Reflections on Psalms 118

 Psalms 118(Contemporary English Version)

1. Tell the LORD how thankful you are, because he is kind and always merciful.
   
2. Let Israel shout, "God is always merciful!"
   
3. Let the family of Aaron the priest shout, "God is always merciful!"
   
4. Let every true worshiper of the LORD shout, "God is always merciful!"
   
5. When I was really hurting, I prayed to the LORD. He answered my prayer, and took my worries away.
   
6. The LORD is on my side, and I am not afraid of what others can do to me.
   
7. With the LORD on my side, I will defeat all of my hateful enemies.
   
8. It is better to trust the LORD for protection than to trust anyone else,
   
9. including strong leaders.
   
10. Nations surrounded me, but I got rid of them by the power of the LORD.
    
11. They attacked from all sides, but I got rid of them by the power of the LORD.
    
12. They swarmed around like bees, but by the power of the LORD, I got rid of them and their fiery sting.
    
13. Their attacks were so fierce that I nearly fell, but the LORD helped me.
    
14. My power and my strength come from the LORD, and he has saved me.
    
15. From the tents of God's people come shouts of victory: "The LORD is powerful!
    
16. With his mighty arm the LORD wins victories! The LORD is powerful!"
    
17. And so my life is safe, and I will live to tell what the LORD has done.
    
18. He punished me terribly, but he did not let death lay its hands on me.
    
19. Open the gates of justice! I will enter and tell the LORD how thankful I am.
    
20. Here is the gate of the LORD! Everyone who does right may enter this gate.
    
21. I praise the LORD for answering my prayers and saving me.
    
22. The stone that the builders tossed aside has now become the most important stone.
    
23. The LORD has done this, and it is amazing to us.
    
24. This day belongs to the LORD! Let's celebrate and be glad today.
    
25. We'll ask the LORD to save us! We'll sincerely ask the LORD to let us win.
    
26. God bless the one who comes in the name of the LORD! We praise you from here in the house of the LORD.
    
27. The LORD is our God, and he has given us light! Start the celebration! March with palm branches all the way to the altar.
    
28. The LORD is my God! I will praise him and tell him how thankful I am.
    
29. Tell the LORD how thankful you are, because he is kind and always merciful.

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Psalms 118 triumphs in the Lord's enduring love which endures forever. Indeed, if it were not an everlasting love, if it had an ending point, could it be said to endure? The psalmist and his countrymen had experienced God's love and he called on them to give Him praise saying, "His faithful love endures forever." All Israel should give this praise. The house of Aaron, that is, the priests, should give this praise. And, all those who fear the Lord, whether an Israelite or not, should give this praise.

The psalmist "called to the Lord in distress." (118:5) Was he accustomed to calling on him in good times too? If so, it was natural to turn to Him when in distress. When we have an ongoing relationship with the Lord, when the time of distress comes, and it will come, calling to the Lord for help will more likely be a first resort rather than the last one. With His help we can maneuver through the distressful circumstances with His guidance and can have His intervention sooner rather than later. Furthermore, regardless of the nature or source of our distress, the Lord desires to use them for our good. This can only be accomplished when we turn to Him for help.

What the psalmist learned from the Lord's help was that with the Lord as His helper, "What can man do to me? . . . It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in nobles." (118:6, 8-9) Whether from the circumstances that prompted the psalm or from earlier circumstances, the psalmist learned from calling on the Lord that He "is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation." (118:14) Therefore, the psalmist can proclaim, " I will not die, but I will live and proclaim what the LORD has done." (118:17) Verse 18, "The LORD disciplined me severely but did not give me over to death." suggests the psalmist recognized his time of distress to be the Lord's discipline. By turning to the Lord he allowed his experience to have a positive outcome rather than a negative one.

Verse 22 is a rather familiar one, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone." We know it particularly from Jesus' application of it to Himself. Though the religious leaders of His time and the people in general rejected Him, He was the cornerstone of God's plan for man's salvation. In a broader sense, however, it applies to much in God's kingdom. For much of what God uses, man rejects. God's values are often upsidedown to man's values. So it should not be surprising that man also rejects the very cornerstone of God's kingdom - Jesus.

Verse 24 is another that is familiar, "This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." We apply this to each day as a day the Lord has made. But it might also be applied to an era. And in the context of this psalm in which the psalmist found deliverance and salvation from his distress through the Lord, the era following the time of distress was an era, a day, the Lord had made possible and he determined that he would rejoice and be glad in it. When we turn to the Lord after trying to negotiate life on our own terms, it is a day the Lord has made. It is something in which to rejoice and be glad.