Held by Love, Living by Trust | Psalm 118

INTRODUCTION

The New Year has begun and the city and its people comes back to life to their daily rhythms. However the realities of life continues; universal the human experience and the struggle that we have with fear and anxiety. All of us in one way or other in reality struggle with a life of living in fear. We all have to push down anxious thoughts on a regular basis. This psalm directly addresses a common human experience that everyone of us deals with: Fear & anxiety. Psalm 118 speaks directly into that experience.

Over and against that the scripture teaches us a way of faith that contrasts this way of fear.

Psalm 118

¹Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

his love endures forever.

²Let Israel say:

“His love endures forever.”

³Let the house of Aaron say:

“His love endures forever.”

⁴Let those who fear the Lord say:

“His love endures forever.”

⁵When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord;

he brought me into a spacious place.

⁶The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.

What can mere mortals do to me?

⁷The Lord is with me; he is my helper.

I look in triumph on my enemies.

⁸It is better to take refuge in the Lord

than to trust in humans.

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 down.

¹¹They surrounded me on every side,

but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.

¹²They swarmed around me like bees,

but they were consumed as quickly as burning thorns;

in the name of the Lord I cut them down.

¹³I was pushed back and about to fall,

but the Lord helped me.

¹⁴The Lord is my strength and my defense

he has become my salvation.

¹⁵Shouts of joy and victory

resound in the tents of the righteous:

“The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!

¹⁶The Lord’s right hand is lifted high;

The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!”

¹⁷I will not die but live,

and will proclaim what the Lord has done.

¹⁸The Lord has chastened me severely,

but he has not given me over to death.

¹⁹Open for me the gates of the righteous;

I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.

²⁰This is the gate of the Lord

through which the righteous may enter.

²¹I will give you thanks, for you answered me;

you have become my salvation.

²²The stone the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;

²³the Lord has done this,

and it is marvelous in our eyes.

²⁴The Lord has done it this very day;

let us rejoice today and be glad.

²⁵Lord, save us!

Lord, grant us success!

²⁶Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

From the house of the Lord we bless you.

²⁷The Lord is God,

and he has made his light shine on us.

With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession

Up to the horns of the altar.

²⁸ You are my God, and I will praise you;

you are my God, and I will exalt you.

²⁹Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

his love endures forever.

Structure of Psalm 118

v1 & v29 – The Steadfast Love of Israel’s covenant King

¹Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

his love endures forever.

²⁹Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

his love endures forever.

This whole Psalm is enveloped under the banner of the steadfast love of Israel’s covenant King – His steadfast love endures for ever. That is the framing, the intro and outro of the Psalm.

V2-4 – An exhortation to the whole worshipping community.

To Israel, to Aaron (the priests); and all who fear the Lord (God fearers). All three of these groups comprise the worshipping community. Each one is exhorted to declare His steadfast love endures forever.

Two main sections: v5-18; 1v19-28

v5-18 – The psalmist’s testimony of God’s rescue and praise.

v19-28 – An entrance liturgy for entering into the temple

The psalmist says as he enters the temple gates.

Psalm 118:19, 20

¹⁹Open for me the gates of the righteous;

I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.

(The response of the priests)

²⁰This is the gate of the Lord

through which the righteous may enter.

The Psalmist say again: Psalm 118:21

²¹I will give you thanks, for you answered me;

you have become my salvation.

Then the whole congregation, both those inside the temple gates already and those marching into the temple gates with this person who celebrates God’s deliverance, they begin to say that:

Psalm 118:22

²²The stone the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;

This is the structure of the Psalm: Testimony of Praise followed by entrance liturgy.

The atmosphere here is electric about that gathered crowd around the entrance to the temple because of what has happened to this one particular worshipper.

Two Main Truths for Today:

1. God’s steadfast love shows itself in rescue and salvation.

2. Because the Lord brings salvation and rescue, He invites us to trust Him as our refuge.

So we will look at: Salvation and then an invitation to trust.

1. THE STEADFAST LOVE OF GOD THAT RESCUES

The whole psalm is centred around the reality of rescue.

Psalm 118:5

(The speech of the psalmist begins here)

⁵When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord;

he brought me into a spacious place.

Psalm 118:21

²¹I will give you thanks, for you answered me;

you have become my salvation.

Psalm 118:13

¹³I was pushed back and about to fall,

but the Lord helped me.

If we look at v10, the psalmist describes his situation like this:

Psalm 118:10-12

¹⁰All the nations surrounded me,

but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.

¹¹They surrounded me on every side,

but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.

¹²They swarmed around me like bees,

but they were consumed as quickly as burning thorns;

in the name of the Lord I cut them down.

