Psalm 116

I enjoy reading my Bible in different translations. I grew up on NIV and lately I’ve been reading more NKJV and ESV. It often surprises me how a familiar passage can gain new meaning or perspective with just a few different words. Today I read Psalm 116 in NKJV and I was really struck by the opening verses. I decided to share the whole thing: 

I love the Lord, because He has heard
My voice and my supplications.
² Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.

³ The pains of death surrounded me,
And the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me;
I found trouble and sorrow.
⁴ Then I called upon the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, I implore You, deliver my soul!”

⁵ Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
Yes, our God is merciful.
⁶ The Lord preserves the simple;
I was brought low, and He saved me.
⁷ Return to your rest, O my soul,
For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

⁸ For You have delivered my soul from death,
My eyes from tears,
And my feet from falling.
⁹ I will walk before the Lord
In the land of the living.
¹⁰ I believed, therefore I spoke,
“I am greatly afflicted.”
¹¹ I said in my haste,
“All men are liars.”

¹² What shall I render to the Lord
For all His benefits toward me?
¹³ I will take up the cup of salvation,
And call upon the name of the Lord.
¹⁴ I will pay my vows to the Lord
Now in the presence of all His people.

¹⁵ Precious in the sight of the Lord
Is the death of His saints.

¹⁶ O Lord, truly I am Your servant;
I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant;
You have loosed my bonds.
¹⁷ I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving,
And will call upon the name of the Lord.

¹⁸ I will pay my vows to the Lord
Now in the presence of all His people,
¹⁹ In the courts of the Lord’s house,
In the midst of you, O Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord!

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+116&version=NKJV