Beloved, I have the joy of sharing with you today the above theme from Ps 118:1-2 et seq. Indeed, in Psalm 118, it is the goodness of the Lord that is the theme of praise. Surrounded and threatened by the whole world, Israel will experience that the help of man and princes is in vain (Ps 108:11-14). The name of Jehovah will be his only backup. As for us, what threatens us is essentially, alas, the lusts of our poor hearts (Jam 1:13-17). Many times we have been on the verge of falling, but God has been in our rescue; He kept our feet from falling (Ps 116:7-9). And man will not be able to do anything against us because the Lord is our strength. This psalm occupies an important place in prophecies relating to the Lord. Verse 22, quoted in the Gospels and in 1 Pet 2:6-8, announces both Jesus’ rejection and his rightful place. May what God wanted to do through Christ and for Christ always be “a wonderful thing before our eyes”! Verses 25 and 26 remind us of the Messiah’s entry into Jerusalem and the cries of the crowd: “Save me I pray to you” (Hosanna in Hebrew). “Blessed be he who comes in the name of the Lord” (Mat 21:6-11).
In spite of Him, the Jewish people invoked and honored Him that day as the Scriptures foretold. And these should now open the eyes of this people. However, the time comes when this prophecy will have its true fulfillment. The triumphant Messiah will then be received and greeted by the faithful residue. Among the Jews, this psalm was part of the Passover ritual. Perhaps this is the hymn sung by the Lord with His disciples after the Last Supper? (Mark 14:22-26). If so, with what sentiments did he pronounce at such a moment verses 6, 21, 22 and the end of verse 27: “Bind … the sacrifice to the horns of the altar”! The psalm ends as it began: by celebrating the unchanging goodness of Jehovah. This psalm closes the series of these sublime psalms of praise. Psalm 110 presented Christ to us, as Adonai, taking his place at the right hand of God in heaven, and anticipated the day when he would return to ascend to the throne of his power and enjoy the rest of the reign. Here the nation of Israel greets him on his return under the apt title of “head of the angle” because he was made such by his exaltation in heaven, considered in a previous psalm (Acts 4:11). This psalm is the language of Israel: the people are now ready to receive Jesus as King (Matt. 23). This is the day when the ridge stone appears, greeted with cheers (Zach. 4:7). This expression “the Stone” is common in Scripture, in relation to Christ.
This wonderful Stone, this Rock, was formed at Calvary; indeed, the archers had to provoke him and shoot him and hate him before he truly became that stone, that “tried stone” (Isa 28:16). Then, at the right time, He was laid before Israel as its foundation; but rather than build on Him, Israel struck against Him (Rom. 9:33). Presently, under the same character, he is presented to sinners all over the world: some find in him the stone that gives life, but on the whole men reject him (1 Peter 2:8). But he is in heaven, recognized as the cornerstone: and on the chosen day of God, from this elevated position he will fall on those who despise him and crush them (Dan. 2; Matt. 21). Then the true Israel, Israel according to his heart, will welcome him as we see it in this psalm. Then in his kingdom he will be the stone – on earth, that stone on which will be engraved “seven eyes” and whose government will exercise without failure on all things (Zech. 3), – in heaven, seated on the throne like the precious stone, glorious (Rev. 4), surrounded by his resurrected saints who will shine like magnificent precious stones (Rev. 21). Wonderful story! that we evoke only in passing by reading this beautiful psalm; someone said it: admiring is actually nothing less than worshipping.
The reign, that is, the “day of the Lord” is, in this psalm, the subject of joy, as the resurrection had been in Ps. 116. This “day” will obviously bring “light” to Israel; it will also be the great testimony that god’s goodness “remains forever,” the great theme, the great motive for the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving that will be offered continuously. Indeed the joy of Jesus and his saints is twofold: there is the joy of the resurrection, and the joy of the kingdom. Jesus experienced the joy of the resurrection when, in his own person, he triumphed over the power of death and came out of the tomb; he will taste the joy of reign in the next day of his power in Jerusalem. The last of these psalms, Psalm 118, celebrates the glorious ways of the Lord, seen at a more advanced stage than that to which Psalm 110 brought him. In this psalm, we had seen Christ sitting at the right hand of majesty in heaven, waiting for his day and kingdom. But here waiting gives way to reality. His enemies subjugated, he passes the doors of his royal city. Just as one day the luminous path from the earth to the right hand of God opened for him, so now the luminous path that brings him from heaven opens up for him: he comes out to execute judgment against his enemies, as the promise was made to him then, thus responding to the desires of the hearts of his own who await him, and to sit on the throne of his kingdom.
