Psalm 118

Introduction

Today’s psalm is a psalm of thanksgiving in which the psalmist leads the people in praise to the Lord for his steadfast love and for rescuing them from their enemies. It begins with praise; then, in verses 5 to 18, the psalmist describes how the Lord helped them; after that, in verses 19 to 27, the psalmist leads the people in praise; and finally the psalm ends with praise again.

Verses 1 to 4

The psalm begins with praise. And we’re to praise the Lord because he is good and because his love endures for ever. The psalmist is referring to God’s covenant love for his covenant people. This is his steadfast love or his never-ending love for his people. And therefore, it endures for ever.

The commentators aren’t sure when this psalm was written, but some think it was written after the exile. And so, though God was angry with his people for a time and he sent them into exile, nevertheless his love for them endured and he brought them out of Babylon and back to the Promised Land. And despite our own faithlessness and rebellion, the Lord continues to love his people with a never-ending love.

And the psalmist summons Israel and the house of Aaron and all those who fear the Lord to say, ‘His love endures for ever.’ We came across these three groups in Psalm 115. Israel, of course, refers to the people; the house of Aaron are the priests; and all who fear the Lord are the people and priests together who worship the Lord. And so, the psalmist is calling on all of God’s people to praise the Lord for his love which endures for ever.

Verses 5 to 18

And in verses 5 to 18 the psalmist describes how the Lord helped them.

He says in verse 5 that he cried out to the Lord in prayer when he was in anguish. And the Lord answered his cry by setting him free. Although he refers to ‘my anguish’ and how ‘I cried to the Lord’, it’s likely that he’s speaking on behalf of the people. So, when they were in anguish, they cried to the Lord and the Lord answered them by setting them free.

The Hebrew word translated ‘anguish’ refers to being in a tight spot or to being confined to a narrow place. So, they were in anguish because they were hemmed in. But the Lord heard their cry and set them free. The Hebrew word translated ‘free’ refers to a broad place. So, they were hemmed in, but the Lord brought them out and into a broad place. If the psalm was written after the exile, then they were hemmed in and trapped by the Babylonians. But the Lord has now set them free and allowed them to return.

In verses 6 and 7 he repeats that the Lord was with them. And because the Lord was with them, there was no reason for fear. What can any man or enemy soldier do to them when the Lord is with them? And the Lord was with them in order to help them. He is their helper. And so, the psalmist is confident that they will look in triumph on their enemies.

And since that’s the case, then it’s better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in men, even when those men are princes or rulers. In the history of Israel and Judah, the kings were often afraid of their enemies and they looked to pagan nations for help and protection. But instead of trusting in them, they should have trusted the Lord who promised to their God and to take care of them always.

In verses 10 to 12 he describes how the nations surrounded them. And what he says about the nations escalates over the three verses. So, the nations surrounded them. Then he says they surrounded them on every side. Then he says they swarmed around them like bees, which are relentless and fierce. If the psalm is about the return from exile, then God’s people were surrounded by the Babylonians who once besieged Jerusalem before taking the people away to Babylon where they were surrounded every day by foreigners. However, each time the psalmist mentions how they were surrounded, he also reports that ‘in the name of the Lord I [or we] cut them off.’ So, their enemies surrounded them, but in the name of the Lord — or with the help of the Lord — they cut their enemies off.

If the background to the psalm is the return from exile, then this is puzzling, because the Jews didn’t have to fight to gain their freedom from exile. Cyrus, the king of Persia, issued a decree to let them return. However, the verb translated ‘cut off’ is actually the word for circumcision. And it’s perhaps possible that the psalmist means they circumcised the hearts of their enemies. That is to say, their hearts were changed by God. God changed what they felt in their hearts about the Jews. And as result, they were inclined to let the Jews go. And so, there was a great victory. But it was not a military victory, but a kind of spiritual victory. God worked by his Spirit in the heart of Cyrus; and the Lord made Cyrus willing to let the exiled people return home.

In verse 13 he says that he, or the people, were pushed back and they were about to fall because of their enemies. But the Lord helped them. And so, the Lord is his strength and song. That’s a quotation from the song of Moses in Exodus 15. After the Lord brought his people through the Red Sea, and after the Egyptians were drowned, Moses and the Israelites began to praise the Lord. And they sang that the Lord is their strength and song. That is, he is the source of their strength and he is the theme of their song. And he is their salvation, because he’s the one who saved them from their enemies. Moses and the Israelites were thinking about what the Lord had done to the Egyptians. Here, in the psalm, the psalmist is perhaps thinking about what the Lord has done for them by rescuing them from their captivity in Babylon.

And so, shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous. He refers to the tents of the righteous because they’re on their way back to Jerusalem and they’re sleeping in tents at night. And they are singing about how the Lord’s strong right hand has done mighty things for them. And so, they will not die, but they will live. They will live and will proclaim what the Lord their God has done for them. Yes, the Lord sent them into exile to chasten them. He was disciplining them for their persistent unbelief and rebellion. But because he is good and because his love for his people endures for ever, he did not give them over to death. He kept them alive and he brought them back to the Promised Land.

