Psalms · psalm 118 of 150
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Psalm 118 is a song of thanksgiving that begins and ends by saying the Lord is good and his steadfast love endures forever. The speaker tells how he cried out in distress and the Lord freed him from nations that surrounded him, and he enters the temple gates in procession. He speaks of the stone the builders rejected that became the cornerstone, and of this is the day that the Lord has made.
Psalm 118 is the last of the Egyptian Hallel (Psalms 113-118) and has no title. It is a psalm of thanksgiving for a festival, with alternating voices, a procession and an entrance into the temple. It is one of the psalms most quoted in the New Testament: the Gospels apply it to Jesus at his entry into Jerusalem and in his teaching about the rejected stone.
The psalm opens with a call: give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Let Israel say it, the house of Aaron and those who fear the Lord. Then the speaker tells his experience: in distress he called on the Lord, and the Lord answered him and set him free. The Lord is on his side, he will not fear what man can do to him. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man or in princes.
The nations surrounded him like bees, but in the name of the Lord he cut them off. He was pushed hard that he might fall, but the Lord helped him. The Lord is his strength and his song, and has become his salvation. There are glad cries of victory in the tents of the righteous. I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord; the Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death.
Then he asks that the gates of righteousness be opened, and enters to give thanks. He says the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this is the Lord's doing, it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. He begs for salvation, blesses the one who comes in the name of the Lord and asks to bind the festal sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. The psalm ends as it began, giving thanks to the Lord, for he is good and his steadfast love endures forever.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The Lord is with me, I will not fear what man can do to me. God's presence changes the perspective of fear: no human power can be final.
The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. God does not only save but gives the strength and the reason to sing.
The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, and this is the Lord's doing. Jesus applied this verse to himself in Matthew 21:42, and Peter quotes it in Acts 4:11 and 1 Peter 2:7 about Christ rejected and exalted.
This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Joy is grounded in what God has done, and we are invited to receive each day as his work.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: That his steadfast love endures forever. — Psalm 118:2-4
Answer: Taking refuge in the Lord. — Psalm 118:8-9
Answer: Like bees, but in the name of the Lord they were cut off. — Psalm 118:10-12
Answer: That he will not die but live and recount the deeds of the Lord. — Psalm 118:17
Answer: The cornerstone. — Psalm 118:22
Answer: To rejoice and be glad in it. — Psalm 118:24
Psalm 118 joins trust, gratitude and joy. A small group can read it aloud with alternating voices, as in ancient worship, and tell of the moments when God set them in a broad place. Trust in the Lord does not depend on the danger disappearing but on knowing that he is with us.
For Christians, verse 22 carries special weight: Christ was rejected by the builders and God made him the cornerstone. Whoever builds his life on him builds on the stone God chose. And verse 24 invites us to receive every day, even the hard ones, as a day the Lord has made, and to live it with gratitude.
Psalm 118 closes the Egyptian Hallel with the same phrase with which it began: give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible, is an alphabetic poem in honor of God's word and his law.
The Gospels quote it at Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, when the crowd says blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord (Matthew 21:9, verse 26). Jesus applied verse 22 to himself in Matthew 21:42, and Peter does so in Acts 4:11 and 1 Peter 2:7.
The cornerstone is the main stone that supports and aligns a building. In its original setting it may refer to Israel, despised by the nations but chosen by God, or to a rescued king. The New Testament applies it to Christ, rejected and exalted.
The word comes from the plea of verse 25, save us, we pray. Over time it became a shout of praise. The crowd shouted it to Jesus as he entered Jerusalem, taking up this psalm.