, then we should immediately repent and cry out to God and He will bring us back to rest in Him. We can only know peace and rest when we are able to enjoy the bounty that God has given to us. As the Corinthians were told in 2 Corinthians 9, God provides a bounty to His children for them to enjoy and to share with others. God truly has been bountiful to each of believer, therefore we need to be thankful and giving. Why? Because of what is written in Psalm 116:8: For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. Amen. I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.