Psalm 118

Psalms 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. Grateful hearts are greedy of men's tongues, and would monopolize them all for God's glory. The whole nation was concerned in David's triumphant 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 valour of the hero himself.”

Psalms 118:2

“Let Israel now say, that his mercy endureth for ever. 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 favour them with his oracles, and to forgive their sins. He speedily ceased from the chastisements which they so richly deserved, because he had a favour towards them.”

Psalms 118:3

“Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endureth for ever. The priests and Levites that blessed the people, and taught them the knowledge of divine things; but not these literally, at least not only these, since the priesthood of Aaron is changed, and the law of it abrogated, and all believers are now priests unto God, and offer up spiritual sacrifices to him; and particularly the sacrifice of praise for his grace and mercy, the perpetuity of which they should publish and proclaim all abroad.”

Psalms 118:4

“Let them now that fear the Lord say, that his mercy endureth for ever. Not the proselytes to the Jewish religion only, but all that feared the Lord among all people, as Aben Ezra observes; such as fear the Lord and his goodness, and have had an experience of his grace and mercy, which has caused them to fear him; and to whom the mercy of God is great, and on whom it is from everlasting to everlasting; and therefore should speak well of it, and set their seal to it, that it abides for ever; see Psa 103:11.”

Psalms 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. It is sweet to recollect our prayers, and often profitable to tell others of them after they are heard. Prayer may be bitter in the offering, but it will be sweet in the answering.”

Psalms 118:6

“And how should Christ, who said to Abraham, "Fear not, for I am with you," and encouraged Moses against Pharaoh and said to the son of Nun, "Be strong and of a good courage," himself be terrified before Herod and Pilate? Furthermore, did he who helps others overcome fear (for "the Lord," says Scripture, "is on my side, I will not fear what people shall do to me"), fear governors, who are mortals? Was he who himself encountered death terrified of death?”

Psalms 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.”

Psalms 118:8

“It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better in all ways, for first of all it is wiser: 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.”

Psalms 118:9

“It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. These should be the noblest of men, chivalrous in character, and true to the core. The royal word should be unquestionable. They are noblest in rank and mightiest in power, and yet as a rule princes are not one whit more reliable than the rest of mankind. A gilded vane turns with the wind as readily as a meaner weathercock. Princes are but men, and the best of men are poor creatures.”

Psalms 118:10

“David says this as a type of Christ, who triumphed over the powers of darkness, destroyed them, and made a show of them openly. [3.] He triumphs in an assurance of the continuance of his comfort, his victory, and his life.”

Psalms 118:11

“They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about. He had such a vivid recollection of his danger that his enemies seem to live again in his verses. We see their fierce array, and their cruel combination of forces. They made a double ring, they surrounded him in a circle of many ranks, they not only talked of doing so, but they actually shut him up and enclosed him as within a wall.”

Psalms 118:12

“They compassed me about like bees, so numerous were they, so noisy, so vexatious; they came flying upon him, came upon him in swarms, set upon him with their malignant stings; but it was to their own destruction, as the bee, they say, loses her life with her sting, Animamque in vulnere ponit--She lays down her life in the wound. Lord, how are those increased that trouble me!”

Psalms 118:13

“Thou hast thrust sore at me, that I might fall,.... Or "pushing, thou hast pushed me (a), that I might fall": an apostrophe to some particular enemy, as Saul was to David; who thrust sore at him to take away his life, by casting a javelin at him; speaking to his servants to kill him; sending messengers to watch his house and slay him, and by, pursuing him from place to place.”

Psalms 118:14

“The Lord 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 valour; he ascribes his victory to its real source, he has no song concerning his own exploits, but all his peans are unto Jehovah Victor, the Lord whose right hand and holy arm had given him the victory. And is become my salvation.”

Psalms 118:15

“There is salvation; safety from evil, earnests of eternal salvation, which has come to this house, Luke xix. Where there is salvation there is cause for rejoicing, for continual joy in God. Holy joy is called the joy of salvation, for in that there is abundant matter for joy.”

Psalms 118:16

“The right hand of the Lord is exalted,.... Lifted up, very eminent and conspicuous, easily to be observed in the instances before given, and become great and glorious in power; see Exo 15:6. The power of God is superior to all enemies; and is beyond conception and expression; and is able to do for his people above all they are able to ask or think; the right hand of the Lord doth valiantly: or "acts powerfully".”

Psalms 118:17

“I shall not die, but live. His enemies hoped that he would die, and perhaps he himself feared he should perish at their hand: the news of his death may have been spread among his people, tor the tongue of rumour 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 shall not fall by the hand of the destroyer.”

Psalms 118:18

Consider the carefulness and the wisdom and the power of this Educator [Christ]: "He shall not judge according to appearance or reprove according to gossip, but he shall render judgment with humility and shall reprove the sinners of the earth." And through the lips of David, he says, "The Lord chastising has chastised me, but he has not delivered me over to death." Indeed, the very act of being chastised, and being educated by the Lord as a child, means deliverance from death. Again, he says through the same psalmist: "You shall rule them with a rod of iron."

Psalms 118:19

And it is not incredible that the gates that are said to open spontaneously are referred obscurely by some to the words "Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may go into them and praise the Lord; this gate of the Lord, into it the righteous shall enter"; and again, to what is said in the ninth psalm, "You that lift me up from the gates of death, that I may show forth all your praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion."

Psalms 118:20

“This gate of the Lord, into which the righteous shall enter. 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, he loved it because it was the gate of righteousness, because so many godly people had already entered it, and because in all future ages such persons will continue to pass through its portals.”

Psalms 118:21

“I will praise thee, for thou hast heard me,.... Here the psalmist reassumes his part in this song, and determines to praise the Lord for hearing him when in distress, and when he was encompassed with his enemies, and for delivering him out of their hands; and art become my salvation; the author of it, and therefore deserving of praise; and who is no other than the Messiah Jesus, who is described in the next verse.”

Psalms 118:22

“Likewise at the setting of the sun and at the end of the day necessarily there must again be prayer. For since Christ is the true Sun and the true Day, as the sun and the day of the world recede, when we pray and petition that the light come on us again, we pray for the coming of Christ to provide us with the grace of eternal light. Moreover, the Holy Spirit in the Psalms declares that Christ is called the Day. He says, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”

Psalms 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. Indeed, it is so even in the smallest detail.”

Psalms 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.”

Psalms 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 for ever, let his saving help go forth throughout all nations. This was the peculiar shout of the feast of tabernacles; and so long as we dwell here below in these tabernacles of clay we cannot do better than use the same cry. Perpetually let us pray that our glorious King may work salvation in the midst of the earth.”

Psalms 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. In the Psalmist's days he was The Coming One, and he is still The Coming One, though he hath already come.”

Psalms 118:27

“The Lord - Or, The mighty God, as this name of God signifies, and as he shewed himself to be by this, his wonderful work. Who - Who hath scattered our dark clouds, and put us into a state of peace, and safety, and happiness. The horns - These are supposed to be made for this very use, that the beasts should be bound and killed there.”

Psalms 118:28

Thou art my God, and I will praise thee, my mighty God who hath done this mighty and marvellous 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. Jesus is magnified, and he magnifies the Father according to his prayer, "Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee."

Psalms 118:29

“O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good,.... And thus the psalm ends as it began; there having been given many instances of the divine goodness, in hearing and delivering the psalmist when in distress; saving him from his enemies, when compassed about with them; sparing his life, when in great danger; and especially in making the stone rejected by the builders the head of the corner; for his mercy endureth for ever; the above instances are proofs of it; and still it continues, and will for evermore.”