1Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
2Let Israel now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
3Let the house of Aaron now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
4Let those who fear the Lord
now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
5I called on the Lord in
distress;
The Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.
6The Lord is on my side;
I will not fear.
What can man do to me?
7The Lord is for me among
those who help me;
Therefore I shall see my
desire on those who hate me.
8It is better to trust in the Lord
Than to put confidence in man.
9It is better to trust in the Lord
Than to put confidence in
princes.
10All nations surrounded me,
But in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.
11They surrounded me,
Yes, they surrounded me;
But in the name of the Lord
I will destroy them.
12They surrounded me like bees;
They were quenched like a fire
of thorns;
For in the name of the Lord
I will destroy them.
13You pushed me violently, that I might fall,
But the Lord helped me.
14The Lord is my strength and
song,
And He has become my
salvation.
15The voice of rejoicing and salvation
Is in the tents of the
righteous;
The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
16The right hand of the Lord
is exalted;
The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
17I shall not die, but live,
And declare the works of the Lord.
18The Lord has chastened me
severely,
But He has not given me over
to death.
19Open to me the gates of righteousness;
I will go through them,
And I will praise the Lord.
20This is the gate of the Lord,
Through which the righteous
shall enter.
21I will praise You,
For You have answered me,
And have become my salvation.
22The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief
cornerstone.
23This was the Lord’s doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
24This is the day the Lord
has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in
it.
25Save now, I pray, O Lord; O Lord,
I pray, send now prosperity.
26Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
We have blessed you from the
house of the Lord.
27God is the Lord,
And He has given us light;
Bind the sacrifice with cords
to the horns of the altar.
28You are my God, and I will praise You;
You are my God, I will exalt
You.
29Oh, give thanks to the Lord,
for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
Preamble: Psalm 118 is a most beloved Psalm; its deep themes and verses has comforted many believers down through the ages. At its heart though is Israel, standing firm against the violent opposition that has plague them since God’s inception of them, an opposition and hatred which will reach its climax under the world-wide rule and reign of the antichrist. Nonetheless Israel will prevail, for the God of Jacob is Greater than all, and He will never let his people be annihilated, as Satan and those with him would have them be. The Mighty God of Jacob will make Israel prevail over all!
Commentary
Vs.
1
“Oh, give thanks to the Lord,
for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.”
“His mercy endures forever.”
3Let the house of Aaron now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
4Let those who fear the Lord
now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
From individual praise, now we have a cascading order calling first upon the whole nation of Israel whom the Lord alone holds up and holds onto to say, His mercy endures forever, to its then Old Covenant priesthood, (i.e., the house of Aaron), to likewise say, His mercy endures forever, and finally to one and to all who fear the Lord, everyone who has willingly entered into a covenant with Him, now through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, Israel’s King and High Priest (i.e., Messiah), therefore let us all say, His mercy endures forever!
Vs. 5-6 5I called on the Lord in distress;
The Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.
6The Lord is on my side;
I will not fear.
What can man do to me?
From calling us all to give thanks to the Lord, for His mercy endures forever, to now bearing witness to this, of just how the Lord answered us in our distress, how He Himself lifted us up out of the pit of despair and set us in a broad place; giving us life in so much more abundance then we could ever have had own our own; therefore we now have great boldness and confidence in Him. For we know that He is on our side (vs. 6), always with us and always for us, therefore I will not fear, what can man do to me? Nothing, and even if they kill my body they cannot touch my soul, I am eternally safe and secure with Christ Therefore, do not let the devil, or anyone else cause you to fear man, or doubt this, if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ your home now is in heaven forever! (John 10:27-30; Rom. 8:31-39).
Vs. 7 “The Lord is for me among those who help me;
Therefore I shall see my
desire on those who hate me.”
