Psalm 118

This Psalm is the last of the six which the Jews knew as the “Hallel”, meaning praise; (thus Hallelujah, or Hallel Yahweh). Although all the Psalms abound in praise to God, these six, from 113 to 118, were particularly marked because they were sung in the temple on the three great feasts of Israel; Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles.

In the Passover celebration, which was “showing” or “telling forth” the wonders of their exodus from Egypt as well as expressing hope for the greater national redemption that was to come, Psalms 113 and 114 were sung early in the supper and the last four psalms sung at the end.

In Matthew 26, we read of the Last Supper, the Passover meal, when Jesus turned the commemoration of the deliverance from Egypt into a prophetic “telling forth” of the spiritual redemption and deliverance that was to be accomplished by the breaking of His Body and the shedding of His own Blood. At the conclusion of the meal, and before going out to Gethsemane and Golgotha, it is written;

“And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives” (Matthew 26:30).

Undoubtedly, Psalm 118 was the hymn that was sung, it being the last of the Hallel that was sung on these occasions.

Psalm 118 is not merely a psalm of praise and prayer; it is a prophetic drama, which was to be literally enacted in the future history of Israel, immediately before, and at, the Second Coming of Jesus. The stage has already been set with the return of the Jews to Palestine in a state of unbelief, as prophesied by Jeremiah 30:3; “I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it”. Yet there is sorrow to come, as Jeremiah prophecies in succeeding verses, concluding with “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (verse 7), from which they will be finally delivered to serve the Lord.

These future events are the subject of the first few verses of Psalm 118, praising God for His mercy “that endures forever”. Despite their “distress”, they call upon Jehovah and, He answers them. Verse 8 is said to be the middle verse in the whole Bible and it makes a declaration that resounds throughout the history of God’s people who, today and always, have ignored what it says; “It is better to trust in Jehovah than to put confidence in man”.

This is the lesson that God desires, above all, to teach all of His people through all His dealings with us; it is a truth that we only learn when we have been brought to the end of ourselves and experienced the bitter disappointment of misplaced trust in man. Israel, the nation, has yet to learn that lesson; they have always sought to lean on an arm of flesh when danger threatened; “…and the pride of Israel testifies to his face; they do not return to the Lord their God nor seek Him for all this……..they called to Egypt, they went to Assyria” (Hosea7:11). But the Psalmist looks into the future and records the prophetic expression of the Spirit of Christ Jesus; “the nations compassed me about but in the name of the Lord I will destroy them”; this is yet to come.

Then speaking to the Leader of this confederacy that will seek to destroy the nation when it is restored to the Land, he says; “Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall, but Jehovah helped me. My strength and song is Jehovah, and He is become my salvation” (verses 13-14). This verse is a direct transfer from the song of Moses and the children of Israel (Exodus 15) when they sang of the overthrow of Egypt at the Red Sea and which is typical of the final overthrow of Israel’s enemies, which is yet to occur. The day in which He becomes their salvation is that day when they will recognise “Yeshua” which means “the salvation of God”.

There is rejoicing in the tents of the righteous (verse 15) because the right hand of Jehovah does valiantly and is exalted (verse 15-16); the right hand refers to the Messiah, who is God’s executive power in delivering His people and executing vengeance upon their enemies.

The next verse brings us to the reason why the Jews have survived; it is a final shout of triumph; “I shall not die, but live and declare the works of Jehovah”; that is why they were chosen by God to be His people in the first place; “This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise” (Isaiah 43:21). Over the centuries the cries of “Kill the Jews” have resonated throughout history; it is still happening today; never was there a more concerted attempt to destroy God’s people than in the twentieth century. “The Lord has chastened me sore but He has not given me over to death” (verse 18); during the long dark night of their stubbornness, Israel has suffered sorely; there has never been another nation that has been so consistently reviled and persecuted, yet God has preserved them. The survival of Israel as a nation is a miracle and its survival has a reason and a purpose; it is reserved for repentant Israel to “declare the works of Jehovah”. He has sworn that as long as the moon and the sun endure and the seasons continue, for so long shall Israel abide “a nation before Him forever” (Jeremiah 31:36).

Customarily, when someone has escaped some danger, they would go to the temple to give thanks to God; this is what takes place in Verses 19-21; the gates of righteousness are opened to Israel when they finally know the righteousness of God but, in the meantime, they are in a spiritual wilderness; “For, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted to the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:3).

So the gates of true righteousness will finally be opened to them and the righteous nation will at last know their Messiah; “Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in” (Isaiah 26:2). Then all Israel will be able to say “I will praise Thee because Thou hast heard me and become my salvation: (verse 21).

The next two verses are a glorious Messianic prophecy of the sufferings of Christ and the glory that was to follow; these were the last prophetic words spoken by Jesus to the Jewish nation, as recorded in the gospels. Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, This became the chief corner stone; This came about from the Lord, And it is marvelous in our eyes ‘? “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and be given to a nation producing the fruit of it. “And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.” And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. And when they sought to seize Him, they feared the multitudes, because they held Him to be a prophet” (Matthew 21:42-46).

Christ was the “stone” and because the builders – i.e. the leaders of the nation of Israel – rejected Him, “Behold! Your house is left to you desolate” (Matthew 23:38). A better translation is “Behold! Your desolate house is forsaken”, since the Greek word for “desolate” is an adjective in the nominative case; the verb “forsaken” is from the Greek aphiemi and means abandoned, given up or put away, as in Jesus giving up the Spirit (Matthew 27:50) or a man putting away his wife (1 Corinthians 7:11).

But the separation of Israel is for a season and that season is coming to an end; soon they will see Him and say, in verse 26; “Blessed is He that come in the name of the Lord” just as Jesus prophesied (Matthew 23:37-39). At that time they will know that their long night of darkness is over and that this day was indeed made by the Lord; and they  will be exceeding glad (verse 24).

Then, when the number of God’s elect from all the nations is complete, when the season of the gentiles is fulfilled, when the long absent Master will return to His desolate house, when Israel’s blindness and sorrows will be at an end and the stone once despised and rejected will at last be exalted by them as the Head stone of the corner – it is then that their now no longer desolate house will be filled with singing and rejoicing.

“O give thanks unto Jehovah, for He is good; for His mercy endures forever!” (Psalm 118:29).