Study

a Bible passage

Click a verse to see commentary

Select a resource above

Psalm 118

A Song of Victory

O give thanks to the L ord, for he is good;

his steadfast love endures forever!

Let Israel say,

“His steadfast love endures forever.”

Let the house of Aaron say,

“His steadfast love endures forever.”

Let those who fear the L ord say,

“His steadfast love endures forever.”

Out of my distress I called on the L ord;

the L ord answered me and set me in a broad place.

With the L ord on my side I do not fear.

What can mortals do to me?

The L ord is on my side to help me;

I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.

It is better to take refuge in the L ord

than to put confidence in mortals.

It is better to take refuge in the L ord

than to put confidence in princes.

All nations surrounded me;

in the name of the L ord I cut them off!

They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;

in the name of the L ord I cut them off!

They surrounded me like bees;

they blazed like a fire of thorns;

in the name of the L ord I cut them off!

I was pushed hard, so that I was falling,

but the L ord helped me.

The L ord is my strength and my might;

he has become my salvation.

There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:

“The right hand of the L ord does valiantly;

the right hand of the L ord is exalted;

the right hand of the L ord does valiantly.”

I shall not die, but I shall live,

and recount the deeds of the L ord.

The L ord has punished me severely,

but he did not give me over to death.

Open to me the gates of righteousness,

that I may enter through them

and give thanks to the L ord.

This is the gate of the L ord;

the righteous shall enter through it.

I thank you that you have answered me

and have become my salvation.

The stone that the builders rejected

has become the chief cornerstone.

This is the L ord’s doing;

it is marvelous in our eyes.

This is the day that the L ord has made;

let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Save us, we beseech you, O L ord!

O L ord, we beseech you, give us success!

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the L ord.

We bless you from the house of the L ord.

The L ord is God,

and he has given us light.

Bind the festal procession with branches,

up to the horns of the altar.

You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;

you are my God, I will extol you.

O give thanks to the L ord, for he is good,

for his steadfast love endures forever.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

13. Thou hast sorely thrust at me. He either now changes the person, or directs his discourse to Saul, his principal enemy. In the person of one, he sets at defiance all his enemies together. In saying that he had been thrust at, he admits that he did not withstand the onset by his own bravery, as those who are powerful enough to encounter opposition, sustain the assaults of their enemies without flinching. The power of God is more illustriously displayed in raising him up even from ruin itself.

In the subsequent verse he draws the conclusion that God is his strength and song. By the former adjunct he candidly acknowledges his weakness, and ascribes his safety exclusively to God. And having admitted that his strength was in God alone, because he was sustained by his power, immediately he adds, that God is his praise or his song, which must be understood passively. “In myself there was no ground for boasting, to God belongs entirely all the praise of my safety.” The last clause of the verse, in which he says that God was his salvation, refers to the same subject.

15. The voice of shouting and salvation is in the tabernacles of the just. He affirms that the kindness which God had conferred upon him was so extensive, that it would not do to render thanks to him privately. In the benefits which he had received, God’s power appeared both remarkable and memorable, and the fruit of it also was extended to the whole Church. Therefore, as David’s deliverance was wonderful and advantageous generally to all the godly, he promises that he would make a public thanksgiving; and invites them to join him in this holy exercise. By this circumstance, he chiefly aims at magnifying the grace of God, and also by its effects to demonstrate, that not merely his individual preservation, but that of the whole Church, in his person, was accomplished. Intercommunion among believers does, indeed, bind them alternately to render thanks to God for each other; in David’s case, there was the specific reason which I have mentioned, his wonderful preservation from many deaths, and his having assigned to him the sovereignty of God’s chosen people. It is worthy of notice, that he combines the voice of joy and gladness with the praise of God, by which he shows that believers ought to mingle with their mirth a sense of the grace of God. To do valiantly, is tantamount to a magnificent display of his power, so that there may be a bright manifestation of its effulgence. God ofttimes secretly, and when apparently feeble, grants deliverance to his faithful people, that they may be sensible that it comes from him; but this is not so well known to others. Here, however, David asserts that the operation of God was so plainly developed, no one could doubt whence his safety came. The other phrase, that the right hand of God was exalted, refers to the same subject, because, by working powerfully and unwontedly, God had exalted his hand.