Psalm 118
BSB
The LORD Is on My Side
1Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;
His loving devotion endures forever.
2Let Israel say,
“His loving devotion endures forever.”
3Let the house of Aaron say,
“His loving devotion endures forever.”
4Let those who fear the LORD say,
“His loving devotion endures forever.”
5In my distress I called to the LORD,
and He answered and set me free.
6The LORD is on my side; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
7The LORD is on my side; He is my helper.
Therefore I will look in triumph on those who hate me.
8It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in man.
9It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in princes.
10All the nations surrounded me,
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
11They surrounded me on every side,
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
12They swarmed around me like bees,
but they were extinguished like burning thorns;
in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
13I was pushed so hard I was falling,
but the LORD helped me.
14The LORD is my strength and my song,
and He has become my salvation.
15Shouts of joy and salvation resound in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the LORD performs with valor!
16The right hand of the LORD is exalted!
The right hand of the LORD performs with valor!”
17I will not die, but I will live
and proclaim what the LORD has done.
18The LORD disciplined me severely,
but He has not given me over to death.
19Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter and give thanks to the LORD.
20This is the gate of the LORD;
the righteous shall enter through it.
21I will give You thanks, for You have answered me,
and You have become my salvation.
22The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
23This is from the LORD,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24This is the day that the LORD has made;
we will rejoice and be glad in it.
25O LORD, save us, we pray.
We beseech You, O LORD, cause us to prosper!
26Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD.
From the house of the LORD we bless you.
27The LORD is God;
He has made His light to shine upon us.
Bind the festal sacrifice with cords
to the horns of the altar.
28You are my God, and I will give You thanks.
You are my God, and I will exalt You.
29Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;
His loving devotion endures forever.
Introduction
Psalms 118
It is probable that David penned this psalm when he had, after many a story, weathered his point at last, and gained a full possession of the kingdom to which he had been anointed. He then invites and stirs up his friends to join with him, not only in a cheerful acknowledgment of God's goodness and a cheerful dependence upon that goodness for the future, but in a believing expectation of the promised Messiah, of whose kingdom and his exaltation to it his were typical. To him, it is certain, the prophet here bears witness, in the latter part of the psalm. Christ himself applies it to himself (Mat 21:42), and the former part of the psalm may fairly, and without forcing, be accommodated to him and his undertaking. Some think it was first calculated for the solemnity of the bringing of the ark to the city of David, and was afterwards sung at the feast of tabernacles. In it, I. David calls upon all about him to give to God the glory of his goodness (Psa 118:1-4). II. He encourages himself and others to trust in God, from the experience he had had of God's power and pity in the great and kind things he had done for him (Psa 118:5-18). III. He gives thanks for his advancement to the throne, as it was a figure of the exaltation of Christ (Psa 118:19-23). IV. The people, the priests, and the psalmist himself, triumph in the prospect of the Redeemer's kingdom (Psa 118:24-29). In singing this psalm we must glorify God for his goodness, his goodness to us, and especially his goodness to us in Jesus Christ.
Cross-references: Matt 21:42 · Ps 118:1 · Ps 118:5 · Ps 118:19 · Ps 118:24