Knowing then that the Lord is with us, both the nation of Israel and now the Body of Christ, we all can boldly say that the Lord is for me among those who help me. For the Lord does not leave us nor forsake us. Instead He moves individuals and nations to help us. For He is orchestrating a great deliverance for us all that will culminate in our seeing our desires upon all those who hate us at His return when He takes His vengeance on all His enemies, first for the nation of Israel, and then all believers everywhere, which shall be seen and experienced by one and all (Rev. 19:11-20:15). For vengeance is of the Lord, He will execute it in His own way and time.
Vs. 8-9 8It is better to trust in the Lord
Than to put confidence in man.
9It is better to trust in the Lord
Than to put confidence in
princes.
Truly then it is better to trust in the Lord then put one’s confidence in man, who’s fleshly might and power will fail. For every earthly leader and army has its day and then they are swept away by another, same with putting one’s trust in princes (i.e., rulers), whose reign and power and might is only for a season before they are defeated, removed, or overthrown by another, only the Lord’s Person, Power, Reign, and Might is eternal and undefeatable. Therefore put all your trust and confidence in Him not in man!
Vs. 10-12 10All nations surrounded me,
But in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.
11They surrounded me,
Yes, they surrounded me;
But in the name of the Lord
I will destroy them.
12They surrounded me like bees;
They were quenched like a fire
of thorns;
For in the name of the Lord
I will destroy them.
On the surface these verses seem to bear witness to Israel, (and yes they do), but the real One to whom they give testimony to is the Lord Jesus Christ, who will defeat every individual and every nation that rises against Him and His people, this will see its conclusion at the end of His Millennial Reign.
Vs. 13 “You pushed me violently, that I might fall,
But the Lord helped me.”
The provocation, the instigation, began not with Israel. For from Egypt onward the unbelieving nations have sought to make her fall, now this will see its climax during the time of antichrist, when it will seem like the whole world will be set against her. Nonetheless the Lord has helped her, and will help her prevail. This verse then assures them of that, of His helping them, just as He helped His own Son prevail, whom the world Crucified, but He Rose again from the dead and later Ascended back to His Throne!
Vs. 14 The Lord is my strength and song,
And He has become my
salvation.
No doubt this is our rejoicing, our declaration, our song, for it is the song of everyone who believes in the Lord. This then will be sung in the hearts of everyone in Israel, when Israel during the Great Tribulation believes and turns itself to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Vs. 15-16 15The voice of rejoicing and salvation
Is in the tents of the
righteous;
The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
16The right hand of the Lord
is exalted;
The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
Where does God’s praise come from and where is it heard? It comes from everyone whose person and life has now been made righteous by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And when Israel’s strength is all gone, then she will turn to Him and He will be her Savior, He will do valiantly in defeating her enemies, His right hand will be exalted, when He deals with them all once and for all. And so, this Psalm in a most glorious prophetic vision sees this, sees the Lord’s right hand doing valiantly in her (our) defense!
Vs. 17-18 17I shall not die, but live,
And declare the works of the Lord.
18The Lord has chastened me
severely,
But He has not given me over
to death.
Having been delivered by the Lord's strength and hand, both individuals, and the nation of Israel itself can see ourselves and our histories in these verses. Thus, the Psalmist’s declaration here is both personal and representative of the nation as a whole. Knowing then that the Lord has saved them they will (we will) declare the works of the Lord, and none greater is than His death on the Cross and His resurrection from the dead for us all! For truly the Lord has chastened Israel severely (and this is still ongoing) but He has not given them over to death, the nation of Israel will survive!
Vs. 19-20 19Open to me the gates of righteousness;
I will go through them,
And I will praise the Lord.
20This is the gate of the Lord,
Through which the righteous
shall enter.
There is great confidence in us all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ to do and stand for what is right, for with His saving us, He has also changed us, His Spirit has made us new creations (i.e., new people), In Christ, with new desires and new appetites for righteousness, His Righteousness. Thus, the Psalmist boldly declares their own desire to have the gates of righteousness opened to them, so that they can enter the Kingdom, which are not the gates of the Old Covenant Jerusalem which rejected the Lord Jesus Christ during His first Advent, but the gates of the New Jerusalem, the one that is to come down from heaven from which He will rule all the world! And in this glorious new and golden city His praise shall be heard everywhere! The gates of righteousness then is representative of the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ who is the gate through which all must enter in by (John 10), this is self evident in verses 21-23.
