Psalms 118

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Psalm 118 is a thanksgiving procession that ends up at the center of the New Testament. It opens and closes with the refrain "His loving devotion endures forever," tells of a man surrounded by nations and pushed to the point of falling who was rescued by the LORD, and then walks through the temple gates with lines the Gospels place on the lips of the crowd at Palm Sunday and on the lips of Jesus himself: the rejected stone become cornerstone, and "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD."

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Psalm 118 is a song for walking through a gate. It was sung at Passover as the last of the Hallel psalms, which means Jesus sang it on the night he was betrayed, and its lines had already been shouted at him a few days earlier as he rode into Jerusalem: "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD." The psalm begins with a refrain that Israel, the priests, and all who fear God are called to answer, "His loving devotion endures forever," and then tells a story in the first person. The speaker was in distress, surrounded, pushed to the edge of falling, and the LORD helped him. Now he comes to the gates of righteousness and asks to enter. There, in verse 22, he sings the line the whole New Testament will pick up: the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. Jesus quoted it to the leaders who were about to reject him. Peter quoted it to the council that had crucified him. The psalm was written centuries earlier for a deliverance we cannot fully reconstruct, and it fit the greatest deliverance exactly. Read it as a procession: refrain, testimony, gate, altar, thanks. Then read it again as the Gospels did, and notice how much of Holy Week is already in it.

Key passages

Matthew 21:9 Matthew 21:42

Historical and literary context

The psalm closes the group of Psalms 113 to 118 known as the Egyptian Hallel, sung at Passover, which means it was almost certainly among the hymns Jesus and his disciples sang after the Last Supper. Its liturgical shape, with calls for Israel, the priests, and all who fear the LORD to answer, and a procession to the gates and the altar, suggests a festival of thanksgiving after deliverance, perhaps led by a king. Verse 14 quotes the song of Moses at the Red Sea, tying this rescue to the first one.

How the chapter unfolds

Verses 1 to 4 call three groups to the refrain. Verses 5 to 18 are the testimony of an individual: distress, the LORD on my side, nations swarming like bees and extinguished like burning thorns, a push that nearly toppled him, severe discipline but not death. Verses 19 to 27 move to the gates: the righteous enter, the rejected stone becomes the cornerstone, "this is the day that the LORD has made," a prayer to save, a blessing on the one who comes in the LORD's name, and the festal sacrifice bound to the altar. Verses 28 and 29 return to personal thanks and the opening refrain.

Why this chapter matters

No psalm is quoted more often in the New Testament at decisive moments. Jesus applied the cornerstone verse to himself before the leaders who would reject him. The Palm Sunday crowd shouted verse 26. Peter used the cornerstone image before the Sanhedrin and again in his first letter. Hebrews quotes verse 6, "The LORD is on my side; I will not be afraid." Verse 24, "This is the day that the LORD has made," is one of the most sung lines in the Psalter. The psalm gave the early church its language for a rejected Messiah vindicated by God.

Interpretive tension to watch

Who is the "I" of the psalm? A king returning from battle, the nation personified, every worshiper who walks through the gates, or, as the Gospels read it, the Messiah? The psalm seems designed to be sung by all of them at once. Holding the readings together, rather than choosing one, is what lets the reader join the procession.

Questions for this chapter

  • Verses 8 and 9 say it is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in people or princes. What trust in "princes" is the psalm asking you to loosen?
  • The Gospels put verse 26 in the mouths of a crowd that would turn away within a week. What does that do to how you read the psalm's confidence?
  • Verse 18 says the LORD disciplined the speaker severely but did not give him over to death. How does discipline fit inside a thanksgiving psalm?

Study with context

Use this as a chapter guide, then press deeper into the text itself. The goal is to slow down observation, notice structure, and ask better questions before jumping to conclusions.

Add to Notes
1 O give thanks unto the LORD; for [he is] good: because his mercy [endureth] for ever. 2 Let Israel now say, that his mercy [endureth] for ever. 3 Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy [endureth] for ever. 4 Let them now that fear the LORD say, that his mercy [endureth] for ever. 5 I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, [and set me] in a large place. 6 The LORD [is] on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me? 7 The LORD taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see [my desire] upon them that hate me. 8 [It is] better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. 9 [It is] better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes. 10 All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD will I destroy them. 11 They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. 12 They compassed me about like bees; they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. 13 Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall: but the LORD helped me. 14 The LORD [is] my strength and song, and is become my salvation. 15 The voice of rejoicing and salvation [is] in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly. 16 The right hand of the LORD is exalted: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly. 17 I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD. 18 The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death. 19 Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, [and] I will praise the LORD: 20 This gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter. 21 I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. 22 The stone [which] the builders refused is become the head [stone] of the corner. 23 This is the LORD’s doing; it [is] marvellous in our eyes. 24 This [is] the day [which] the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. 25 Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. 26 Blessed [be] he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD. 27 God [is] the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, [even] unto the horns of the altar. 28 Thou [art] my God, and I will praise thee: [thou art] my God, I will exalt thee. 29 O give thanks unto the LORD; for [he is] good: for his mercy [endureth] for ever.

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