Psalm 116: ¹⁶ O Lord, I am your servant; I am your servant, the child of your serving girl. You have loosed my bonds. ¹⁷ I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the Lord. ¹⁸ I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people…

The Hebrew word (עֶבֶד ʿebed) translated as “servant” in verse 16 above can also be translated as “slave”. This creates an apparent contradiction when the writer states he is the “slave” of God, yet says that God has “loosed my bonds” – indicating one who has been set free from bondage. How does that work?

I’ve heard it said that everyone worships something – be it God or money or another person or a job or whatever. If this is true then the question is “to what will I give myself”? Scripture teaches that the most life-giving thing to worship is God, the Creator of heaven and earth. This is what the psalmist is writing about. Publicly offering to God a thanksgiving sacrifice, giving this kind of public testimony, is a powerful witness to everyone watching and encourages other people to follow suit.

Lord give me grace to bear witness to you today and to willingly submit myself to you as Lord of my life. Amen.