Open to me the gates of righteousness I will enter into them; Jah will I praise.
After a hard season of discipline, the singer stands at the entrance and calls for the doors to open — not to escape, but to go in and give thanks. Two questions follow. What makes these gates "gates of righteousness"? And who may pass through them?
Who is asking here matters. These are people God brought close to death and then spared.
They had had to face death with the terror of God's wrath in it, as we have seen. Yet He had not given them over to it. The exercise had been profitable for them; the chastening had done its work; and now they would not die, but live. The gates of righteousness could now be opened to them, and they would enter in and give thanks to the LORD.
Why call the doors "gates of righteousness"? One writer ties the name to the character of the age they open into.
The last part of the Psalm (verses 19-29) shows us how the blessing of the thousand-year kingdom is going to be secured. First of all comes the emphasis on righteousness (verses 19-21). In that glad time righteousness is going to reign. So the gate that leads into it has to be a gate of righteousness, and those who enter through it must be righteous.
The next verse calls it the LORD's gate. That settles who sets the conditions — and it brings back an old question.
The gate of righteousness which they have claimed — the way into the LORD's presence — belongs to Himself. He alone can fix the terms of admission, and the demands of His own nature set those terms. True, "the righteous shall enter through it": that, in a way, is easily understood. But it only raises the old question, "How can a man be in the right before God?" And have they — these delivered Israelites — now found the answer?
The answer comes at once. The righteousness that opens the gate is not found in the worshipper at all.
Righteousness with God is indeed the portion of the saved, and only of the saved. It is a gift, not a work carried out by us. In the sense we mean here, it is not even worked out in us. There is certainly a practical righteousness worked out in us. It is always tied to our capacity to enjoy God's presence and our moral fitness for it. But that is still not the "gate" into His presence. Here the righteousness we need is in Another. Christ is Himself the gate.
The gate belongs to God, and so does the welcome at it. So what gives anyone the right to walk in?
These gates are the property of the Lord, and it is He who welcomes the righteous as they enter (v. 20). They have no righteousness of their own that gives them the title to enter. Rather, God has answered them and has become their salvation. Apart from His salvation they would have no title there at all. But His salvation is perfect, and they may well praise Him (v. 21).
Notice how bold this request is. A people once weighed down with guilt now claim the right to walk through those doors.
There is also a clear and strong claim of righteousness as their sure and settled standing (verses 19, 20). They are no longer a sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity (Isa. 1:4). They claim the right to enter at the gates of righteousness, as the nation which the LORD has both justified and saved (Isa. 45:25).
Inside the gate, Israel's first act is praise. The psalm then goes deeper, to the One Israel once rejected.
Now the gates of righteousness are open before Israel. The way he turns to this at once, as the result of trial, is beautiful: he will go in and praise the LORD. It is also the gate of the LORD, and the righteous enter into it. Israel will praise there, because the LORD has heard him and become his salvation. But further and deeper truth comes out here. There is no restoration of Israel without Messiah, and Israel now acknowledges the One they once despised. "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the LORD's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes."
- Discipline first. The doors open only after the trial has done its work. The people who faced death now live to give thanks.
- Righteousness names the gate. Righteousness will reign inside, so the entrance must be righteous — and so must everyone who walks through it.
- The gate is God's, so the terms are God's. He alone sets the conditions, and His own nature fixes them.
- The needed righteousness is in Another. It is a gift, not something produced by us or even in us — Christ is Himself the gate.
- Inside, the first act is praise. He goes in to thank the LORD. The psalm then moves straight to the rejected stone that became the cornerstone.
This is the gate of Jehovah the righteous shall enter therein.
Just before this, the singer asks for the gates of righteousness to be opened to him. This verse answers him, and everything turns on whose gate it is.
The gate has an owner, and the owner sets the terms.
The gate of righteousness they have claimed — the way into Jehovah's presence — belongs to Himself. He alone can fix the terms of admission, and the demands of His own nature set them. True, "the righteous shall enter through it," and in a way that is easy to grasp. But it only raises the old question: how can a man be right with God? And have they — these delivered Israelites — now found the answer?
You could read the verse as a reward for good people. The very next verse points the other way.
These gates are the property of the Lord, and it is He who welcomes the righteous as they enter (v. 20). It is not that they have any righteousness of their own that gives them title to enter, but rather that God has answered them and has become their salvation. Apart from His salvation they would have no title there at all. But His salvation is perfect, and they may well praise Him (v. 21).
Commentators differ on where the answer lies. One of them looks ahead to the psalm that follows.
But who are the righteous? Psalm 119 answers that question. It shows what will be true of Israel when God writes His law on their hearts (Jer. 31:33).
There are two kinds of righteousness here, and only one of them opens the gate.
Righteousness with God belongs to the saved, and only to the saved. It is a gift, not a work carried out by us, nor even worked out in us. There is, of course, a practical righteousness worked out in us. It is bound up with our capacity to enjoy God's presence and our moral fitness for it. But it is still not the "gate" into His presence. Here the righteousness we need is in Another. Christ is Himself the gate.
