118:1. O give thanks unto the LORD. The grateful hero feels that he cannot himself alone sufficiently express his thankfulness, and therefore he calls in the aid of others. The whole nation was involved in David’s triumphal accession, and therefore it was right that they should unite in his adoring song of praise. The thanks were to be rendered unto Jehovah alone, and not to the patience or valor of the hero himself. It is always well to trace our mercies to him who bestows them, and if we cannot give him anything else, let us at any rate given him our thanks. We must not stop at the agent, but rise to the first cause and render all our praises unto the LORD himself. Have we been of a forgetful or grumbling spirit? Let the text speak to our hearts: “Cease your complainings, turn from all self-glorification, and give thanks unto the Lord.”
For he is good. Therefore he is always to be praised whether we are receiving anything from him or not. Those who only praise God because he does them good should rise to a higher note and give thanks to him because he is good. When we ourselves are conscious that we are far from being good, we should only the more reverently bless him that he is good. It is not only that he was good, and will be good, but he is good, let his providence be what it may. Therefore let us even at this present moment, though the skies be dark with clouds, yet give thanks unto his name.
Because his mercy endureth for ever. Mercy is a great part of his goodness, and one which more concerns us than any other, for we are sinners and have need of his mercy. Angels may say that he is good, but they need not his mercy and cannot therefore take an equal delight in it; inanimate creation declares that he is good, but it cannot feel his mercy, for it has never transgressed; but man, deeply guilty and graciously forgiven, beholds mercy as the very focus and center of the goodness of the Lord. The endurance of the divine mercy is a special subject for song: notwithstanding our sins, our trials, our fears, his mercy endureth for ever. The best of earthly joys pass away, and even the world itself grows old and hastens to decay, but there is no change in the mercy of God; he was faithful to our forefathers, he is merciful to us, and he will be gracious to our children and our children’s children.
118:2. God had made a covenant with their forefathers, a covenant of mercy and love, and to that covenant he was faithful evermore. Israel sinned in Egypt, provoked the Lord in the wilderness, went astray again and again under the judges, and transgressed at all times; and yet the Lord continued to regard them as his people, to favor them with his oracles, and to forgive their sins. He speedily ceased from the chastisements which they so richly deserved, because he had favor towards them. He put his rod away the moment they repented, because his heart was full of compassion. David’s success was mercy to Israel, as well as mercy to himself. If Israel does not sing when the Son of David ascends the throne, the very stones will cry out.
118:3. The sons of Aaron were specially set apart to come nearest to God, and it was only because of his mercy that they were enabled to live in the presence of the thrice holy Jehovah, who is a consuming fire. Every time the morning and evening lamb were sacrificed, the priests saw the continual mercy of the Lord, and in all the holy vessels of the sanctuary, and all its services from hour to hour, they had renewed witness of the goodness of the Most High. When the high priest went into the holy place and came forth accepted, he might, above all people, sing of the eternal mercy. If this psalm refers to David, the priests had special reason for thankfulness on his coming to the throne, for Saul had made a great slaughter among them, and had at various times interfered with their sacred office. A man had now come to the throne who for their Master’s sake would esteem them, give them their dues, and preserve them safe from all harm. Our Lord Jesus, having made all his people priests unto God, may well call upon them in that capacity to magnify the everlasting mercy of the Most High.
118:4. If there were any who did not belong to Israel but had a holy fear and lowly reverence of God, the psalmist calls upon them to unite with him in his thanksgiving, and to do it especially on the occasion of his exaltation to the throne; and this is no more than they would cheerfully agree to do, since every good person in the world is benefited when a true servant of God is placed in a position of honor and influence. In the three exhortations, to Israel, to the house of Aaron, and to them that fear the Lord, there is a repetition of the exhortation to say, that his mercy endureth for ever. We are not only to believe, but to declare the goodness of God. Specially is it our joy to speak out to the honor and glory of God when we think upon the exaltation of his dear Son. Notice carefully the word now. There is no time like the present for telling out the praises of God. The present exaltation of the Son of David now demands from all who are the subjects of his kingdom continual songs of thanksgiving to him who has set him on high in the midst of Zion. Now with us should mean always. When would it be right to cease from praising God, whose mercy never ceases?
