Thanksgiving prayer: I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Psalm 116:1

The Psalm 116 is a song of thanksgiving from a man who fears the Lord, and who thanks the help of God for having delivered him from the death. The Psalm does not tell us what dangers this devotee of the Lord faced, but the prayer expresses with wise teachings that God in his wisdom does not forget the most humble and the innocent who need his help.
This is how the psalmist begins the song, expressing the purest love, the love to God, the love free of passions, the love that purifies the heart of man:
"I love the LORD, for he heard my voice;
he heard my cry for mercy.
Because he turned his ear to me,
I will call on him as long as I live" Psalm 116:1-2.
Then the Psalm, as a sapiential book, continues the praise in a style similar to that is found in the books of Wisdom and Proverbs. The Lord is perfect and the source of all goodness and mercy (compassion, kindness, gentleness), and whoever prays to him free from mortal sin, finds comfort:
"The LORD is gracious and righteous;
our God is full of compassion.
The LORD protects the unwary;
when I was brought low, he saved me" Psalm 116:5-6.
Like when David was persecuted by King Saul who sought his death, and like King Hezekiah when he had to defend the city of Jerusalem from the siege of the tyrant Sennacherib, the ruler of the Assyrian empire; the Psalmist expresses his total trust in the Lord, because as Psalm 1 teaches, the upright are saved and the wicked are punished, and so the Psalm continues:
"I trusted in the LORD when I said,
´I am greatly afflicted´;
in my alarm I said,
´Everyone is a liar.´
What shall I return to the LORD
for all his goodness to me?
I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the LORD.
I will fulfill my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people" Psalm 116:10-14.
The song ends with the fulfillment of the vows and the personal or collective sacrifices that accompany all thanksgiving:
"I will sacrifice a thank offering to you
and call on the name of the LORD.
I will fulfill my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people,
in the courts of the house of the LORD—
in your midst, Jerusalem" Psalm 116:17-19.

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