We are not able to recover the particulars of the situation of trouble from which the Psalmist was rescued here but we know it is significant. It was a situation of significant trouble, widespread opposition and we know that in some way this Psalmist was rejected.

Reversal: Rejected, yet established.

Psalm 118:22

²²The stone the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;

There was rejection and being cast off in this person’s experience but he has become the cornerstone. This rescue, this deliverance from the trouble this psalmist was in was due entirely the work of the Lord.

Psalm 118:13

¹³I was pushed back and about to fall,

but the Lord helped me.

Psalm 118:14-16

¹⁴The Lord is my strength and my defense

he has become my salvation.

¹⁵Shouts of joy and victory

resound in the tents of the righteous:

“The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!

¹⁶The Lord’s right hand is lifted high;

The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!”

In other words: What people dismissed, God raised up. What was rejected, God made central. This is what God in His saving work. From V5-18, every single verse contains YAHWEH, the word of the divine name. That is the way of emphasising that the salvation that the psalmist is celebrating comes from the mighty right hand of God.

The congregation declares in v23: Psalm 118:23

²³the Lord has done this,

and it is marvelous in our eyes.

THE WIDER STORY: PASSOVER & THE EXODUS

Psalm 118 is the final song of the Egyptian Hallel (Psalm 113-118). These psalms were recited by the people of God during the annual liturgy of the Passover. Which means that all of these Psalms, this personal rescue is also tied to Israel’s greatest rescue story: The Exodus.

Psalm 118 echoes Exodus 15, the song of deliverance and rescue from Pharaoh’s army.

Remember the moment when the Hebrews were literally trapped by the Rea Sea and Pharoah’s army is approaching and they have every reason to be afraid and fear rose:

Exodus 14:13-14

¹³Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance/salvation the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. ¹⁴The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Moses declares that the “One who will rescue is the LORD himself.” God is the author of salvation. The salvation and rescue in Exodus as in Psalm 118 is motivated out of His steadfast love for his people; His faithful, committed, kind, compassionate, merciful presence to his people. A steadfast love that endures forever.

In that rescue of Israel from Egypt was also a reversal as was the psalmist here. In some ways v22, the rejected cornerstone could be applied to corporate Israel.

Psalm 118:22

²²The stone the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;

Israel was rejected by the superpower of their day, made to be slaves, and put in bondage. Yet, the LORD in his marvellous work chooses them to be his royal priesthood, a holy nation through whom all the families of the earth would be blessed.

Fulfilled in Christ: The Cornerstone

So the particular act of salvation & rescue for the psalmist in Ps. 118 points us back to the broader act of salvation from the book of Exodus. That salvation in Exodus points us to a larger and greater and newer exodus through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

Jesus told his disciples after his resurrection that the Psalms are about him. So, Psalm 118 is very much a Psalm that is about Jesus. In the Christian tradition in the last 2000 years, Psalm 118 has been placed in the worship of the church on Easter day, a part of it also read on Palm Sunday.

Psalm 118:26

²⁶Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

From the house of the Lord we bless you.

This is what the crowds in Jerusalem say about Jesus as he enters the city on a donkey, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”

Jesus is the one who was surrounded by the nations. On that day of his arrest, Good Friday when the Jews shouted, “Crucify Him.” The Romans and the Jews colluded together to hang him on a cross. Jesus is the embodiment of Israel. As Messiah, he is the stone that the builders rejected. Jesus applies the cornerstone verse to himself as he is speaking to the leaders of Israel.

Mark 12:10-11

¹⁰Haven’t you read this passage of Scripture:

“‘The stone

the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;

¹¹the Lord has done this,

and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

NRSV Psalm 118:24

This is the day which the LORD has made;

Let’s rejoice and be glad in it.

The resurrection is God’s greatest deliverance, the day of salvation and we are united to Christ by faith. In Christ, this becomes our confession too: God has become our Salvation.

It is appropriate to say that every day, God has made this day and we will rejoice and be glad in it. When come every Sunday and celebrate what the Lord has done, we are saying, “This is the day that the LORD has made; Let’s rejoice and be glad in it.”

So the psalmist ends:

Psalm 118:29

²⁹Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

his love endures forever.

2. THE STEADFAST LOVE THAT INVITES TRUST

Because of the Lord’s salvation and rescue we are invited to trust in Him.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

his love endures forever.

It is saying that God’s steadfast love; His committed, kind, merciful, compassionate, costly love never ends regardless of the circumstances in which you find yourself this morning. It endures forever. His steadfast love is set upon you forever and it never ends. We can trust in God.

Yes, there are mysteries there, there are questions that we wrestle with, but the declaration of this Psalm is that God’s steadfast love endures every day. This year, I want to encourage that there will never be a time where his steadfast love is not toward you. And it invites us to trust him, a God who saves.