118:5. I called upon the LORD in distress, or, “out of anguish I invoked Jah.” Nothing was left him but prayer, his agony was too great for aught beside; but having the heart and the privilege to pray he possessed all things. Prayers which come out of distress generally come out of the heart, and therefore they go to the heart of God. Prayer may be bitter in the offering, but it will be sweet in the answering. The man of God had called upon the Lord when he was not in distress, and therefore he found it natural and easy to call upon him when he was in distress. He worshiped, he praised, he prayed: for all this is included in calling upon God, even when he was in a straitened condition. Some read the original “a narrow gorge”; and therefore it was the more joy to him when he could say, the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place. In God’s case hearing means answering, hence the translators rightly put the LORD answered me, though the original word is “heard.” Many of us can join with the psalmist in the declarations of this verse: deep was our distress on account of sin, and we were shut up as in a prison under the law, but in answer to the prayer of faith we obtained the liberty of full justification wherewith Christ makes men free, and we are free indeed. It was the Lord who did it, and unto his name we ascribe all the glory; we had no merits, no strength, no wisdom; all we could do was to call upon him, and even that was his gift; but the mercy which is to eternity came to our rescue, and we were brought out of bondage, and made to delight in the length and breadth of a boundless inheritance. All things are ours, all times are ours, all places are ours, for God himself is ours; we have earth to lodge in and heaven to dwell in—what larger place can be imagined? We need all Israel, the whole house of Aaron, and all them that fear the Lord, to assist us in the expression of our gratitude.
118:6. The LORD is on my side, or, he is “for me.” Once his justice was against me, but now he is my reconciled God, and engaged on my behalf. The psalmist naturally rejoiced in the divine help; everyone turned against him, but God was his defender and advocate, accomplishing the divine purposes of his grace. The expression may also be translated “to me”—that is to say, Jehovah belongs to me, and is mine. What infinite wealth is here! If we do not magnify the Lord we are of all men most brutish.
I will not fear. He does not say that he would not suffer, but that he would not fear: the favor of God infinitely outweighed the hatred of men; therefore setting the one against the other he felt that he had no reason to be afraid. He was calm and confident, though surrounded with enemies, and so may all believers be, for thus they honor God.
What can man do unto me? He can do nothing more than God permits; at the very uttermost he can only kill the body, but he has no more that he can do. God having purposed to set his servant upon the throne, the whole race of mankind can do nothing to thwart the divine decree: the settled purpose of Jehovah’s heart could not be turned aside, nor its accomplishment delayed, by the most rancorous hostility of the most powerful of men.
118:7. The LORD taketh my part with them that help me. Jehovah condescended to be in alliance with the good man and his comrades; his God was not content to look on, but he took part in the struggle. What a consolatory fact it is that the Lord takes our part, and that when he raises up friends for us he does not leave them to fight for us alone, but he himself as our chief defender deigns to come into the battle and wage war on our behalf. We are not to think little of the generous friends who rally around us; but still our great dependence and our grand confidence must be fixed upon the Lord alone. When our gracious Jehovah is pleased to support and strengthen those who aid us, they become substantial helpers to us.
Therefore shall I see my desires upon them that hate me. The words my desire are added by the translators; the psalmist said, “I shall look upon my haters; I shall look them in the face, I shall make them cease from their contempt, I shall myself look down upon them instead of their looking down upon me. I shall see their defeat, I shall see the end of them.” Our Lord Jesus does at this moment look down upon his adversaries.