What paths are traced here for the feet of Jesus! These feet, which walked only the thorny places of this arid world, follow in these psalms these glorious paths – one ascending to God, the other descending to the throne of his kingdom. Then the Lord will see His Day. And it will be a Jubilee, when divine authority will govern and fill the entire universe (Lev. 25). His counsel in wisdom and love will be manifested and exalted, and his people will raise their voices in praise, as they do here – “Bind with ropes the sacrifice to the horns of the altar.” But who can express all this? Thus the spiritual understanding of God’s ways to which the people arrive, their coming to worship Jehovah in righteousness, and their confession of the Messiah, of Jesus, once despised and rejected, all this is developed in connection with the deliverance and blessing of Israel and with the perfect manifestation of the nature and character of Jehovah. Several verses of this Psalm are quoted at the end of the Savior’s sufferings; in no other Psalm is there so much connection between Him and the pains or promises of Israel. Now the doors of justice are opening before Israel. This change, introduced suddenly, as a result of the trial, is beautiful: “I will enter it, I will celebrate the Lord; this is the door of the Lord, the righteous will enter it! Israel will celebrate his praise there, for jehovah answered him and was his salvation.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
I will live to tell of the Lord’s works:
· God’s Goodness
Ps 33:5 He loves righteousness and righteousness; The goodness of Jehovah fills the earth. Ps 34:9 Feel and see how good the Lord is! Blessed is the man who seeks refuge in him! Mt 19:17 He answered him: Why do you ask me about what is good? Only one is the right one. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments. Which? he said to her. Rom 2:4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, patience, and long-suffering, not recognizing that God’s goodness drives you to repentance?
· Fearlessness of the righteous
Ps 91:5 Thou shalt fear neither the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, Ps 118:6 The Lord is for me, I fear nothing: What can men do to me? Pr 3:24 If you go to bed, you will be without fear; And when you go to bed, your sleep will be soft. Isa 12:2 Behold, God is my deliverance, I will be full of trust, and I will fear nothing; For the Lord, the Lord is my strength and the subject of my praises; He was the one who saved me.
· Warning against False trust, trust in man
Ps 118:9 It is better to seek refuge in the Lord than to entrust oneself to the great. Isa 2:22 Stop entrusting yourselves in man, in whose nostrils there is only one breath: For what value is he? Isaiah 31:1 Woe to those who descend to Egypt for help, Who rely on horses, And rely on the multitude of chariots and the strength of the horsemen, But who do not look to the Holy One of Israel, And do not seek the Lord! Jer 17:5 Thus saith the Lord: Cursed be the man who trusts in man, Who takes the flesh for his support, and who turns his heart away from the Lord!
· Name of the Lord, powerful
Ps 113:3 From sunrise to sunset, May the name of the Lord be celebrated! Pr 18:10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous take refuge there, and is safe. Isaiah 50:10 Whoever among you fears the Lord, let him listen to the voice of his servant! Whoever walks in darkness and lacks light, let him trust in the name of Jehovah, and rely on his God! Ml 1:11 For from the dawn of the sun until its setting, My name is great among the nations, And in every place incense is burned in honor of my name And pure offerings are presented; For great is my name among the nations, said the Lord of hosts.
From all the above, we note that in Ps. 118 we find praise and thanksgiving, attached to the well-known formula: “His goodness dwells forever!” – or rather, based on it. The same people whom Ps. 115 invited to trust in the Lord are now invited to celebrate him. Since verse 5, the Holy Spirit speaks in the person of delivered Israel of this faithfulness of Jehovah. Now that Jehovah is for his saints, they no longer have to fear man. The Lord is better than man. The Eternal is better than the principals. Verses 10–18 set out the circumstances and ways in which Israel had passed: all nations had surrounded it; in the name of the Lord, he had destroyed them; they had been extinguished like a fire of thorns. The power of the enemy had rudely pushed Israel; but the Lord had been to his aid. Verses 14-17 celebrate the result of this intervention in a song of joy and gladness. In verse 18 we find another aspect of the same scene: The circumstances israel had gone through were the punishment of Jehovah, who had severely punished him, but had not delivered him to death which constituted the power of the enemy over the people. So here we learn what trial really is, as we can also see in Job – first of all the instruments, the men, even all the nations; then the enemy who acts, by their means, and on the spirit, pushing the soul rudely; but behind this, the source of all that happens, we see God who chastises, but who does not give up. This is full of instruction for us in many circumstances through which we pass and where all these various elements of trial are found. Jehovah is God, he gave light to Israel; now worship and sacrifice are offered to the one who delivered and blessed; now they say, “You are my God, I will celebrate you, I will exalt you!” The Psalm ends with the well-known expression of Israel’s praise and grateful gratitude: “Praise the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy lasts forever!” Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow ” the picture of a perverted people without God.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.