Why read Psalm 115?
Read Psalm 115 to express gratitude and renew your commitment to promises made to God. Its question about responding to His blessings is joined to the cup of salvation and an offering of praise.
You can read this psalm when its themes speak to your circumstances, or as part of your regular reading of the Psalter. This explanation draws on the text itself; the psalm is not reserved for one particular need.
Psalm 115 — “I believed, therefore I spoke, and...” — is the prayer through which the Psalmist places the experience of an entire hour of life before God. It belongs to the 16th Kathisma and has 10 verses, which you will find in full below.
The text of Psalm 115
1. I believed, therefore I spoke, and I humbled myself greatly.
2. I said in my amazement, “Every man is a liar!”
3. What shall I repay the Lord for all that He has given me?
4. I shall take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord.
5. I shall fulfil my vows to the Lord before all His people.
6. Precious before the Lord is the death of His holy ones.
7. O Lord, I am Your servant, I am Your servant and the son of Your handmaid; You have broken my bonds.
8. To You I shall offer a sacrifice of praise and call upon the name of the Lord.
9. I shall fulfil my vows to the Lord before all His people,
10. In the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, Jerusalem.
When Psalm 115 is read
- It belongs to the 16th Kathisma and may be read daily alongside the prayer rule (see the morning and evening prayers).
- At the end of each psalm, tradition adds: «Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.».
Adjacent psalms
The numbering follows the Orthodox Psalter (Septuagint). The same psalm may have a different number in other Bible editions.
