All nations encompassed me; but in the name of Jehovah have I destroyed them.
Psalm 118 is a song of thanks after a great rescue. At verse 10 the singer tells how the rescue came. The striking thing is who speaks: a man ringed by all nations, claiming victory over them in a name that is not his own.
Commentators read this encirclement as something still ahead for Jerusalem.
Verses 10-12 seem to link on with verse 7. All nations will indeed surround Jerusalem when the day of the Lord comes. Zechariah 14:2 says this plainly, and it also says that they come to their own destruction. That will be the moment when Jehovah appears to deliver His people and overthrow their enemies. In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives.
The word "all" is not exaggeration. The pressure comes from several directions at once.
They will be attacked from every side. Besides the Assyrian (the king of the north), there will be the first beast of Revelation 13 (the imperial head of the western empire) and his ally the Antichrist, as well as the king of the south. This helps us understand the words of the Spirit of Christ in Psalm 118.
Verse 10 follows two verses about trusting God rather than man. That order matters.
Verses 8 and 9 state the conclusion which they reach. Their confidence in man, even in princes, is broken. They recognize it is better to trust in the Lord. Verse 8 states one of the greatest facts the Bible teaches: the central fact on which everything for us turns. How quickly do we put confidence in man; how slowly do we trust in the Lord!
The phrase comes three times in verses 10-12. Older translations read "I will destroy them" where the ESV reads "I cut them off."
Three times we get the words, "In the Name of the Lord will I destroy them," or, more literally, as the margin shows, "I cut them off." The past tense is still used in its prophetic sense. It is remarkable that the psalmist should say, "I cut them off." But note that he does it "in the Name of the Lord." That means the power that does the thing is the Lord's, and not his own. Verses 13-17 acknowledge this fully. It is the right hand of the Lord that has won the victory, and the right hand of Jehovah is Christ... So instead of the godly being brought down to death, they live and declare the works of the Lord. This is the great deliverance to be worked in the last days, and it will move Israel to give thanks to the Lord, saying that His mercy endures forever.
Set against that name, the massed nations are weaker than they look.
Verse 10 refers especially to nations coming in the tribulation period to surround Israel and wipe them out. Yet in simple confidence the godly will be able to say, "in the name of the Lord I will destroy them." Though they threaten Israel without mercy, like swarms of bees, their fiery hostility is only like a fire of thorns, put out without difficulty.
Verse 10 is only the outer layer. Verses 13 and 18 name two more.
All nations had surrounded them; in Jehovah's name he would destroy them... In verse 13 the enemy had thrust hard at them to make them fall; Jehovah helped them... Behind it all it was Jehovah's chastening. He had chastened them severely, but He had not given them over to death, which for them was the power of the enemy. So we have the full character of trial, as we have seen it even in Job. First the instruments: men, even all nations. Next the enemy working through them, acting on the spirit, thrusting hard at the soul. But behind it, and before it too, is God chastening, but not giving over. This is full of instruction for us in many circumstances we pass through.
Commentators differ here. Dennett, quoted above, hears "the words of the Spirit of Christ" in verses 10-12. Darby draws a line, and treats this verse as the cry of the godly, not of Christ Himself:
The psalms describe the general condition of the saints in the last days, sometimes in a way that cannot apply to Christ personally at all, as in Psalm 118:10-11. Some passages apply generally to the righteous. Others may be applied to Christ and the circumstances He was in, some of them with prophetic purpose and exactness. All this has to be kept in mind, and God's teaching sought.
- Surrounded. Verse 10 pictures Jerusalem ringed by all nations at the day of the Lord. It is a real, public siege. The Assyrian, the imperial power of the west, and others press in at once.
- Emptied. Only people who have lost their confidence in man, and even in princes, can make the boast of verse 10 (vv. 8-9).
- Borrowed. "I cut them off" would be arrogance on its own. The power is the Lord's, not the speaker's. Verses 13-17 credit the victory to His right hand — and that right hand is Christ.
- Layered. Nations outside (v. 10), an enemy thrusting at the soul (v. 13), God's own chastening behind both (v. 18). Job knew the same three layers, and so do the troubles we pass through.
- Quenched. Enemies that swarm like bees burn out like a fire of thorns. The deliverance in that name will move Israel to give thanks for mercy that endures forever.
They encompassed me, yea, encompassed me; but in the name of Jehovah have I destroyed them.
Psalm 118 is a victory song, and verse 11 is the middle of three almost identical lines about enemies closing in on every side. Who is the "I" who cuts down whole nations, and how can a surrounded people talk of destroying anyone?
Commentators link these verses to a siege of Jerusalem still to come.
Verses 10-12 seem to link on with verse 7. All nations will indeed surround Jerusalem when the day of the Lord comes. Zechariah 14:2 states this plainly, and it also states that they do so to their own destruction. This will be the moment when Jehovah appears to deliver His people and overthrow their enemies. On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives.
The pressure comes from more than one direction at once:
They will be attacked on every side. Besides the Assyrian (the king of the north), there will be the first beast of Revelation 13 (the imperial head of the western empire). There will also be his ally the Antichrist, and the king of the south.
Verse 12 compares the attackers to bees and to burning thorns. That picture explains how such a huge crowd can already be counted as finished.
All nations had gathered against Israel, only to be cut off by a feeble people sheltered and strengthened by Jehovah's Name. They gather like bees. They are like a fire of thorns, which flares up and dies out; they are put out and gone.
Verses 8-9 give the lesson behind that confidence:
Their confidence in man, even in princes, is broken. They recognise it is better to trust in the Lord. How quickly do we put confidence in man; how slowly do we trust in the Lord!
