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Psalm 116:5
The LORD is gracious and righteous. Yes, our God is merciful.
3The cords of death surrounded me, the pains of Sheol got a hold of me. I found trouble and sorrow.
4Then I called on the LORD’s name: “LORD, I beg you, deliver my soul.”
5The LORD is gracious and righteous. Yes, our God is merciful.
6The LORD preserves the simple. I was brought low, and he saved me.
7Return to your rest, my soul, for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
Notice
The words “gracious and righteous” describe the God addressed in the preceding cry for rescue, joining mercy with righteousness in an account of trouble and sorrow.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
Which word in this description of God is hardest for you to trust today?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Exodus 34:6The LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, “The LORD! The LORD, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth,The LORD proclaims himself merciful and gracious in Exodus, the same qualities the speaker affirms in this psalm.
Deuteronomy 4:31For the LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not fail you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which he swore to them.Both passages name God as merciful, with Deuteronomy linking that mercy to his remembrance of the covenant.
Psalm 145:8The LORD is gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and of great loving kindness.Both psalms describe the LORD as gracious and merciful, with Psalm 145 also naming his patience and loving kindness.
Psalm 145:17The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and gracious in all his works.Both verses join righteousness with grace, and Psalm 145 extends that description to all the LORD's ways and works.
Psalm 103:8The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness.Both verses name the LORD as merciful and gracious; Psalm 103 also speaks of his patience and abundant loving kindness.
Psalm 119:137You are righteous, LORD. Your judgments are upright.Both verses declare the LORD righteous, with Psalm 119 also affirming that his judgments are upright.
James 5:11Behold, we call them blessed who endured. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and have seen the Lord in the outcome, and how the Lord is full of …Both passages speak of the Lord's mercy in accounts of suffering, with James naming Job's perseverance and its outcome.
Ezra 9:15LORD, the God of Israel, you are righteous; for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our guiltiness; for no one …Both declare the LORD righteous, though Ezra speaks amid confessed guilt and Psalm 116 recounts rescue from trouble.
1 Timothy 1:14The grace of our Lord abounded exceedingly with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.The shared thread is the Lord's grace, described as abundant in First Timothy and named as his character in Psalm 116.
Nehemiah 9:8found his heart faithful before you, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and …Both affirm God's righteousness, with Nehemiah connecting it to his performance of the covenant words concerning the land.
Ephesians 1:6–8to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely gave us favor in the Beloved.Both passages praise divine grace, with Ephesians describing favor given in the Beloved and Psalm 116 declaring the LORD gracious.
Daniel 9:14Therefore the LORD has watched over the evil, and brought it on us; for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he does, and we have not obeyed …Both declare the LORD righteous, though Daniel recounts judgment for disobedience and Psalm 116 recounts deliverance from trouble.
Where this verse fits
Answered prayer. gratitude. praise and worship.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The mercy named here belongs to the God who heard a cry from someone brought low. His righteousness and his grace belong to the same Lord.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).