Vs. 21-23 21I will praise You,
For You have answered me,
And have become my salvation.
22The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief
cornerstone.
23This was the Lord’s doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
Having entered the Holy city, the Psalmist’s only desire is to praise the Lord, for the Lord has answered them, and they have entered in by Him, therefore He has become their salvation. Again this is the voice of all of the redeemed in Israel and beyond who also will resound with the same joy. And in this there is the prophetic declaration of the Stone which the builders rejected; that is all the Old Covenant priests and scribes and Israelites etc. who rejected the Lord Jesus Christ at His first Advent, who refused to give Him his due place and glory and honor as their King are now terribly shamed; for they wanted and held fast to their “traditions” over and above their King, who God sent to them, whom they Crucified to keep their own dead works and ways. Therefore, this passage foretells all of this, their rejection of Christ, God's chosen Stone, who is the One whom He is now building His whole household upon. It is even cited by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself in His rebuking them all for doing that (see Matt. 21:42-42; Mark 12:10-12; also see Acts 4:8-12; 1 Peter 2:4-10). Therefore, the Stone which the builders rejected has become by God’s Will and Choice the chief cornerstone upon which all that God is building is founded upon (see Eph. 2:19-22). “This was the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes.” Yes indeed this is most marvelous in our eyes, in the eyes of us all who believe in Him, just ask the Psalmist!
Vs. 24 “This is the day the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in
it.”
The Day of our salvation is the day the Lord has made! Everyday then that we as believers in Him get to live and experience down here with Him, whether individually or collectively, we will rejoice and be glad in it, for everyday, regardless of our circumstances, is a New Day with Him!
Vs. 25 “Save now, I pray, O Lord; O Lord,
I pray, send now prosperity.”
The Psalmist now cries out to the Lord to save, and prays for Him to send prosperity, which can be a personal request of anyone who believes in the Lord, but here I think there is a looking onto Israel’s troubles, maybe even the time of Jacob’s troubles, thus the double imperative for the Lord to save them. However, the prayer for prosperity must extend beyond that time.
Vs. 26 “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
We have blessed you from the
house of the Lord.”
The first half of this verse the Lord Jesus Christ cited to Jerusalem, saying they would not see Him until they welcome Him as their King (see Matt. 23:37-39). And so it has been over two thousand years that Jerusalem (as figurative of all of Israel) has been without her King, without the One true God. But here in this passage we have the foretelling of their very glad and joyous reception of Him, of all who preach and teach His Gospel to them (consider Isaiah 49:5). Again, this will come when Israel finally comes to their senses and they realize just what they have done to their King (see Zechariah 12:10-14).
Vs. 27 “God is the Lord,
And He has given us light;
Bind the sacrifice with cords
to the horns of the altar.”
This then is Israel’s declaration after receiving Jesus Christ their Lord and King and Savior. Before this, because of Israel’s own hardness of heart, light was given to the Gentiles, (Isaiah 9:1-2; Matt. 4:15-17, vs. 16) but now at last, the people God choose to bring forth His Son into the world have finally seen and received Him! Therefore, their declaration of bind the sacrifice with chords to the horns of altar is symbolic speech of their sealing their faith and trust in His Sacrifice for them all.
You are my God, I will exalt
You.
29Oh, give thanks to the Lord,
for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
The Psalm now concludes with beautiful praise, the collective cry of all of God’s people, all Jews, all Gentiles, everyone who believes in God’s Son will say,
“You are my God, and I will praise You;
You are my God, I will exalt
You.”
And
on His Day when we enter His Kingdom forever there will also be a collective cry
from us all to one and to all saying,
“Oh, give thanks to the Lord,
for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.”
Scripture Quotations
New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.
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