The verb is startling from a surrounded man. One commentator works from an older translation, whose margin gives the wording the ESV uses:
Three times we get the words, "In the name of the Lord I will destroy them." More literally, as the margin shows, it is "I cut them off." The past tense is still used in its prophetic sense. It is remarkable that the psalmist should say, "I cut them off." But note that he does it "in the name of the Lord." That means the power in which the thing is done is the Lord's, and not his own. Verses 13-17 acknowledge this fully. It is the right hand of the Lord that has achieved the victory.
Verse 11 is only the outer layer of the trouble. Verses 13 and 18 name two deeper ones.
All nations had surrounded them; in Jehovah's name he would destroy them... In verse 13 the enemy had thrust hard at them so that they might fall, and Jehovah helped them... Verse 18 gives another side of their trial. It was, after all, Jehovah's chastening. He had chastened them severely, but had not given them over to death... So we have the full character of trial, as we have seen it even in Job. First the instruments: men, even all nations. Next, the enemy working through them and acting on the spirit, thrusting hard at the soul. But behind it, and before it too, is God chastening, and not giving them up. This is full of instruction for us in many things we pass through.
How far is the "I" of this verse Christ Himself? One reading has Christ sharing His people's distress:
All the nations had gathered together against Jerusalem, but Christ was there with them in His heart in the trouble. With Him Jehovah could be, for He trusted in Him, and in His name He destroyed them.
Yet the same writer elsewhere reads these lines as belonging to God's people, not to Christ personally. Not every line of every psalm fits Him:
The psalms describe the general condition of the saints in the last days. Some of it cannot apply to Christ personally at all, as in Psalm 118:10-11. Some passages apply to the righteous in general. Others may be applied to Christ, and some are applied to Him with prophetic purpose and exactness.
- Surrounded — the doubled line fits a real siege. Enemies close in from north, south and west at once.
- Small — the ones speaking are "a feeble people". The nations are bees and burning thorns, loud and fierce but soon out.
- Name — the psalmist cuts them off only "in the name of the LORD". The power is His, and verses 13-17 credit the victory to His right hand.
- Deeper — three layers: nations outside, an enemy thrusting at the soul, and God's own chastening behind both. That chastening never hands His people over to death.
- Trust — the confidence of verse 11 grows out of verse 8, where trust in man has finally collapsed. That lesson is for us too.
They encompassed me like bees; they are quenched as the fire of thorns for in the name of Jehovah have I destroyed them.
Three times the psalmist says he is surrounded. This verse is the third time, and the most vivid. The enemy is a swarm of bees, and the swarm is a fire of thorns already burning out. Two questions follow: who are these attackers, and why is a hemmed-in man so sure of the end?
Two images sit side by side, and each says something different about the enemy. One writer holds them together:
All nations had gathered against Israel. A feeble people cut them off, sheltered and energized by the Lord's Name. Like bees they gather. Like a fire of thorns that flares up and dies out, they are quenched and gone.
Bees are not chosen at random. Other passages use them the same way:
Scripture uses them as a symbol of chasing and surrounding an enemy, and people have often felt how painful their attacks are. Deut. 1:44; Judges 14:8; Ps. 118:12; Isa. 7:18.
Which crisis is in view? One writer ties verses 10-12 to the day the nations gather against Jerusalem:
Verses 10-12 seem to connect with verse 7. All nations will indeed surround Jerusalem when the day of the Lord has come. Zechariah 14:2 says so plainly, and it also says that they do so to their own destruction. That will be the moment when the Lord appears to deliver His people and overthrow their enemies. His feet shall stand in that day on the Mount of Olives.
Another writer names the powers involved. The pressure comes from every direction at once:
They will be attacked on every side. Besides the Assyrian (the king of the north), there will be the first beast of Revelation 13 (the imperial head of the western empire) and his ally the Antichrist. There will also be the king of the south, named later in the same prophecy. This helps us understand the language of the Spirit of Christ in Psalm 118.
The ESV reads "I cut them off." Older translations have "I will destroy them." Either way, a surrounded man is speaking. One writer explains where the power lies:
Three times we get the words, "In the name of the Lord I will destroy them." More literally, as the margin shows, it is "I cut them off," for the past tense is still used in its prophetic sense. It is remarkable that the psalmist should say "I cut them off." But note that he does it "in the name of the Lord." That means the power behind the act is the Lord's, and not his own.
The fire image works the same way. The ESV has "they went out like a fire among thorns"; older translations read "they are quenched as the fire of thorns." The threat looks fierce, but the answer is a Name:
They threaten Israel like swarms of bees, and they show no mercy. Yet their fiery hostility is only like a fire of thorns, put out without difficulty. For the name of the Lord has no problem quenching the violence of fire.
The nations in verses 10-12 are only the outer layer. Read on, and two more layers come into view:
So we have the full character of trial, as we have seen it even in Job. First the instruments: men, even all nations. Next, the enemy working through them, acting on the spirit, thrusting hard at the soul. But behind it, and before it too, is God chastening, but not giving over. This teaches us much in the many circumstances we pass through, where all these elements are found.
That order is the ground of the confidence in this verse. Another writer puts it as a chain:
The devil is behind the outward enemies of God's people. But the Lord is behind the power of the devil, and there is no one behind the Lord.
- Surrounded — the enemy is a swarm: many, close in, and painful. The verse does not deny the sting; it says the swarm has an end.
- Quenched — thorns flare up and die out fast. The hostility that looks overwhelming has no staying power.
- Named — the surrounded man says "I cut them off," yet the power is not his. It is in the Lord's name, which quenches the fire without difficulty.
- Layered — nations outside, an adversary pressing the soul, and God chastening through both. Commentators find the same three layers in Job, and in what believers pass through still.
- Behind — the devil stands behind the enemies. The Lord stands behind the devil. No one stands behind the Lord. That is why a man ringed by bees can already sing.