118:8. God is infinitely more able to help, and more likely to help, than man, and therefore prudence suggests that we put our confidence in him above all others. It is also morally better to do so, for it is the duty of the creature to trust in the Creator. God deserves to be trusted, and to place our reliance upon another rather than himself is a direct insult to his faithfulness. We can never be sure of our ground if we rely upon mortal man, but we are always secure in the hands of our God. To trust in man tends to make us mean, crouching, dependent; but confidence in God elevates, produces a sacred quietness of spirit, and sanctifies the soul. In many cases the human object of our trust fails from want of ability, generosity, affection, or memory; but the Lord does for us exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or even think. This verse is written out of the experience of many who have first of all found the broken reeds of the creature break under them, and have afterwards joyfully found the Lord a solid pillar sustaining all their weight.
118:9. The princes’ word should be unquestionable. They are noblest in rank and mightiest in power, and yet as a rule princes are not one whir more reliable than the rest of mankind. In many troubles they cannot help us to the least degree; for instance, in sickness, bereavement, or death; neither can they assist us one jot in reference to our eternal state. The favor of princes is notoriously fickle. He who puts his confidence in God, the great King, is thereby made mentally and spiritually stronger, and rises to the highest dignity of manhood; in fact, the more he trusts the more is he free, but the fawning sycophant of greatness is meaner than the dirt he treads upon.
118:10. All nations compassed me about. The hero of the psalm, while he had no earthly friend upon whom he could thoroughly rely, was surrounded by innumerable enemies, who heartily hated him. He was hemmed in by his adversaries, and scarce could find a loophole of escape. As if by common consent all sorts of people set themselves against him, and yet he was more than a match for them all, because he was trusting in the name of the Lord. Therefore does he joyfully accept the battle, and grasp the victory, crying, but in the name of the LORD will I destroy them, or “cut them in pieces.” They thought to destroy him, but he was sure of destroying them; they meant to blot out his name, but he expected to render not only his own name but the name of the Lord his God more illustrious in human hearts. He recognized his own individuality, and asserted it: he did not sit still supinely and leave the work to be done by God by some mysterious means; but he resolved with his own trusty sword to set about the enterprise, and so become in God’s hand the instrument of his own deliverance: I will destroy them. He does not speak of merely escaping from them like a bird out of the snare of the fowler, but he vows that he will carry the war into his enemies’ ranks, and overthrow them so thoroughly that there should be no fear of their rising up a second time.
118:11. They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about. They made a double ring; they not only talked of doing so, but they actually shut him up and enclosed him. His heart had vividly recalled his position of peril at the time, and now he delights to call it again to mind in order that he may the more ardently adore the mercy which made him strong in the hour of conflict, so that he broke through a troop, and swept a host to destruction.
But in the name of the LORD will I destroy them. I will subdue them, get them under my feet, and break their power in pieces. He is as certain about the destruction of his enemies as he was assured of their having compassed him about. It is grand to hear a man speak in this fashion when it is not boasting, but the calm declaration of his heartfelt trust in God.
118:12. They compassed me about like bees. They seemed to be everywhere, like a swarm of bees, attacking him at every point; nimbly flying from place to place, stinging him meanwhile, and inflicting grievous pain. They threatened at first to baffle him: what weapon could he use against them? They were so numerous, so inveterate; so insignificant and yet so capable of inflicting agony. He was in an evil case, but even there faith availed. All-powerful faith adapts itself to all circumstances; it can cast out devils, and it can drive out bees.
They are quenched as the fire of thorns. Their fierce attack soon came to an end; like thorns which blaze with fierce crackling and abundant flame, but die out in a handful of ashes very speedily, so did the nations which surrounded our hero soon cease their clamor and come to an inglorious end. He had no need to crush the bees, for like crackling thorns they died out of themselves. For a third time he adds, for in the name of the LORD will I destroy them, or “cut them down,” as people cut down thorns with a scythe.