Verses 19 to 27

And so, in verses 5 to 18 the psalmist describes how the Lord helped them. Now, in verses 19 to 27, he leads the people in praise. And we’re to imagine the people making their way up to the temple to worship the Lord.

In verse 19 the psalmist calls for the gates of righteousness to be opened. What are the gates of righteousness? He explains in the next verse: they are the gates through which the righteous may enter. The psalmist is leading the returning exiles either into Jerusalem or else into the temple in Jerusalem. Of course, the temple had been destroyed at the beginning of the exile and needed to be repaired. But perhaps the psalm was written for the great assembly which we read about in Nehemiah 8, when the returning exiles gathered in Jerusalem to hear the reading of God’s law and to confess their sins and to praise the Lord. And so, perhaps this psalm was written for that kind of occasion. However, the commentators also explain that this psalm was among a group of psalms which were sung during the Passover each year. And so, year by year, at the time of the Passover, the people travelled to Jerusalem. And there they read this psalm and gave thanks to the Lord, because — as he says in verse 21 — the Lord answered them when they cried for help and he was their salvation. He was their Saviour.

In verse 22, they sing about the stone that was once rejected, but which has become the capstone or the cornerstone. It’s likely that he’s speaking metaphorically. That is, he’s using picture language to speak about God’s people and about the great reversal which God has accomplished for them. They were once rejected, but the Lord has now brought them back to Jerusalem and exalted them. And it has happened because of the Lord. He has done it and it is marvellous in their eyes.

And as they gather for worship, they announce that this is the day the Lord has made. This day of celebration would not have occurred if it was not for the Lord who delivered them. And therefore they will use the day to rejoice before the Lord and to be glad in it. This recalls what we read in Nehemiah 8, because when the people assembled in Jerusalem and listened to the reading of the law, they began to weep. Presumably they wept tears of sorrow and penitence, because they had not kept the law. But Ezra and the scribes told them not to weep, because it was a day for rejoicing in God’s goodness to them.

And then, in verse 25, they call on the Lord to save them and to grant them success. Though they had returned from exile, there was still much for them to do and they continued to need God’s help and protection. But instead of relying on men and princes, they were now relying on the Lord their God.

And as part of this celebration, priests pronounced a blessing on the people in verse 26. So, the priests say: ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ And the priests are referring to the people: they have come in the name of the Lord to praise God. And the priests continue and say in the second line of verse 26: From the house of the Lord, we priests bless you people.

And the people respond in verse 27, saying that the Lord has made his light shine on them. They’re using the language of the Aaronic blessing:

The LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

The Lord has turned his smiling face on them and he’s been gracious to them. And so, with the boughs of trees in their hands, they join the festal procession which is making its way up to the altar of the Lord.

Verses 28 and 29

Just as the psalm began with praise, so it ends with praise. The psalmist declares that the Lord is our God and therefore we will give thanks to him and will exalt him by worshipping him. And so, give thanks to the Lord, because he’s good and his love for his people endures for ever.

Application

The psalm is familiar to us because it is quoted in the gospels. When the Lord Jesus entered Jerusalem on the first palm Sunday, the crowds shouted the words of verse 26: ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ At that time, they were referring to the Lord Jesus. He is the Blessed One who came in the name of the Lord. And then, at the end of the parable of the wicked tenants, the Lord Jesus quoted verse 22 and applied to himself. He is the stone which the builders rejected, because the leaders of the people rejected him even though he had come to save them from their sin and misery. And because they rejected him, they crucified him. But the stone the builders rejected has become the capstone or cornerstone, because God raised Christ from the dead and exalted him to the highest place, far above every rule and authority in this age and the next. He was once rejected and killed and buried. But God exalted him to the highest place. And he is the capstone or the cornerstone of the church, which he is now building on the earth. And all who believe in him for forgiveness are living stones and we are united together under him.

And because of Christ, we who believe can look forward to the day when we will enter the new Jerusalem to come. In fact, he has gone before us and he is now leading us there. And when we come to the new Jerusalem in the life to come, we will gather with all of God’s people to give thanks to the Lord our God and to praise him for ever and for ever for his goodness to us in Christ Jesus and for his love which endures for ever.

Right now, we are exiles living on the earth. We are a pilgrim people, who are making our way to the house of the Lord in the new heavens and earth. Because there are many dangers and troubles on the way, our constant cry is, ‘O Lord save us’ and ‘O Lord, grant us success’. And we must look to him continually and trust in him, because he alone is our refuge and our helper. And because the Lord our God is good and because his love endures for ever, we know that he will keep us and bring us at last into his presence, where we will declare that he is our God. And we will give thanks to him. We will declare that he is our God. And we will exalt him for ever.