The Meaning of Psalms 116:3 Explained

Psalms 116:3

KJV: The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.

YLT: Compassed me have cords of death, And straits of Sheol have found me, Distress and sorrow I find.

Darby: The bands of death encompassed me, and the anguish of Sheol took hold of me; I found trouble and sorrow:

ASV: The cords of death compassed me, And the pains of Sheol gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

The sorrows  of death  compassed  me, and the pains  of hell  gat hold  upon me: I found  trouble  and sorrow. 

What does Psalms 116:3 Mean?

Study Notes

hell
Heb. "Sheol," .
Sheol is, in the O.T., the place to which the dead go.
(1) Often, therefore, it is spoken of as the equivalent of the grave, merely, where all human activities cease; the terminus toward which all human life moves (e.g. Genesis 42:38 grave Job 14:13 grave Psalms 88:3 grave
(2) To the man "under the sun," the natural man, who of necessity judges from appearances, sheol seems no more than the grave-- the end and total cessation, not only of the activities of life, but of life itself. Ecclesiastes 9:5 ; Ecclesiastes 9:10
(3) But Scripture reveals sheol as a place of sorrow 2 Samuel 22:6 ; Psalms 18:5 ; Psalms 116:3 ; in which the wicked are turned Psalms 9:17 and where they are fully conscious; Isaiah 14:9-17 ; Ezekiel 32:21 see, especially, Jonah 2:2 what the belly of the great fish was to Jonah that sheol is to those who are therein). The sheol of the O.T. and hades of the N.T. (See Scofield " Luke 16:23 ") are identical.

Verse Meaning

Evidently the writer had been very close to death. He pictured Death as reaching out to him with cords and almost trapping him, as a hunter snares an animal.
Imagine how the Lord Jesus must have felt as He sang these words during His last Passover in the Upper Room. He knew He was facing death.

Context Summary

Psalms 116:1-11 - He Delivered My Soul
Throughout this psalm we meet the pronoun in the first person. Only in two verses, Psalms 116:15 and Psalms 116:19, does it not so occur. There is no fear of egotism, however, when the heart of the singer overflows with divine love.
Psalms 116:1-4
The psalmist here compares himself to some wild animal ensnared by the hunter and bound by the sharp cords which make free movement impossible. Bow many of God's saints have felt the deep incision of these cords! It has been with them as with Joseph, when let down into the pit. But there is no pit so deep that a cry from it may not reach the heart of God.
Psalms 116:5-11
When the quiet faith of answered prayer is ours, the fluttering soul seems to settle down to its nest in peace. The feet which were slipping now walk in the paths of life. Notice the prayer of Psalms 116:4 and the reply of Psalms 116:8. God does more than deliver; He wipes the tears from our faces, and holds us as a mother who places her hands under the armpits of her child, teaching it to walk. Paul quotes Psalms 116:10 in 2 Corinthians 4:13. How often must this psalm have been in his thought and on his lips! Do not speak hastily. An eminent religious leader said once, "I shall have good hopes of you, when you can speak and move slowly." [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 116

1  The psalmist professes his love and duty to God for his deliverance
12  He studies to be thankful

What do the individual words in Psalms 116:3 mean?

Surrounded me the pains of death and the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me trouble and sorrow I found
אֲפָפ֤וּנִי ׀ חֶבְלֵי־ מָ֗וֶת וּמְצָרֵ֣י שְׁא֣וֹל מְצָא֑וּנִי צָרָ֖ה וְיָג֣וֹן אֶמְצָֽא

אֲפָפ֤וּנִי ׀  Surrounded  me 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural, first person common singular
Root: אָפַף  
Sense: to surround, encompass.
חֶבְלֵי־  the  pains 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: חֶבֶל 
Sense: a cord, rope, territory, band, company.
מָ֗וֶת  of  death 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: מָוֶת  
Sense: death, dying, Death (personified), realm of the dead.
וּמְצָרֵ֣י  and  the  pangs 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: מֵצַר  
Sense: straits, distress.
שְׁא֣וֹל  of  Sheol 
Parse: Noun, common singular
Root: שְׁאֹול  
Sense: sheol, underworld, grave, hell, pit.
מְצָא֑וּנִי  laid  hold  of  me 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural, first person common singular
Root: מָצָא  
Sense: to find, attain to.
צָרָ֖ה  trouble 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: צָרָה 
Sense: straits, distress, trouble.
וְיָג֣וֹן  and  sorrow 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular
Root: יָגֹון  
Sense: grief, sorrow, anguish.
אֶמְצָֽא  I  found 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: מָצָא  
Sense: to find, attain to.