What wonders have been wrought in the name of the Lord! It is the battle-cry of faith before which its adversaries fly apace. The name of the Lord is the only weapon which never fails in the day of battle; he who knows how to use it may chase a thousand with his single arm. Alas, we too often go to work and to conflict in our own name. Let us take care never to venture into the presence of the foe without first of all arming ourselves with this impenetrable mail. If we knew this name better, and trusted it more, our life would be more fruitful and sublime.
118:13. Thou hast thrust sore at me. “Thrusting, thou hast thrust at me.” The enemy is described as concentrating all his power into the thrusts which he gave to the man of God. Wounds had been given and received, and these smarted much, and were exceeding sore. This is true of many a tried child of God who has been wounded by Satan, by the world, by temptation, by affliction; the sword has entered into his bones, and left its mark.
That I might fall. This was the object of the thrusting: to throw him down, to make him depart from his integrity, and lose his confidence in God. If our adversaries can dishonor us, and God in us, their victory will be complete.
But the LORD helped me; a blessed but. This is the saving clause. Other helpers were unable to chase away the angry nations, much less to destroy all the noxious swarms; but when the Lord came to the rescue the hero’s single arm was strong enough to vanquish all his adversaries. How sweetly can many of us repeat in the retrospect of our past tribulations this delightful sentence, “But the Lord helped me.” I was assailed by innumerable doubts and fears, but the Lord helped me; my natural unbelief was terribly inflamed by the insinuations of Satan, but the Lord helped me; multiplied trials were rendered more intense by the cruel assaults of men, and I knew not what to do, but the Lord helped me.
118:14. The LORD is my strength and song, my strength while I was in the conflict, my song now that it is ended; my strength against the strong, and my song over their defeat. He is far from boasting of his own valor; he ascribes his victory to its real source; he has no song concerning his own exploits, but all his paeans are unto the Lord whose right hand and holy arm had given him the victory.
And is become my salvation. The poet-warrior knew that he was saved, and he not only ascribed that salvation unto God, but he declared God himself to be his salvation. It is an all-comprehending expression, signifying that from beginning to end, in the whole and in the details of it, he owed his deliverance entirely to the Lord. Thus can all the Lord’s redeemed say, “Salvation is of the Lord.” We cannot endure any doctrine which puts the crown upon the wrong head and defrauds the glorious King of praise. God sometimes gives a secret strength to his people, and yet they question their own salvation, and cannot therefore sing of it. Many are, no doubt, truly saved, but at times have so little strength that they are ready to faint, and therefore they cannot sing: when strength is imparted and salvation is realized, then the song is clear and full.
118:15. The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous. They sympathized in the delight of their leader and they abode in their tents in peace, rejoicing that one had been raised up who, in the name of the Lord, would protect them from their adversaries. The families of believers are happy, and they should take pains to give their happiness a voice by their family devotion. The dwelling-place of the saved should be the temple of praise. The struggling hero knew that the voice of woe and lamentation was heard in the tents of his adversaries, for they had suffered severe defeat at his hands; but he was delighted by the remembrance that the nation for whom he had struggled would rejoice from one end of the land to the other at the deliverance which God had wrought by his means. That hero of heroes, the conquering Saviour, gives to all the families of his people abundant reasons for incessant song now that he has led captivity captive and ascended up on high. Let none of us be silent in our households: if we have salvation let us have joy, and if we have joy let us give it a tongue wherewith it may magnify the Lord. If we hearken carefully to the music which comes from Israel’s tents, we shall catch a stanza to this effect, the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly. Jehovah had manifested his strength, given victory to his chosen champion, and overthrown all the armies of the foe.
118:16. The right hand of the LORD is exalted, lifted up to smite the foe, or extolled and magnified in the eyes of his people. It is the Lord’s right hand, the hand of his skill, the hand of his greatest power, the hand which is accustomed to defend his saints. When that is lifted up, it lifts up all who trust in him, and it casts down all who resist him.
