Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Psalms 116:1 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 1. 1I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Psalm 116:1: Within “Love and thanksgiving after mortal danger: Love, heard prayer, and return to rest,” the line “I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and…” supplies one distinct parallel claim, image, address, or response.
Read It With
- Psalms 116:1–9
- Psalms 116:1–19
Read Psalms 116:1 with 116:1–9 and 116:1–19. Read alone, “I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my…” could lose the individual voice, the parallel line or movement it develops, and the psalm's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Within Psalms 116:1–9, the individual voice carries the movement “Love, heard prayer, and return to rest” as part of “Love and thanksgiving after mortal danger.” Its thanksgiving form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Psalms 116:1–9 opens Psalm 116 with “I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications” and establishes the individual voice and “Love, heard prayer, and return to rest” movement before later lines develop or answer it. Within that relationship, Psalm 116:1 adds the distinct poetic line “I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications” within “Love, heard prayer, and return to rest,” where its parallel neighbors determine emphasis and scope.
Follow the Context
- Identify the individual voice, address, and parallel lines in Psalms 116:1–9; do not make every “I”, “we,” king, enemy, or worshiper interchangeable.
- Within Psalms 116:1–9, the individual voice carries the movement “Love, heard prayer, and return to rest” as part of “Love and thanksgiving after mortal danger.” Its thanksgiving form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied.
- This reading does not authorize the following misuse: The Greek tradition divides this Hebrew psalm; testimony to deliverance does not guarantee that every faithful sufferer avoids death.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
Psalms 116:1 does not allow “I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my…” to become an independent promise, command, accusation, doctrine, or authorization. This verse adds the distinct poetic line “I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications” within “Love, heard prayer, and return to rest,” where its parallel neighbors determine emphasis and scope. The complete movement is “Love, heard prayer, and return to rest.” This reading does not authorize the following misuse: The Greek tradition divides this Hebrew psalm; testimony to deliverance does not guarantee that every faithful sufferer avoids death.
What Remains True
The lasting force of “I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my…” comes through Psalms 116:1–9 and Book V, not isolation. Praise remembers concrete divine character and action, gathers many voices, and remains honest about grief rather than demanding one emotional performance. The local movement is “Love, heard prayer, and return to rest.” The unit's reviewed limit is: The Greek tradition divides this Hebrew psalm; testimony to deliverance does not guarantee that every faithful sufferer avoids death.
How It Can Shape Life
- Because Psalm 116:1 belongs to “Love and thanksgiving after mortal danger: Love, heard prayer, and return to rest,” its role must lead the practice: Psalm 116:1 adds the distinct poetic line “I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications” within “Love, heard prayer, and return to rest,” where its parallel neighbors determine emphasis and scope. Join the praise around “I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my…” in a form your community can receive, while leaving honest space for silence, lament, and disability.
Teach It Back
Explain why Psalm 116:1 cannot stand alone. Quote “I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my…,” use the full 116:1–9, describe the individual voice and “Love, heard prayer, and return to rest,” distinguish first horizon from later reception, and state why This reading does not authorize the following misuse: The Greek tradition divides this Hebrew psalm; testimony to deliverance does not guarantee that every faithful sufferer avoids death.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Psalms 116:1–9 — Love and thanksgiving after mortal danger: Love, heard prayer, and return to restSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The Greek tradition divides this Hebrew psalm; testimony to deliverance does not guarantee that every faithful sufferer avoids death.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Psalms 116:1–9, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Psalms
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 116:1–9
Open the fixed Hebrew Psalms file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Psalms 1-150
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, current official online edition
Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 116:1–9.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Psalm 116 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 116:1–9
Open the official NET Psalms notes ↗modern scholarly book course
Psalms course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, theological themes, and Bible in the world
Fred Gaiser; revised by Nicholas Schaser
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, revised May 2024
Supports: Five-book, genre, poetic, historical, theological, liturgical, communal, and reception synthesis with visible limits.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Psalms course, Summary, Outline, Introductory Issues, and Theological Themes; applied to Psalms 116:1–9
Open the Enter the Bible Psalms course ↗ancient greek text translation and introduction
A New English Translation of the Septuagint: Psalms
Albert Pietersma
International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies; Oxford University Press, 2009
Supports: Ancient Greek wording, numbering, division, and superscription evidence where it materially clarifies translation or reception.
Exact location: NETS Psalms, Pietersma introduction pp. 542–543 and exact Greek translation headed Ps 116 for Psalms 116:1–9
Open NETS Psalms ↗