Psalm 118:6-7

⁶The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.

What can mere mortals do to me?

⁷The Lord is with me; he is my helper.

I look in triumph on my enemies.

The writers of Hebrews echoes this truth:

Hebrews 13

⁵Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

“Never will I leave you;

never will I forsake you.”

⁶So we say with confidence,

“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.

What can mere mortals do to me?”

God is on your side. He is your helper. He is working with you and for you for all of us, for our good in all things and all times.

Illustration: I remember playing cricket in school and we have two captains and they choose their team. The captains select the strongest player first. Listen, God has chosen us in our team. We have God in our team and he is working for us and with us and we are invited by this psalm to trust him.

Psalm 118:8-9

⁸It is better to take refuge in the Lord

than to trust in humans.

⁹It is better to take refuge in the Lord

than to trust in princes.

It is so easy for us to trust in the things that we can see – Money, education, influence, networks, savings, assets. But the psalm calls us to a better refuge: The Lord Himself. That is a far better position for us to be in than taking trust even in princess, people who have power.

ILLUSTRATION

I remember when our children were small, I would place them in a higher plane and ask them to fall and I would catch them. Both my children would not think and they would just fall and daddy would catch them. The picture that gives is of absolute trust and security and confidence because they had their dad on their side so that they can take risk and step out and fall and lean on dad. This is a glorious picture this psalm gives us really of what it is to belong to the Lord and trust in the Lord.

Every day we are to remember that we can trust in him. That trusting in God is far superior than trusting in our own resources and we are invited into this.

Psalm 118:6

⁶The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.

3. A WORD ABOUT TRIALS AND DISCIPLINE

We live in a world of suffering and trial, a world where sin and evil and death still seem to be so strong. Somehow in God’s mysterious workings of his purposes in our lives he has declared that the way of life is actually the way of the cross. We don’t often like the crosses that we are asked to bear but they are there.

The psalmist despite the invitation to such a confident trust, he actually shares this perspective:

Psalm 118:18

¹⁸The Lord has chastened me severely,

but he has not given me over to death.

There is room even within this triumphant movement of God’s great deliverance in the psalmist’s life, which looks back to the Exodus which looks at the greater exodus, to recognize that the Lord has allowed hardship in his life from which he was rescued as a manner of his discipline.

Hebrews talks about this as an element of God’s training:

Hebrews 12:7,9

⁷Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?

⁹Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live!

ILLUSTRATION

When Jesus is in the boat with his disciples in Matthew 8 and Mark 4, the storm arises on the sea and they are rightly afraid and they called him and they say, “Master don’t you care that we are perishing?” Jesus wakes up and he asks them, “Why do you doubt, Oh! you of little faith?” Don’t you know He is with your on your boat, don’t you know He is by your side. Don’t you know what he is capable of. Jesus calms the storm with his word. That same Jesus, that same Triune God who is Father, the Son and the Spirit whose steadfast love never ends, he is in your team, on your side as our helper and his disposition toward us is love, faithfulness, kindness, commitment and mercy. We don’t have to be afraid.

“To pronounce the name of Jesus Christ means to acknowledge that we are cared for, that we are not lost. Jesus Christ is man’s salvation in all circumstances and in face of all that darkens his life, including the evil that proceeds from himself.” — Karl Barth, Dogmatics in Outline, page 71.

Lord will allow us to live in the realm of sin, evil and death around from which we have already been rescued. Jesus said at the graveside of Lazarus, “Whoever believer in me will never die. You will live forever.”

These things have already been defeated in a most climatic way on the cross. So God allows us to live in this world as a means of teaching, training and refining us.

Hebrews 5:8

⁸Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered

Therefore, since the Father allows his only begotten Son to go through this experience, we should not be surprised when he allows us to learn obedience in this way. He cares for us as his sons and daughters and training us through the exercise of his sovereign care.

Jesus said to the people of God to the people of God in Smyrna:

Revelation 3:10

¹⁰Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.

So trials do not mean God is against you. They are not proof that His love has ended. This psalm begins and ends with the truth: His steadfast love endures forever.

We are invited in this Psalm in light of the resurrection to come out of fear and anxiety and to entrust our lives to the one who is trustworthy, who is powerful and who is loving toward us confident that he will never leave us nor forsake us. He is now and always on our side.

Conclusion: Rejoice, and Keep Trusting

The psalm gives us a strong New Year posture:

“This is the day the LORD has made;

let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Ps. 118:24

We rejoice not because we know everything that will happen this year, but because we know the One who holds us. The rejected stone has become the Cornerstone. The LORD is our helper. His steadfast love endures forever.

So today, the invitation is simple:

Give thanks.

Remember the rescue.

Take refuge in the Lord.

Walk into this year with trust, not fear.