The right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly. The psalmist speaks in triplets, for he is praising the triune God, his heart is warm and he loves to dwell upon the note; he is not content with the praise he has rendered; he endeavors to utter it each time more fervently and more jubilantly than before. He had dwelt upon the sentence, “they compassed me about,” for his peril from encircling armies was fully realized; and now he dwells upon the valor of Jehovah’s right hand, for he has as vivid a sense of the presence and majesty of the Lord. How seldom is this the case: the Lord’s mercy is forgotten and only the trial is remembered.
118:17. I shall not die, but live. His enemies hoped that he would die, and perhaps he himself feared he would perish at their hand; the news of his death may have been spread among his people, for the tongue of rumor is ever ready with ill news, the false intelligence would naturally cause great sorrow and despondency, but he proclaims himself as yet alive and as confident that he will not fall by the hand of the destroyer. Perhaps he had been sick, and brought to death’s door, but he had a presentiment that the sickness was not unto death, but to the glory of God. At any rate, he knew that he would not so die as to give victory to the enemies of God; for the honor of God and the good of his people were both wrapped up in his continued success. Feeling that he would live, he devoted himself to the noblest of purposes: he resolved to bear witness to the divine faithfulness, and declare the works of the LORD. He determined to recount the works of Jah; and he does so in this psalm, wherein he dwells with love and admiration upon the splendor of Jehovah’s prowess in the midst of the fight. While there is a testimony for God to be borne by us to anyone, it is certain that we shall not be hurried from the land of the living. The Lord’s prophets will live on in the midst of famine, and war, and plague, and persecution, till they have uttered all the words of their prophecy; his priests will stand at the altar unharmed till their last sacrifice has been presented.
118:18. The LORD hath chastened me sore. This is faith’s version of the former passage, “Thou hast thrust sore at me,” for the attacks of the enemy are chastisements from the hand of God. The devil tormented Job for his own purposes, but in reality the sorrows of the patriarch were chastisements from the Lord. “Chastening, Jah has chastened me,” says our poet: as much as to say that the Lord had smitten him very severely, and made him sorrowfully to know the full weight of his rod. The Lord frequently appears to save his heaviest blows for his best-loved ones; if any one affliction be more painful than another it falls to the lot of those whom he most distinguishes in his service. The gardener prunes his best roses with most care. Chastisement is sent to keep successful saints humble, to make them tender towards others, and to enable them to bear the high honors which their heavenly Friend puts upon them.
But he hath not given me over unto death. This verse, like verse 13, concludes with a blessed but, which constitutes a saving clause. The psalmist felt as if he had been beaten within an inch of his life, but yet death did not actually ensue. There is always a merciful limit to the scourging of the children of God. Forty stripes save one were all that an Israelite might receive, and the Lord will never allow that one, that killing stroke, to fall upon his children. Their pains are for their instruction, not for their destruction. By these things the ungodly die, but gracious Hezekiah could say, “By these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit.” No, blessed be the name of God, he may chastise us, but he will not condemn us. He does not give us over unto death at any time, and we may be quite sure that he has not done so while he condescends to chasten us, for if he intended our final rejection he would not take the pains to place us under his fatherly discipline. It may seem hard to be under the afflicting rod, but it would be a far more dreadful thing if the Lord were to say, “He is given unto idols, let him alone.”
The hero, restored to health, and rescued from the dangers of battle, now lifts up his own song unto the Lord, and asks all Israel, led on by the goodly fellowship of the priests, to assist him in chanting a joyful Te Deum.
118:19. Open to me the gates of righteousness. The grateful champion, having reached the entrance of the temple, asks for admission in set form, as if he felt that he could only approach the hallowed shrine by divine permission, and wished only to enter in the appointed manner. The temple of God was meant for the righteous to enter and offer the sacrifice of righteousness; hence the gates are called the gates of righteousness. Righteous deeds were done within its walls, and righteous teachings sounded forth from its courts. The phrase “the gate” is sometimes used to signify power or empire; the entrance to the temple was the gate of righteousness, the palace of the Great King, who is in all things just.