So the question "who may enter?" becomes a question about a person.
The gate of the Lord through which the righteous will pass to blessing (v. 20) has its full answer in Christ. He alone is the way into all blessing.
God's own discipline of His people had a part in opening that way.
The enemy would oppose him to bring him into death; the LORD chastened him to save him from death. If the Lord chastens, it is only to remove all that is contrary to Himself in His people. He does it to open a righteous way into His presence, so that they may be there for His praise (vv. 18-21). 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.
The end of the psalm looks ahead to a coming age of blessing. The character of that age decides the character of its gate.
The last part of the Psalm (verses 19-29) gives us details of how the millennial blessedness is going to be secured. First it stresses righteousness (verses 19-21). In that glad time righteousness is going to reign. So the gate into it must be a gate of righteousness, and those who enter through it must be righteous.
One writer hears Christ Himself speaking here. The gate opens to Him first.
In this verse Christ's victory, through trust in Jehovah in all circumstances, opens to Him the gates of righteousness (v. 20). This is more deeply true in resurrection, in the heavenly righteousness of the Church. But here the psalm speaks for the Jews who are not given over to death, and so it is Jehovah's gate for the righteous.
- Whose gate — It is the Lord's own gate, so He alone fixes the terms of who comes in.
- Whose righteousness — Not their own. God answered them and became their salvation.
- Which gate — The righteousness we need is in Another. Christ Himself is the gate, and the way into all blessing.
- How opened — God's discipline removes what is against Him in His people, opening a righteous way in.
- Who enters — Christ went through first; in the coming age the righteous follow, and they enter with praise.
I will give thee thanks, for thou hast answered me, and art become my salvation.
Psalm 118 brings a rescued people to a gate, and there they stop to give thanks. Three questions press on this short verse: who is speaking, whether the salvation is only outward rescue, and what gives anyone the right to walk through that gate.
The thanks come after deep trouble, and behind that trouble stood God's own disciplining hand. One writer shows how the discipline reaches its purpose here.
But there is more for them here than outward deliverance. Their sorrow had been more than outward too. It was the sign and result of a spiritual condition that had forced Jehovah into opposition to them. They had had to face death with the terror of God's wrath in it, as we have seen. Yet He had not given them over to it. The exercise had been good for them; the chastening had done its work; and now they would not die, but live. The gates of righteousness could now be opened to them, and they would enter in and give thanks to Jehovah.
One writer reads the thanks as Israel's song once the trial is over. The turn from suffering to praise is immediate.
Now the gates of righteousness are open before Israel. The way he turns to this at once, as the result of trial, is beautiful: he will go in and praise Jehovah. It is also the gate of Jehovah, and the righteous enter into it. Israel will praise there, for Jehovah has heard him and become his salvation.
The gate belongs to the Lord, and only the righteous walk through it. So how does a rescued but guilty people get in? The words of thanks hold the answer.
These gates are the property of the Lord, and it is He who welcomes the righteous as they enter (v. 20). They have no righteousness of their own to give them the right to enter. They enter because God has answered them and has become their salvation. Apart from His salvation they would have no right there at all, but His salvation is perfect, and they may well praise Him (v. 21).
The psalm moves from the gate of righteousness straight to salvation. One writer draws out the difference between righteousness given and righteousness practised.
It is beautiful to see that in the very next sentence they are speaking of "salvation": "I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation." Righteousness with God is indeed the portion of the saved, and only of the saved. It is a gift. It is not a work done by us, nor even (in the sense we are speaking of) worked out in us. There is truly a practical righteousness worked out in us. It is tied to our capacity to enjoy God and our moral fitness for His presence. But it is still not the "gate" into His presence. Here the righteousness we need is in Another. Christ is Himself the gate.
There is one more reason these words carry weight. Jesus sang this psalm Himself.
This Psalm is the last one used from ancient times by the Jews in celebrating the Passover at home. The Psalms sung begin with Psalm 113 and end with this one, the hundred and eighteenth. It is called the "Hallel," the Praise. Our Lord sang this Hallel together with His disciples (Matthew 26:30; Mark 14:26). So this was the last psalm they sang before the Lord went with His disciples to the Mount of Olives, on that memorable night when He was betrayed. And speaking to the chief priests and elders our Lord applied this Psalm to Himself... So there is no question that the Spirit of God speaks of Him in this Psalm.
The same writer names who the gate is, and who else must use it.
It is Christ the Door, through whom Israel must enter, and every other sinner must use Him as the gate, the door of salvation. So we read at once, "I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation."
- Answered. The thanks begin with a prayer heard. Trouble ran its course, God's chastening did its work, and then the gates opened.
- Given. Nobody earns the right to enter. Righteousness with God is a gift to the saved. Practical righteousness is real, but it is not the gate.
