(Psa 116:8) For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.
The Psalmist testifies to what the Lord has done for him. Verses 3 & 4 describe what he was going through at the time. We can all relate to this to one degree or another. The word sorrow means first, a cord, rope, territory, but also carries the idea of pain, travail, sorrow. The psalm has no heading to indicate that it relates to a particular time, but if David is the author, we may assume it was during a time of great trouble and perhaps danger for him. He was surrounded by these troubles and he probably felt that his death was imminent. He was experiencing all the emotions and pains that went along with his situation. Then he cried unto the Lord and sought refuge in his God.
When we call upon the Lord for salvation, He is gracious and merciful to save us, redeeming our souls from the sorrows and pains of hell. But God does far more than just redeem our souls and save us from hell and eternal punishment. That is the greatest part of His deliverance, but we are not left alone to fend for ourselves in this ungodly world. Jesus said, “I’ll never leave you not forsake you.” When He gave the great commission in Mathew 28, He promised, “Lo, I am with you, even to the end of the world (age).” God never saves anyone and then leaves them to the wolves. The only way any of us as Christians ends up in the grips of the wolf is when we fail to follow God and his leading. Too many times young Christians or very immature Christians cease to attend a Bible believing or teaching church and group of believers because of some lame reason. Someone offended them, or they think others do not appreciate them or some other reason and so they attempt to worship God in their own little “clique” and then they wonder why they have so much trouble or problems. They become spiritual pigmees and do not develop as God desires them to develop.
John said in Rev 21:4 that God shall wipe away all tears – there will be no tears in heaven and we looked forward to that time. But what about now? Does the Lord help us in our times of sorrow now? God comforts us now in our times of sorrow, distress and loss. “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; {4} Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” But more often He uses other people to comfort us in this life. God does not say that He will wipe away all tears here in this life. Tears are a form of healing, release and earnestness that are beneficial to us. God gave us the ability to cry tears for a purpose and He will not wipe away all our tears now. Pain is also a necessary element in this life. Whether it be the pain of the physical, emotional or spiritual (groaning), God will not take away all pain in this life. He does provide us with relief from certain pain by His touch and through modern medicines. There are sorrows we experience in this life that will never be relieved, but God will provide grace and strength for us as we go through the situations in life that cause us sorrow. He will give us peace in the midst of the storm, through the sorrows of life and so on, but it is only to the degree that we stay close to Him and seek His help.
God will one day deliver us from the very presence of sin and evil in this life. No sin can enter heaven, so once we are in heaven, there will not be the presence of sin. While in this life, however, we are daily exposed to the presence and power of sin. But while we experience the presence of sin, we can be delivered from the power of sin in our life. Because Christ came and died and rose again, we are able to live a life of holiness all our life – “That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, {75} In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.” God delivers us from the power of sin right now, if we appropriate His power in our life.