Choosing the Obvious

What shall I give back to the Lord
For all He rendered to me?
I will take up the cup of salvation,
And call upon the name of the Lord. (Ps 116:12–13)

I read the above passage yesterday and was struck by the obvious. The Lord has provided all things abundantly in Christ. What else can I do but take up the cup of salvation He offers? what else but call upon Him? It is to His glory that I have been so richly blessed. It is only right that my response is fully unto Him, even as Cyprian once wrote:

For this it is which especially pleases God; it is this wherein our works with greater deserts are successful in earning God’s good-will; this it is which alone the obedience of our faith and devotion can render to the Lord for His great and saving benefits, as the Holy Spirit declares and witnesses in the Psalms: “What shall I render,” says he, “to the Lord for all His benefits towards me? I will take the cup of salvation, and I will call upon the name of the Lord. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” Who would not gladly and readily receive the cup of salvation? Who would not with joy and gladness desire that in which he himself also may render somewhat unto His Lord? Who would not bravely and unfalteringly receive a death precious in the sight of the Lord, to please His eyes, who, looking down from above upon us who are placed in the conflict for His name, approves the willing, assists the struggling, crowns the conquering with the recompense of patience, goodness, and affection, rewarding in us whatever He Himself has bestowed, and honoring what He has accomplished?

Epistle to Nemesianus and Other Martyrs in the Mines 76.4