- In Another. The righteousness needed is not the worshipper's own. Christ Himself is the gate — Israel enters by Him, and so must every other sinner.
- Sung. The Lord sang this psalm with His disciples on the night He was betrayed, and He applied it to Himself. The Spirit of God speaks of Him here.
- Praise. Salvation ends in worship. Israel enters and gives thanks, because the Lord heard them and became their salvation. Anyone He answers walks the same path.
[The] stone which the builders rejected hath become the head of the corner
A single line from a song of thanksgiving became the sharpest verdict in Scripture on how men treated Christ. Who were these builders, what does "the corner" mean, and how does a discarded stone end up holding a whole building together?
The verse pictures builders at work, testing each stone:
Christ, at His first coming, was the stone the builders refused. The New Testament puts this beyond all question, quoting and referring to it again and again. When He arrived, men were very busy building. They were building their empires and their schemes, religious and otherwise. If He had gone along with their ideas, they might have been glad to work Him into their building. His supernatural powers would have decorated it. But they found Him to be a Stone of such a shape and texture that they could not fit Him in anywhere at all. They refused Him. Now He returns in glory to be the Head-stone of the building, which is the work not of men but of God. At His second coming He will fall on the proud kingdoms of men and crush them beyond all recognition. Then the once-rejected Stone will begin a new order of things, as both its Foundation and its controlling Head.
The phrase carries two ideas at once — the stone everything rests on, and the stone that crowns the whole work.
So the Lord Jesus is the chief corner stone that binds everything together. He is the foundation on which everything rests. On top of this, as the stone which the Jewish builders rejected, Christ has become the head stone of the corner. As well as being the foundation, He must have the highest place.
The same stone that bears the weight is the one every blessing depends on:
One day it will be clear that the One man rejected is the One through whom all blessing will come to Israel. He is like the corner stone, which bears all the weight of the building. If the rejection of Christ was man's act, the exaltation of Christ is the Lord's doing. It is the everlasting proof of God's delight in Christ and acceptance of Him — the ground of all blessing for man, whether Israel, the Church or the nations.
Rejecting Him cost the nation its place, and it is the act God used to lift Him up.
God takes away all the nation's privileges, and gives His vineyard, where He looked for fruit, to others. So by this great fact of man's sin and Jewish unbelief — that is, by the rejection and crucifixion of the Lord — God would exalt Him to His own right hand, and He would become the head of the corner.
Peter stood before the men who had crucified Jesus and pressed this verse on them after the healing of a lame man:
The name and the power were those of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom they had crucified and whom God had exalted. He fulfilled Psalm 118:22, and Peter went on to widen the testimony from one man to everyone. The power of the Name was right before their eyes in the one case of the lame man healed. It was just as powerful for the salvation of all people. The physical healing of the man was just a sign of the spiritual healing which the Name of Jesus brings. The despised Jesus of Nazareth is the only door into salvation.
A corner stone joins two walls, and that is what is happening now with people from every background:
The rejected Stone has now become the Corner for those called out from the Jews and those called out from the Gentiles. There both meet and grow into one building in Him. Rejected though He was, He is still the chosen of God. Israel stumbled at the Stumbling Stone. Man refused Him, but God glorified Him. Man treated Him as worthless and threw Him away. To God He was precious, and He honoured Him in heaven. Now to us the Corner-stone is precious also.
One day the people who refused Him will say these words about their own history:
When the Lord comes back, as He has said (Matthew 23:39), the people will gladly welcome Him. The stone refused by the builders will be owned as head of the corner. "This is Jehovah's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes." That is how they will express themselves, out of the surprise and fullness of their hearts.
- Rejected — the builders examined the Stone and found He would not fit their schemes, so they threw Him out.
- Raised — the same crucifixion that discarded Him is what God used to exalt Him to His right hand as head of the corner.
- Resting — as corner stone He carries the weight and crowns the building. He is the foundation, and He must have the highest place.
- Reaching — at that corner two walls meet: those called from the Jews and those called from the Gentiles grow into one building in Him.
- Recognised — Peter told the builders to their face that this despised man from Nazareth is the only door into salvation. A day is coming when Israel too will own Him, with surprise and full hearts.
This is of Jehovah; it is wonderful in our eyes.
A stone thrown out by the builders turns out to be the one stone the whole building needs. The psalm says this reversal was no accident but God's own work, and those who see it are amazed.
The picture of the stone was well known to Israel's leaders. One writer asks whether they ever stopped to think that they were the builders in it.
The stone was a well known figure for Israel's Messiah, the Son of God. Surely the stone made the head of the corner could only be the Messiah. So the prophecy is plain: the builders would reject the Messiah, and later He would be given His rightful place of honour. Did they not stop to consider that they were the very "builders" of whom the prophecy spoke?
Their rejection was not random dislike. He did not fit the building they had drawn up.
He was the stone which they, the builders, were rejecting. He in no way fitted into the building which they designed and they refused Him. A day is coming when God will bring Him forward to be the foundation, and to set the lines of the building God has in view.