I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD. Only let the gates be opened, and the willing worshiper will enter; and he will enter in the right spirit, for the best of purposes, that he may render homage unto the Most High. Alas, there are multitudes who do not care whether the gates of God’s house are opened or not; and although they know that they are opened wide they never care to enter, neither does the thought of praising God so much as cross their minds. The time will come for them when they will find the gates of heaven shut against them, for those gates are the gates of righteousness through which there will by no means enter anything that defiles. Our champion might have praised the Lord in secret, and doubtless he did so; but he was not content without going up to the assembly, there to register his thanksgivings. Those who neglect public worship generally neglect all worship; those who praise God within their own gates are among the readiest to praise him within his temple gates. Our hero had also in all probability been sore sick, and therefore like Hezekiah he says, “The Lord was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of my life in the house of the Lord.” Public praise for public mercies is every way most appropriate, most acceptable to God, and most profitable to others.
118:20. This gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter. The psalmist loves the house of God so well that he admires the very gate thereof, and pauses beneath its arch to express his affection for it. He loved it because it was the gate of the Lord, the gate of righteousness, and so many godly people had already entered it, and in all future ages such people will continue to pass through it. If the gate of the Lord’s house on earth is so pleasant to us, how greatly shall we rejoice when we pass that gate of pearl, to which none but the righteous will ever approach, but through which all the just will in due time enter to eternal felicity. The Lord Jesus has passed that way, and not only set the gate wide open, but secured an entrance for all who are made righteous in his righteousness: all the righteous must and shall enter there, whoever may oppose them. Under another aspect our Lord is himself that gate, and through him, as the new and living Way, all the righteous delight to approach the Lord. Whenever we draw near to praise the Lord we must come by this gate.
118:21. Having entered, the champion exclaims, I will praise thee, not “I will praise the Lord,” for now he vividly realizes the divine presence, and addresses himself directly to Jehovah, whom his faith discerns. How well it is in all our songs of praise to let the heart have direct and distinct communion with God himself! The psalmist’s song was personal praise too: I will praise thee; resolute praise, spontaneous praise, and continuous praise.
For thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. He praises God by mentioning his favors, weaving his song out of the divine goodness which he had experienced. In these words he gives the reason for his praise—his answered prayer, and the deliverance which he had received in consequence. How fondly he dwells upon the personal interposition of God!
Thou hast heard me. How heartily he ascribes the whole of his victory over his enemies to God: Thou art become my salvation. It is well to go directly to God himself, and not to stay even in his mercy, or in the acts of his grace. Answered prayers bring God very near to us; realized salvation enables us to realize the immediate presence of God. Considering the extreme distress through which the worshiper had passed, it is not at all wonderful that he should feel full of gratitude at the great salvation God had wrought for him, and should at his first entrance into the temple lift up his voice in thankful praise for personal favors so great, so needful, so perfect.
118:22–27. This passage would appear to be a mixture of the expressions of the people and of the hero himself.
118:22. Here the people magnify God for bringing his chosen servant to the honorable office which had been allotted him by divine decree. A wise king and valiant leader is a stone by which the national fabric is built up. David had been rejected by those in authority, but God had placed him in a position of the highest honor and the greatest usefulness, making him the chief cornerstone of the state. In the case of many others whose early life has been spent in conflict, the Lord has been pleased to accomplish his divine purposes in like manner; but to none is this text so applicable as to the Lord Jesus himself; he is the living stone, the tried stone, elect, precious, which God himself appointed from of old. The Jewish builders—scribe, priest, Pharisee, and Herodian—rejected him with disdain. They could see no excellence in him that they should build upon him; he could not be made to fit in with their ideal of a national church; he was a stone of another quarry from themselves, and not after their mind nor according to their taste; therefore they cast him away and poured contempt upon him, as Peter said: “This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders.” They reckoned him as nothing, though he is Lord of all. In raising him from the dead the Lord God exalted him to be the Head of his church. Since then he has joined the two walls of Jews and Gentiles into one stately temple, and is seen to be the binding cornerstone, making both one.
