Psalm 118
1Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever. 2Let Israel now say that his loving kindness endures forever. 3Let the house of Aaron now say that his loving kindness endures forever. 4Now let those who fear Yahweh say that his loving kindness endures forever. 5Out of my distress, I called on Yah. Yah answered me with freedom. 6Yahweh is on my side. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? 7Yahweh is on my side among those who help me. Therefore I will look in triumph at those who hate me. 8It is better to take refuge in Yahweh, than to put confidence in man. 9It is better to take refuge in Yahweh, than to put confidence in princes. 10All the nations surrounded me, but in Yahweh’s name I cut them off. 11They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me. In Yahweh’s name I indeed cut them off. 12They surrounded me like bees. They are quenched like the burning thorns. In Yahweh’s name I cut them off. 13You pushed me back hard, to make me fall, but Yahweh helped me. 14Yah is my strength and song. He has become my salvation. 15The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous. “The right hand of Yahweh does valiantly. 16The right hand of Yahweh is exalted! The right hand of Yahweh does valiantly!” 17I will not die, but live, and declare Yah’s works. 18Yah has punished me severely, but he has not given me over to death. 19Open to me the gates of righteousness. I will enter into them. I will give thanks to Yah. 20This is the gate of Yahweh; the righteous will enter into it. 21I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me, and have become my salvation. 22The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 23This is Yahweh’s doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. 24This is the day that Yahweh has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it! 25Save us now, we beg you, Yahweh! Yahweh, we beg you, send prosperity now. 26Blessed is he who comes in Yahweh’s name! We have blessed you out of Yahweh’s house. 27Yahweh is God, and he has given us light. Bind the sacrifice with cords, even to the horns of the altar. 28You are my God, and I will give thanks to you. You are my God, I will exalt you. 29Oh give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.
Introduction
Psalms 118
It is probable that David penned this psalm when he had, after many a story, weathered his point at last, and gained a full possession of the kingdom to which he had been anointed. He then invites and stirs up his friends to join with him, not only in a cheerful acknowledgment of God's goodness and a cheerful dependence upon that goodness for the future, but in a believing expectation of the promised Messiah, of whose kingdom and his exaltation to it his were typical. To him, it is certain, the prophet here bears witness, in the latter part of the psalm. Christ himself applies it to himself (Mat 21:42), and the former part of the psalm may fairly, and without forcing, be accommodated to him and his undertaking. Some think it was first calculated for the solemnity of the bringing of the ark to the city of David, and was afterwards sung at the feast of tabernacles. In it, I. David calls upon all about him to give to God the glory of his goodness (Psa 118:1-4). II. He encourages himself and others to trust in God, from the experience he had had of God's power and pity in the great and kind things he had done for him (Psa 118:5-18). III. He gives thanks for his advancement to the throne, as it was a figure of the exaltation of Christ (Psa 118:19-23). IV. The people, the priests, and the psalmist himself, triumph in the prospect of the Redeemer's kingdom (Psa 118:24-29). In singing this psalm we must glorify God for his goodness, his goodness to us, and especially his goodness to us in Jesus Christ.
Cross-references: Matt 21:42 · Ps 118:1 · Ps 118:5 · Ps 118:19 · Ps 118:24