The phrase carries two ideas at once. It is the stone that holds a building together, and the stone set at the very top.
So the Lord Jesus is the chief corner stone that binds everything together. He is the foundation that everything rests on. On top of that, as the stone the Jewish builders rejected, Christ has become the head stone of the corner. As well as being the foundation He must have the highest place.
The verse credits the outcome to God, not to chance. The act that got rid of Him became the thing that lifted Him high.
By this terrible sin they were acting in direct opposition to God. They were about to nail Him to a cross, and God was going to raise Him to the highest glory.
These few words compress a whole national history.
Here is all Israel's history in short, described exactly in a few verses. All their conduct from Moses' time to the cross is set out in a few words... So along with this great fact of man's sin and Jewish unbelief — that is, the rejection and crucifixion of the Lord — He would be exalted to the right hand of God. He would become the head of the corner.
The word "our" tells us who is speaking, and when they will sing these words.
There is no restoration of Israel without Messiah, and Israel now owns Him once despised... The words "our eyes" show us who the real speaker is. The voice had been one, but now we see who joins in the psalm of praise.
Their response on that day will not be calm agreement but astonishment.
The stone the builders refused will be acknowledged as head of the corner. "This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes." That is how they will speak, out of the surprise and fullness of their hearts.
Commentators differ here. Some read the verse only as Israel's future confession. Others hold that faith can already say the words. One writer ties the marvel to the day Christ rose:
The question is this: on what day did God raise His rejected stone from the dead and give Him this glory? Clearly, on the first day of the week... I know this passage looks forward to Israel, to the time when Christ is shown to the world. But faith sees in the resurrection of Christ the pledge and assurance of all that is still to come.
- Rejected. The builders are Israel's leaders. The stone is the Messiah, refused because He did not fit the building they had designed.
- Raised. The act that threw Him out became the very means of His rise to the highest glory. Their fight against God served God's plan.
- Ruling. As cornerstone He is the foundation everything rests on. He is also the stone in the highest place, binding all together.
- Recognised. "Our eyes" belongs to a repentant Israel. They will one day own the Messiah they once despised, and speak out of surprise and full hearts.
- Rehearsed. Faith can already borrow the song. In the resurrection of the rejected Stone, believers see the pledge of everything still to come.
This is the day that Jehovah hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118 moves from a cry of distress to a shout of triumph. This verse comes right after the picture of a stone: the builders threw it away, and God made it the cornerstone. The question it raises is which day is meant — and who the "us" is that rejoices in it.
The wording marks the day out as God's own work, not a human achievement. One writer ties the day to Messiah and to the blessing of His people:
This is the day Jehovah has made; it is His day, the blessing of His people in connection with Messiah, and His people rejoice in it. And now they cry, Hosanna to the Son of David, the Jehovah of Israel; and say, Blessed be He who comes in His name.
Another writer sets that day against the age we live in now, which Scripture calls "man's day":
Today we look round upon a torn and distracted world. Men's hearts fail them for fear, and Scripture speaks in no uncertain terms of what is coming upon the earth. We sigh and say, This is the day which man has made. Scripture uses that very term, "man's day," in 1 Corinthians 4:3. There it is translated "man's judgment." Man's day is the day in which man insists on putting himself into the centre and forefront of the picture.
The word "day" here covers more than the moment of rejoicing. It gathers up everything that led to it, including the suffering:
"This is the Lord's doing" is now their cry, "and it is marvelous in our eyes." So indeed it will be; and the whole "day" will be seen to be of Jehovah's making. He has brought it all about, the trial and the sorrow which were His only way of blessing for them; and the end now reached is the glorious finish of it all.
Commentators read the psalm as Israel's own words after God rescues them. The nation once turned this Man away; here they welcome Him back:
That day of which Isaiah wrote will have dawned, the day which Jehovah has made (24), as the rejoicing people will term it. When the Lord comes back, as He has said (Matt. 23:39), the people will welcome Him with joy. They will own the stone they refused as the cornerstone.
The reversal runs deeper than a change of circumstances. It is a change of heart, described elsewhere as the sorrow of looking on One they pierced, a sorrow "whose sharp compunction shall be turned to more abundant joy, when the full light of the day which the Lord has made shines with unclouded brightness of salvation in their hearts."
One writer pictures Jesus singing this psalm with His disciples, only hours before He was rejected:
What He must have felt as He sang this with His disciples! … A little while longer, just a few hours, and the builders would reject Him. A few days more, and God would raise Him from the dead and make Him the cornerstone, the chief stone. And in that shout, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord," He saw far ahead to a welcome from His people, when He comes again.
Writers apply the verse in more than one way. Some keep it entirely in the future. One writer applies it to the day Christ rose, and marks the difference himself:
The question is, On what day did God take up from the dead His rejected stone, and give Him this glory? Plainly, on the first day of the week. This, then, is the day of all days which the Lord has made. Those who are one with Him who is raised from the dead are glad and rejoice in it, and they need no command to do it. I know this passage looks forward to Israel, to the time when He is revealed; but faith sees in the resurrection of Christ the pledge and assurance of all that is yet to come.