Jesus in all things has the preeminence; he is the principal stone of the whole house of God. Still the builders refuse him: even to this day the professional teachers of the Gospel are far too apt to fly to any and every new philosophy sooner than maintain the simple Gospel, which is the essence of Christ. Nevertheless, he holds his true position amongst his people, and the foolish builders will see to their utter confusion that his truth will be exalted over all.
118:23. This is the LORD’s doing. The exalted position of Christ in his church is not the work of man, and does not depend for its continuation upon any builders or ministers; God himself has wrought the exaltation of our Lord Jesus. Considering the opposition which comes from the wisdom, the power, and the authority of this world, it is manifest that if the kingdom of Christ be indeed set up and maintained in the world it must be by supernatural power. Every hour in which the true church subsists is a prolonged miracle. This staggers the adversary, for he cannot understand what it is which baffles him: of the Holy Spirit he knows nothing.
It is marvelous in our eyes. We actually see it; it is not in our thoughts and hopes and prayers alone, but the astonishing work is actually before our eyes. Jesus reigns, his power is felt, and we perceive that it is so. Faith sees our great Master, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; she sees and marvels. It never ceases to astonish us, as we see, even here below, God by means of weakness defeating power, by the simplicity of his word baffling the craft of men, and by the invisible influence of his Spirit exalting his Son in human hearts in the teeth of open and determined opposition. It is indeed “marvelous in our eyes,” as all God’s works must be if we care to study them. In the Hebrew the passage reads, “It is wonderfully done”: not only is the exaltation of Jesus itself wonderful, but the way in which its is brought about is marvelous: it is wonderfully done. The more we study the history of Christ and his church, the more fully shall we agree with this declaration.
118:24. This is the day which the LORD hath made. A new era has commenced. The day of David’s enthronement was the beginning of better times for Israel; and in a far higher sense the day of our Lord’s resurrection is a new day of God’s own making, for it is the dawn of a blessed dispensation. No doubt the Israelitish nation celebrated the victory of its champion with a day of feasting, music and song; and surely it is but meet that we should reverently keep the feast of the triumph of the Son of David. We observe the Lord’s day as henceforth our true Sabbath, a day made and ordained of God, for the perpetual remembrance of the achievements of our Redeemer. We by no means wish to confine the reference of the passage to the Sabbath, for the whole Gospel day is the day of God’s making, and its blessings come to us through our Lord’s being placed as the head of the corner.
We will rejoice and be glad in it. We will rejoice in heart and be glad in face, rejoice in secret and be glad in public, for we have more than a double reason for being glad in the Lord. We ought to be specially joyous on the Sabbath. Beholding the Lord Jesus as all in all in the assemblies of his people, we are bound to overflow with joy. Is it not written, “Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord”? When the King makes the house of prayer to be a banqueting house, and we have grace to enjoy fellowship with him, both in his sufferings and in his triumphs, we feel an intense delight, and we are glad to express it with the rest of his people.
118:25. Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD. Hosanna! God save our king! Let David reign! Or as we who live in these latter days interpret it, Let the Son of David live forever; let his saving help go forth throughout all nations. We plead also for ourselves, that the Lord would save us, deliver us, and continue to sanctify us. This we ask with great earnestness, beseeching it of Jehovah. Prayer should always be an intreating and beseeching.
O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. Let the church be built up: through the salvation of sinners may the number of the saints be increased; through the preservation of saints may the church be strengthened, continued, beautified, perfected. Our Lord Jesus himself pleads for the salvation and prosperity of his chosen; as our Intercessor before the throne he asks that the Heavenly Father would save and keep those who were of old committed to his charge, and cause them to be one through the indwelling Spirit. Strange though it may seem, he who cries for salvation is already in a measure saved. None can so truly cry, “Save, I beseech thee,” as those who have already participated in salvation; and the most prosperous church is that which most imploringly seeks prosperity. It may seem strange that, returning from victory, flushed with triumph, the hero should still ask for salvation; but so it is, and it could not be otherwise. When all our Saviour’s work and warfare were ended, his intercession became even more prominently a feature of his life; after he had conquered all his foes he made intercession for the transgressors. What is true of him is true of his church also, for whenever she obtains the largest measure of spiritual blessing she is then most inclined to plead for more. She never pants so eagerly for prosperity as when she sees the Lord’s doings in her midst, and marvels at them.
