PSALM 118

The voice of rejoicing and salvation [Is] in the tents of the righteous; The right hand of the LORD does valiantly. 16 The right hand of the LORD is exalted; The right hand of the LORD does valiantly. 17 I shall not die, but live, And declare the works of the LORD. 18 The LORD has chastened me severely, But He has not given me over to death. 19 Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go through them, [And] I will praise the LORD. 20 This is the gate of the LORD, Through which the righteous shall enter. 21 I will praise You, For You have answered me, And have become my salvation. 22 The stone [which] the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. 23 This was the LORD’s doing; It [is] marvelous in our eyes. 24 This [is] the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. 25 Save now, I pray, O LORD; O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity. 26 Blessed [is] he who comes in the name of the LORD! We have blessed you from the house of the LORD. 27 God [is] the LORD, And He has given us light; Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. 28 You [are] my God, and I will praise You; [You are] my God, I will exalt You. 29 Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for [He is] good! For His mercy [endures] forever.

PSALM 118:15-29

A SONG OF SALVATION

The voice of rejoicing here means that we need to be shouting loud! This is not a quiet simple melody. This has the boom of large bass drums and trumpets blaring! This is a joyful exuberance. The psalmist doesn’t want us to miss this!

I was watching my daughter the other day when she had to stay home from school. she was sitting in my lap talking to me and I was checking my messages on my phone, not paying as much attention to here as she deserved. What she has to say was really important to her and so she grabbed me by the cheeks and put her face in mine and in a dramatic way told me everything she had to say… 

That is what the psalmist is saying and doing here! Pay attention. What he has to say is important!

The Psalmist says it three times here, but he wants us to know that he was saved by the Lord’s hand. This is personal. He wasn’t saved by his word or decree, but the Lord Himself intervened. He intervene with his right hand. His dominant hand. His stronger hand. His most skilled hand. His favored hand. Don’t miss this, the Psalmist says. This is how we know God loves us, because he has moved on our behalf!

Verse 17 really jumped out at me today as I read prayed over it. John Wycliff the bible translator was on his death bed and a few men who had persecuted him gathered to offer him a chance to recant his position. They prayed for his health, then they prayed for his soul as it looked like he was getting sicker and sicker… Then finally he sat upright in the bed and grabbed the nearest one and quoted this verse. “I shall not die, but live.” And a few days later he recovered and went about the work of bible translating! 

Martin Luther was a German monk who had begun translating the bible into German and he had a lot of people who were looking to kill him. He was protected and kept in hiding by a wealthy prince who had befriended him. He was one who was familiar with persecution as he became perhaps the loudest voice of the protestant reformation. One of his biographers said that this verse 17 hung in his study.  

Charles Spurgeon wrote in his commentary, “No bullet will find it’s billet in our hearts until we have finished our allotted period of activity.” 

The song that came to mind today as I read over the second half of Psalm 118 is “Soverign Ruler of the Sky.” I’ve got it on a playlist of hymns that play over and over. Part of the song goes like this:

“Plagues and deaths around me fly, 

Till he please I cannot die;

Not a single shaft can hit,

Till the God of love sees fit.”

PRAYER

Father, You are my salvation! There is no other name by which men are saved! I thank you for your grace in my life today! I praise you for you are worthy of praise! Thank you for grabbing my attention with your word today and causing me to focus on the marvelous benefits of trusting in you! You are a God who delights to save his people. I recognize in my own life how I have been through many valleys and faced various hardships, but it was your hand that delivered me from even my own sin. I celebrate your goodness and rejoice in your salvation and am blessed with a grateful heart this day. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

I’m reading and blogging the Psalms Through The Summer. I’d love for you to join me. You can find out a little more here.