Even if the day is still ahead of us, the call to be glad reaches into the present:
When Christ steps into the centre and forefront of the picture, the day which the Lord has made will arrive. It will be a day of salvation and prosperity. Men will rejoice and be glad in it. It even makes us glad to contemplate it before it dawns.
- Made — the day is God's workmanship, not humanity's; it stands opposite "man's day," in which people put themselves at the centre.
- Whole — the trial and sorrow are not the prelude to the day but part of it; God brought all of it about as His way of blessing.
- Owned — the day dawns when the very people who refused the Stone own Him as the cornerstone.
- Sung — Christ Himself sang these words with His disciples, hours before the builders rejected Him, already seeing the welcome ahead.
- Glad — commentators differ on whether the day is still future or began on resurrection morning. Either way, the response is joy, and it can start before the day breaks.
Oh save, Jehovah, I beseech thee; Jehovah, I beseech thee, oh send prosperity!
Most people know this verse by its Hebrew form: Hosanna. It is a cry for rescue that comes only after rescue is certain — and the crowds shouted it at Jesus on the road into Jerusalem.
"Hosanna" is this whole verse packed into one word.
This word, which is the same in the Greek, is considered to be a compound of two Hebrew words, and means "save now," as in Ps. 118:25. In the New Testament the sense appears to be "bestow blessing." "Bestow blessing on the Son of David: bestow blessing, O You who are in the highest." Matt. 21:9; Mark 11:9-10; John 12:13.
This cry comes late in the psalm. By then the trial and the sorrow are past, and the people can see whose work it all was.
"This comes from Jehovah" is now their cry, "and it is marvellous in our eyes." So indeed it will be; and the whole "day" will be seen to be of Jehovah's making. He has brought it all about, the trial and the sorrow which were His only way of blessing for them; and the end now reached its glorious completion. And now, with every hindrance to their blessing removed, their "Hosanna" ("save now") can be heard.
The verse asks two things: rescue and prosperity. Both come through the One who comes in the Lord's name — and Jesus said when the nation would ask.
If Christ is exalted at God's right hand, the godly man can raise his hosanna, or "save now." He can ask the Lord to send prosperity through the One who is coming in the name of the Lord. During His life on earth the Lord applies these words to Himself. He tells the nation that they will not see Him until, in their deep distress, they are brought to cry out, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" (Matt. 21:9; Matt. 23:39).
These are prophetic words, written long before. When the crowd used them, the King they speak of was standing among them.
"Save now, I beg You (that is, Hosanna), O Lord. O Lord, I beg You, send now prosperity. Blessed be He who comes in the name of the Lord." So wrote the psalmist by the spirit of prophecy. It refers to the coming day of Israel's final deliverance… The One mentioned in the psalm was among them. He was the King, the heir to David's throne, under whom it will be re-established.
Their words were right; their hearts were not. One writer explains why God moved them to speak anyway:
Happy for them if their hearts had been changed to keep this testimony in the Spirit. But God sovereignly moved their hearts to give this testimony; He could not allow His Son to be rejected without receiving it.
Jesus sang this psalm with His disciples. He knew what the next few hours held.
The hymn they sang was made up of Psalms 115, 116, 117 and 118… What deep feeling He must have had as He sang with His disciples!… A little while longer, just a few hours, and the builders would reject Him. A few days more, and by resurrection from the dead He would be the head of the corner, the chief stone. And in that shout, "Blessed be He who comes in the name of the Lord," He saw a welcome far in the future — from the remnant of His people, at the time of His Second Coming.
Timing is everything here. When this cry is finally raised, it cannot fail.
"Save now… send now prosperity" (v.25). This is a prayer that must be fully answered, for the time will have come for it to be exactly right. And the One who comes in the name of the Lord (that is, Christ Jesus) will be both welcome and blessed (v. 26).
- Hosanna — the verse in one word: "save now," which in the Gospels carries the sense of "bestow blessing."
- Stone first — the cry rises only after the rejected Stone becomes the cornerstone. Every hindrance is gone, so the Hosanna can be heard.
- Sung by Him — Jesus Himself sang these words with His disciples, hours before the builders rejected Him.
- Shouted too soon — the crowd said the right words with unchanged hearts. God moved them to honour the Son they would still reject.
- Answered at last — the same cry will rise again in deep distress. This time it cannot fail: the One who comes in the Lord's name will be welcomed.
Blessed be he that cometh in the name of Jehovah. We have blessed you out of the house of Jehovah.
Someone is arriving, and a shout of welcome goes up in the Lord's own name. Commentators say these words were once cried out to Jesus in Jerusalem, but the day when Israel means them is still ahead.