118:26. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the LORD. The champion had done everything “in the name of the Lord”: in that name he had routed all his adversaries, and had risen to the throne, and in that name he had now entered the temple to pay his vows. We know who it is that cometh in the name of the Lord beyond all others. For his sake everybody is blessed to us who comes in the name of the Lord; we welcome all such to our hearts and our homes; but chiefly, and beyond all others, we welcome himself when he deigns to enter in and sup with us and we with him. Perhaps this sentence is intended to be the benediction of the priests upon the valiant servant of the Lord, and if so, it is appropriately added, We have blessed you out of the house of the LORD. The priests, whose business it was to bless the people, in a sevenfold degree blessed the people’s deliverer, the one chosen out of the people whom the Lord has exalted. All those whose high privilege it is to dwell in the house of the Lord forever, because they are made priests unto God in Christ Jesus, can truly say that they bless the Christ who has made them what they are, and placed them where they are. Whenever we feel ourselves at home with God, and feel the spirit of adoption, the first thought of our hearts should be to bless the elder Brother, through whom the privilege of sonship has descended to such unworthy ones.
118:27. God is the LORD, which hath showed us light, or “God is Jehovah,” the only living and true God. The words may also be rendered, “Mighty is Jehovah.” Only the power of God could have brought us such light and joy as spring from the work of our Champion and King. With the light of knowledge has come the light of joy, for we are delivered from the powers of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. Let us do our best to magnify the great Father of lights from whom our present blessedness has descended.
Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. Some think that by this we are taught that the king offered so many sacrifices that the whole area of the court was filled, and the sacrifices were bound even up to the altar; but we are included to keep to our own version, and to believe that sometimes restive bullocks were bound to the altar before they were slain. The word rendered cords carries with it the idea of wreaths and boughs, so that it was not a cord of hard, rough rope, but a decorated band; just as in our case, though we are bound to the altar of God, it is with the cords of love and the bands of a man, and not by a compulsion which destroys the freedom of the will. The sacrifice which we would present in honor of the victories of our Lord Jesus Christ is the living sacrifice of our spirit, soul, and body. We bring ourselves to his altar, and desire to offer him all that we have and are. There remains a tendency in our nature to start aside from this; it is not fond of the sacrificial knife. In the warmth of our love we come willingly to the altar, but we need constraining power to keep us there. We are bound to the doctrine of atonement; we are bound to Christ himself, who is both altar and sacrifice; we desire to be more bound to him than ever.
118:28–29. Now comes the closing song of the champion, and of each one of his admirers.
118:28. Thou art my God, and I wilt praise thee. My mighty God who hath done this mighty and marvelous thing. Thou shalt be mine, and all the praise my soul is capable of shall be poured forth at thy feet.
Thou art my God, I will exalt thee. Thou hast exalted me, and as far as my praises can do it, I will exalt thy name. However dull and cold I may sometimes feel myself, I will rouse my nature, and determine that as long as I have any being that being will be spent to thy praise. Forever thou art my God, and forever I will give thee thanks.
118:29. The psalm concludes as it began, making a complete circle of joyful adoration. We can well suppose that the notes at the close of the loud hallelujah were more swift, more sweet, more loud than at the beginning. Israel, the house of Aaron, and all that feared the Lord joined in one common hymn, and the people went every one to his own home, quietly and happily musing upon the goodness of the Lord, whose mercy fills eternity.
The Treasury of David by Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)
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