seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Psalm 118:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
2 Let Israel say:
“His love endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron say:
“His love endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the Lord say:
“His love endures forever.”
5 When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord;
he brought me into a spacious place.
6 The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?
7 The Lord is with me; he is my helper.
I look in triumph on my enemies.
8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in humans.
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes.
10 All the nations surrounded me,
but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.
11 They surrounded me on every side,
but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.
12 They swarmed around me like bees,
but they were consumed as quickly as burning thorns;
in the name of the Lord I cut them down.
13 I was pushed back and about to fall,
but the Lord helped me.
14 The Lord is my strength and my defense[a];
he has become my salvation.
15 Shouts of joy and victory
resound in the tents of the righteous:
“The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!
16 The Lord’s right hand is lifted high;
the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!”
17 I will not die but live,
and will proclaim what the Lord has done.
18 The Lord has chastened me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.
19 Open for me the gates of the righteous;
I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord
through which the righteous may enter.
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
you have become my salvation.
22 The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
23 the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 The Lord has done it this very day;
let us rejoice today and be glad.
25 Lord, save us!
Lord, grant us success!
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
From the house of the Lord we bless you.[b]
27 The Lord is God,
and he has made his light shine on us.
With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession
up[c] 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.
29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
a. Psalm 118:14 Or song
b. Psalm 118:26 The Hebrew is plural.
c. Psalm 118:27 Or Bind the festal sacrifice with ropes / and take it
You know.... David was anointed.... and David was hunted down by Saul and his army..... and David was in a lot of scrapes where he wasn't so sure he was going to make it out. David also made some pretty awful moves.... the death of Uriah.... the affair/seduction/rape and Bathsheba.... the death of their baby.... people always think anything that has to do with salvation in any of these Psalm poems must be about Jesus.... but God saved lives in the Old Testament too.
The difference.... in the Old Testament [with only less than a handful of exceptions] when people died that's it..... the only way the people of the Old Testament would live again [with only less than a handful of exceptions] would be if God picked them up himself.... and then they weren't about to go back to earth and have a fish dinner with anyone on the side of the sea.
This is from the easy English commentary.
So Bible students believe that the psalmist wrote Psalm 118 for a special "feast of tree houses" in 444 B.C. The Jews sang this psalm at every feast of tree houses after that. They also sang it, and the other Egyptian Hallels, at the Passover. This was the feast (big party) in March-April when they remembered Egypt. They remembered that God made them free from Egypt. Christians also sing this psalm at Passover. Christians call their passover "Easter". For Christians the psalm means more than it does for the Jews. It means that Jesus, not Israel, is the stone that the builders threw away. Builders are people that build things. For Israel, her people became the important "stone" in the history (story) of the world. Israel is still important because of all the trouble round her. But for Christians, Jesus is the important "stone". He causes people of different countries to join together and makes them brothers and sisters.
So when we read Psalm 118 we must remember this: it means two different things. It means one thing to Jews, and something else to Christians. But we must also remember that God made it like this. He wanted what happened to the Jews to be a picture of what would happen to Jesus. As Jesus is the Christian Messiah, we call this a messianic psalm.
So.... the poem is about the Jews.... like David who had to fight for Israel...... It turns out tho.... it's also about the Messiah....
Sometimes when I watch the news... I wonder.... the stuff that's going on in Gaza.... the complaints of the Palestinians today..... is it getting closer.... is the change in location of the US embassy to Jerusalem a signal? Is Cushner's deal going to bring about a peace accord? Should I be looking forward to going home?
It's sure a good thing that God is in control.... stupid humans only make messes.... IMHO...
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