Two parties meet in this verse: One who arrives, and the godly who are already inside God's house.
And the One who comes in the name of the Lord (that is, Christ Jesus) will be both welcome and blessed (v. 26). For the godly will have their place in the house of the Lord, and from there will affirm their welcoming blessing.
Crowds once used these words when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey's colt. But what was that shout worth?
When the Lord Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on the colt of a donkey, the crowds cried, "Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord" (Matt. 21:9). But that was the result of a sudden burst of enthusiasm, and had no lasting meaning, as what followed showed. Within a week He was crucified. The Lord knew how worthless their excited cry was. So a little later He said, "You will not see Me again, until you say, Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord" (Matt. 23:39). The Psalm speaks of the moment when they will see Him again, and utter the cry of welcome with full truth and sincerity.
Jesus used this line to set a limit. The small word "till" holds a promise inside a judgment.
He left their house to them desolate, "till" — not for ever, but "till you shall say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of Jehovah." When they say it, He is to come. Jehovah sends Him; for their hearts call Him "blessed" as He comes in Jehovah's name.
The order matters: a change of heart comes first, and the sight of Him follows.
Here we have a clear statement from the Lord Jesus: they will not see Him till they say, Blessed — till their heart turns to receive Him.
The phrase "in the name of the LORD" is not decoration. Who a people welcome shows what they are. One writer sets this cry beside Jesus' words about another who comes in his own name.
Here we have the decisive word: "Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord" (Jehovah); and this shows their spiritual condition. He had had to say of them: "I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him." (John 5:43.) Sad to say, they were hostile to God Himself. Their hearts were set on their own desires and would not give way; they both saw and hated "Him and His Father." (John 15:24.)
The second half of the verse changes speaker. Someone answers the arriving procession from inside.
Theirs is the cry, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of Jehovah." And blessing greets them "out of the house of Jehovah" — the sign, as we have seen, of restored favour. The last part of the verse reads as a reply from within, as the worshippers come near to Jehovah's dwelling.
The verse pictures blessing given out of the house of the Lord. One writer points to a time when that could not be said at all.
Moreover, this must not be in Jerusalem; He could not bless there now. It could not be written, it had not been: "We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord." He, the Lord who had loved it, had to leave Jerusalem to bless.
- Person — The blessing falls on One who comes. Commentators name Him as Christ Jesus, and the godly bless Him from inside God's house.
- Rehearsal — The crowds shouted these words on the road into Jerusalem. Writers call it a sudden burst of enthusiasm; within a week He was crucified.
- Condition — Jesus quoted the line as a limit, not a farewell: "till" you say it. Heart-change comes first, the sight of Him second.
- Test — The words "in the name of the LORD" expose where a heart stands. Jesus said they would welcome another who comes in his own name.
- Answer — The last line is a reply from inside the house. It marks restored favour — the blessing Jesus once had to step outside Jerusalem to give.
Jehovah is God, and he hath given us light bind the sacrifice with cords, -- up to the horns of the altar.
Psalm 118 was among the psalms sung at Passover, and this verse moves from God's light to the altar. Two things stand side by side: light from God, and a victim bound with cords. Commentators read both as pointing to Christ.
(Some quotes below use an older translation. It reads: "God is the Lord, who has showed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even to the horns of the altar.")
Who are the "us" that God has given light? One writer finds the answer in the psalm's own words.
There is no restoration of Israel without Messiah, and Israel now acknowledges the One it once despised. "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes." We see, in the expression "our eyes," who is the real speaker... So it is Israel — that is, the remnant — who speak. They speak in the day of their repentance, under grace, when they are to see Messiah again. They bless the One who comes out of the house of Jehovah. Jehovah is the God of strength, He has given Israel light; and now they bring worship and sacrifice to Him who has delivered and blessed them.
Darby renders the opening words "Jehovah is the God of strength." The Hebrew name for God changes at this verse, and one writer treats the change as deliberate.
Note — the name "El" comes in at verses 27 and 28, and it fits perfectly. The rest of the psalm says "Jehovah," for the joy of relationship stands established in power. The exalted Christ identifies Himself completely with delivered Israel in their joy; but note (vv. 22-26) how unique His glorious Person is! Israel has learned, to its sorrow, the miserable folly of receiving one who came in his own name; now they gladly welcome Him who comes in Jehovah's name.
The confession about light is not yet on the nation's lips. One writer puts it in the future, when the veil comes off.
Israel still has the veil on his heart and now "does not know." Israel will know later. With unveiled and renewed heart, the nation, wonderful from the beginning, will sing out their joyful confession: "God is the Lord, who has showed us light" (Ps. 118:27). God, even their own God, will bless them, and the nations of the earth will both fear Him and acknowledge them.
One writer asks what it meant for the Lord to sing this psalm as He went out to suffer.
