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.

18. In chastising God has chastised me. In these words David owns that his enemies assailed him unjustly, that they were employed by God to correct him, that this was fatherly chastisement, God not inflicting a deadly wound, but correcting him in measure and in mercy. He seems to anticipate the perverse decisions of perverse men which grievously pressed upon him, as if all the ills which he had endured were so many evidences of his being cast off by God. These calumnies which the reprobate cast upon him he applies very differently, by declaring that his correction was mild and paternal. The main thing in adversity is to know that we are laid low by the hand of God, and that this is the way which he takes to prove our allegiance, to arouse us from our torpidity, to crucify our old man, to purge us from our filthiness, to bring us into submission and subjection to God, and to excite us to meditate on the heavenly life.

If these things were recollected by us, there is not one of us who would not shudder at the thought of fretting against God, but would much rather yield submission to him with a mild and meek spirit. Our champing the bit, and rushing forward impatiently, certainly proceeds from the majority of men not looking upon their afflictions as God’s rods, and from others not participating in his paternal care. The last clause of the verse, therefore, merits particular attention, That God always deals mercifully with his own people, so that his correction proves their cure. Not that his paternal regard is always visible, but that in the end it will be shown that his chastisements, so far from being deadly, serve the purpose of a medicine, which, though it produce a temporary debility, rids us of our malady, and renders us healthy and vigorous.