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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.

22 The stone which the builders rejected In these words David boldly pours contempt on the calumnies with which he was unjustly and undeservedly assailed. As there was something ominous in his being condemned by the entire assemblage of the nobles, and all those who were invested with authority, and as the opinion was prevalent, that he was a wicked and rejected man; this error he deliberately refutes, and vindicates his innocence in the face of the principal men among them. “It is of little importance to me that I am abandoned by the chief men, seeing I have been visibly chosen by the judgment of God to be king over Israel.” The similitude which he employs is appropriate, comparing himself to a stone, and the principal rulers of the Church to master-builders It might, indeed, appear most irrational on his part to assert that the heads of the realm, to whom the government of the Church was intrusted, should be deprived of the Spirit of God, and divested of a sound judgment. Hence, in opposition to their perverse and erroneous judgment, he places the grace of God, declaring that he was placed by the purpose and power of God to sustain the whole building. In a word, he shows that splendid titles and high rank, in which his enemies glory, are no obstruction to him, because, relying upon the call of God, he possesses a glory superior to the verdict of the whole world. It being a difficult matter to persuade them of the truth of this, he magnifies and enlarges upon the grace of God, in order that its authority might suppress all evil speaking and clamorous surmises.

This, says he, is the doing of Jehovah “Go and quarrel with God, all ye that strenuously endeavor to eject me from my throne, to which I have not been elevated accidentally, or by human policy, but by the manifest power of God.” This he confirms by all being constrained to wonder at what had occurred as a thing incredible. Now, when God doeth marvellously, and in a manner that surpasses our comprehension, his power cannot fail to be so much the more apparent unto us. Should any prefer to interpret it thus:-Although this work may fill men with astonishment, yet that is no reason for rejecting it; he may do so. To me, however, it certainly appears more probable that David employs the term wonderful, that the haughtiness of man may submit to God, and that none may presume to breathe a whisper against him. The fitness of these things being applied to Christ will be more properly discussed when I come to consider the twenty-fifth verse.

24. This is the day which Jehovah made He now speaks of that as a happy and pleasant day, on which he was at last established king over Israel, and the anointing of him by Samuel ratified by this event. Doubtless, all days were created alike by God, nevertheless David, by way of eminence, calls that the day of God which, after a long period of darkness, had dawned for the weal of the Church, because it was signalized by a notable event, deserving of being remembered by succeeding generations; and because the Church had thus emerged from a state of deep obscurity, he exhorts the faithful to mirth and joy, and that, too, by reason of the ignorance which many still displayed of the grace of God, or of their treating it with contempt, and of others being so lettered by their perverse attachment to Saul, that they could scarcely be brought to yield allegiance to David.