They sang a hymn or psalm — Psalms 115-118 being the usual portion, it is said. It was for the disciples just the customary thing, no doubt; but what must it have been for the Lord? He sang as He went out to fulfil the Passover picture by becoming the sacrifice. And Psalm 118, near the end, speaks of binding "the sacrifice with cords, even to the horns of the altar." He went out to suffering and death, bound by the cords of His love. The disciples went out to failure, defeat and scattering.
One writer looks at the altar's horns and asks what held the victim there.
The altar's "horns" stand for two things: the authority by which it claimed the victim marked out for its terrible purpose, and the power by which it held him. "Bind the sacrifice with cords, even to the horns of the altar." In Christ, the reality the altar pictured, He exercised that power over Himself, in deliberate self-surrender and solemn self-dedication.
Did the law ever command this binding? One writer says no.
It seems that in practice they sometimes bound the sacrifices to these horns, though the law nowhere appoints such a use of them.
One writer names the particular offering behind this verse.
In Psalms 116 and 118 our Lord is the spiritual counterpart of the peace offering of Leviticus 3 — also called the thanksgiving or prosperity offering. What marks this offering is the ground of communion between God and man: the death of our Saviour at Calvary satisfied the righteous claims of a holy God.
One writer reads the two halves of the verse in order: light first, then the offering.
Let us turn to Romans 12. God sets His mercies — His compassions — before us in the first eight chapters of that letter. There is a verse in Psalm 118 I would turn your attention to for a moment — verse 27. The light is in those first eight chapters. There God steps in on our behalf, to set us free from sin's rule. Then we can give ourselves — our members, our bodies — to the service of God.
- Light first. God gives the light before He asks for the sacrifice. Deliverance comes first, then devotion.
- Light names Him. In the light Israel acknowledges the rejected stone as the One who comes in the Lord's name.
- Light leads to the altar. The bound victim is Christ, held not by rope but by His own love and deliberate self-surrender.
- Light makes communion. The offering in view is the peace offering — God and man sharing one satisfied ground, the death of Christ.
- Light claims you. Romans 12 keeps the same order: God shows mercy, then you present your body — cords of your own binding you to His altar.
Thou art my God, and I will give thee thanks; my God, I will exalt thee.
The closing words of Psalm 118 stop telling others about God and speak straight to Him — twice over. Who is this "you"? And when will these words carry their full force?
The psalm moves through distress, rescue, the rejected stone, and the sacrifice at the altar. This verse is the personal response at the end. One outline marks the closing verses like this:
26 Messiah owned; the blessing from the house of the Lord; 27 He owned as the giver of light and self sacrifice; 28 I own Him. 29 (as 1) Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good: for His mercy is forever.
Two names for God appear in the closing verses. One writer explains why:
Note — the name "El" (God) in verses 27 and 28 is precious and fitting. The rest of the psalm uses "Jehovah" (the LORD), because the joy of relationship is established in power. The exalted Christ fully identifies Himself with delivered Israel in their joy. But note (vv. 22-26) how special His glorious Person is! Israel has sadly learnt the miserable folly of receiving one who came in his own name. Now they gladly welcome Him who comes in the Lord's name.
Commentators read the psalm as the voice of Israel in a future day of repentance. They welcome back the One they once refused:
There is no restoration of Israel without Messiah, and Israel now owns Him once despised. "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes." The words "our eyes" show us who the real speaker is… So it is Israel — the remnant — who speak. They speak in the day of their repentance, under grace, when they are to see Messiah again… Now they offer worship and sacrifice to Him who has delivered and blessed them. Now they say, "You are my God," and praise and exalt Him.
Read that way, Israel speaks to Christ Himself. The doubled words confess who He always was:
In Christ they will have found the perfect answer to all their age-long longings, for they will say, "God is the Lord." And, addressing Christ, they will say, "You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you" (v. 28). They had rejected Him when He was presented to them as the lowly Man of sorrows, though every evidence showed He is God. They will then realise that He is indeed the Son of the eternal God, in other words, God manifest in flesh.
One man in the Gospels reached this cry ahead of time. His story pictures what is coming:
Like the Jews, Thomas finds it hard to believe apart from sight and touch. Of the Jews in the last days we read that the spirit of grace will be poured on them. Then "they shall look on me, whom they have pierced" (Zechariah 12:10), and they will say, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD… God is the LORD… You are my God" (Psalm 118:26-28; Matthew 23:39). So Thomas, looking on the Lord, can say, "My Lord and my God".
The verse follows the sacrifice bound to the altar (v. 27), and that order is not accidental:
Lastly we come to the sacrifice, in the light of which God is known. At first sight it seems remarkable that we should come to this at the end and not at the beginning. The Psalm deals with His second coming. He accomplished His sacrifice at His first coming. Yes, but it is only at His second coming that Israel will understand it. Then, and not till then, will it burst on them as light from heaven.
