How does Psalm 116:13 relate to the concept of salvation in Christianity? Text of Psalm 116:13 “I will lift the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD.” Immediate Literary Context Verses 1-12 rehearse personal deliverance from death (“You have delivered my soul from death,” v. 8). Verse 14 commits to public thanksgiving in the courts of the LORD. Verse 13 is the hinge: reception of rescue and response of worship. The psalm therefore moves from crisis, through Yahweh’s initiative, to the worshiper’s grateful proclamation. Old Testament Doctrine of Salvation The Torah’s sacrificial system teaches that life is spared through substitutionary blood (Leviticus 17:11). The psalmist, having experienced near-death, appropriates that theology: he has tasted a foretaste of atonement and now pledges “the cup of salvation.” Archaeological corroboration—from Ketef Hinnom’s seventh-century BC silver amulets quoting the Priestly Blessing to Qumran’s 11QPsa scroll—verifies that Israel’s liturgical language of deliverance predates and parallels the canonical text, anchoring Psalm 116 in genuine cultic practice. The Cup Motif Across Redemptive History 1. Passover (Exodus 6:6-7). Rabbinic tradition enumerates four cups; the third, “the cup of salvation/redemption,” thanks God for deliverance from Egypt—Israel’s corporate salvation. 2. Prophetic usage. Isaiah foretells a future “cup of staggering” (Isaiah 51:22) removed by Messiah, transferring judgment from the covenant people to the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53). 3. Psalm 116 reframes the Passover cup as personal testimony. 4. New Covenant. Christ “took the cup” (Luke 22:20) naming it “the new covenant in My blood,” explicitly fulfilling the Passover-Psalm trajectory. 5. Eschatological consummation. Revelation’s “marriage supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:9) envisions the redeemed drinking anew with Christ (Matthew 26:29). Messianic Resonances The Septuagint renders “cup of salvation” (potērion sōtēriou), identical vocabulary to Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane regarding “the cup” (Matthew 26:39). Thus, Psalm 116:13 anticipates both substitution (Christ drinks judgment) and imputation (believers raise the cup of deliverance). Hebrews 2:12 quotes Psalm 22 to show Jesus singing praise “in the midst of the congregation”; Psalm 116 furnishes the words of that praise. New Testament Echoes Romans 10:13: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved,” cites Joel 2:32 but matches Psalm 116’s structure: call → salvation → praise. 1 Corinthians 10:16 speaks of “the cup of blessing that we bless,” directly alluding to Psalm 116 in a Eucharistic context; participatory communion with Christ’s blood embodies the psalm’s pledge. Systematic Soteriology 1. Monergism: salvation originates in God (“You have delivered,” v. 8), yet elicits a synergistic human response (“I will lift… I will call”). 2. Justification: experiential rescue prefigures forensic righteousness applied through faith (Romans 5:1). 3. Sanctification: continual “calling on the name of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:2) marks ongoing dependence. 4. Glorification: final deliverance from “the cords of Sheol” (v. 3) culminates in bodily resurrection, attested by Christ’s empty tomb (1 Corinthians 15:3-8). Over 500 eyewitnesses (1 Corinthians 15:6), multiple early creedal forms (e.g., the pre-Pauline hymn of vv. 3-5), and non-Christian attestations (Tacitus, Annals 15.44) secure the historical fact anchoring the believer’s future hope. Conclusion Psalm 116:13 encapsulates salvation’s pattern: God initiates rescue; the redeemed respond by “lifting the cup” (embracing the benefits) and “calling on the name of the LORD” (public faith). That pattern finds its ultimate realization in Jesus Christ, whose shed blood turns the symbolic cup into historical reality. By participating in that finished work, every believer fulfills the psalmist’s vow and lives the chief end of man: to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. |
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