"I will extol you" is not a one-off. The same note sounds at the very start of redemption's story and again when glory finally comes:
We want Himself now — "He is my God, I will exalt him," the ceaseless note! heard again when glory comes, when the hand of the Lord rests on the holy mountain — "O God, you are my God, I will exalt you." (Isaiah 25)
The psalm looks ahead, but the cross has already laid the ground of this praise. So the words are not locked away until that day:
When men fastened Him to the Roman cross, He turned His cross into an altar. The cords that held Him there were the cords of a love that was both divine and invincible… We need not wait for that day to dawn to praise Him. Today we can say, "You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you. Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever."
- Owned. The psalm's whole march ends in one act — "I own Him." Everything before verse 28 leads to a person claimed as mine.
- Rejected. The One owned here is the stone the builders threw away. Israel has no restoration without owning the Messiah they once refused.
- Recognised. To say this to Christ is to confess He is God. They missed that when He stood before them as the lowly Man of sorrows.
- Grounded. Praise comes after the sacrifice, not before it. The light in which God is known shines from the altar.
- Available. Israel will sing it in that day. You can say it today, for the reason the psalm opens with — His goodness and steadfast love that endures forever.
Give ye thanks unto Jehovah; for he is good; for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever.
The last line of Psalm 118 repeats its first line word for word. The song ends with the same call to thanksgiving that opened it. Why end there? Because nothing the psalm passed through has changed what God is.
The psalm has travelled a long way, yet it lands back on its opening note.
The psalm closes with the well-known verse of Israel's thankful praise: "Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!" That is the verse it began with. So three things unfold together: the spiritual understanding of God's dealings, the coming to worship Jehovah in righteousness, and the owning of the despised and rejected Messiah. All of it is tied to the deliverance and blessing of Israel, and to the full display of Jehovah's nature and character. Various verses of this psalm come up again and again at the close of the Saviour's trials. No psalm comes up so often, because this one connects Him with Israel's sorrows and Israel's promises.
The psalm's opening calls Israel, the priestly house of Aaron, and God-fearing Gentiles to say this line. It runs like a thread through the nation's story.
As God's truth endures for ever, so does His mercy. Israel, the house of Aaron, and godly Gentiles are all called to say so: "His steadfast love endures forever" (118:1-4). We have already met this refrain in Ps. 106:1 and 107:1, and we shall meet it again in Ps. 136. David in his day, and the whole congregation with him, proclaimed it (1 Chron. 16:34). Solomon, with the people in unison, years later echoed it again (2 Chron. 5:13; 7:3). The returned remnant, in all their weakness, said it again when they laid the Temple foundations a second time (Ezra 3:11). By and by, the returned and fully delivered people of Israel will confirm it in full chorus. Language that suited them almost three thousand years ago will suit Israel for ever.
People can repeat familiar words for centuries without feeling them. A day is coming when Israel will sing these words with understanding.
The crowds who sang this ancient formula of praise (verse 29) understood little of it. They were in dark ignorance of the incurable evil of their own hearts. Then the same words will become the true expression of far deeper feelings than any outward display of Jehovah's goodness could stir. Because their conscience will be fully awake to the terrible extent of the nation's guilt, they will receive the grace of God and understand it deeply. It will fill their hearts with unspeakable joy, and their voices will make glad and tuneful melody to the God of their salvation in that day.
One writer listens to the hymn in the upper room, on the night the Lord went out to die.
In that upper room the Good Shepherd has prepared a table for His sheep in the very presence of their enemies. Above the dark atmosphere of Satan's work and men's wickedness, an incense sweeter than Mary's costly ointment rises from there to heaven. Listen! The notes of a hymn of praise, going up to Him who is good, and whose mercy endures for ever! The voice of the Good Shepherd leads the song, before He goes to die. His sheep — apart from the traitor — know His voice and join in the wonderful song.
One writer traces this mercy across everything a believer can name.
From first to last, and through the whole stretch between, it is and will be nothing but mercy. Mercy in creation — and we can go further back still, even to God's purposes of grace in Christ before the foundation of the world. Mercy in our redemption, in our guidance through the wilderness, in our deliverance from our enemies. Mercy in giving us possession of all that God has secured for us in Christ, whether now or when we are for ever with the Lord. So we may take up Israel's song and cry without ceasing, "Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!"
Much of this psalm looks forward to a day still ahead. This last verse needs no waiting.
We need not wait for that day to dawn to praise Him. Today we can say, "Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!"
- Frame. The psalm ends on the exact words it began with. Everything in between, up to the owning of the rejected Messiah, sits inside God's goodness.
- Refrain. David sang this line, Solomon sang it, the weak remnant sang it while rebuilding the temple, and a delivered Israel will sing it in full chorus. Language fit for three thousand years is fit for ever.
- Depth. Crowds once sang it without grasping their own hearts. A conscience awake to real guilt receives grace, and the old words turn into unspeakable joy.
- Singer. These words rose from the upper room in the voice of the Good Shepherd Himself, on the night He went out to die.
- Now. Mercy covers the whole span, from God's purposes before the world began to being for ever with the Lord. So the thanksgiving need not wait for that coming day.