Before we begin looking at our text this morning, I want to lay out a particular point that we must keep in mind as we come to all of Scripture – particularly Psalms 117 and 118. That point is this: the whole Bible is one story. Though you can read the Bible and read hundreds and maybe thousands of different little stories, those various little stories (in various ways and manners) contribute to one big story: the story of redemption. Why do I bring that up? I do so because our text this morning is a very clear picture of a specific smaller story that directs our attention to the larger story of the whole Bible. With that foundational point, let us look at our text.
One other introductory point that we should remember is that the book of Psalms is not a random collection of single individual psalms. Rather, much like our modern hymnbook, as we look at the Psalms more closely, we see that they are arranged in particular groups that make particular points and have similar themes. Why does this matter? It matters for us today because Psalms 117 and 118 are the last two in a series of psalms that the Jews routinely used during Passover. Psalms 113-118 were all sung together at various points during the celebration of Passover. Understanding this point helps us understand those psalms a bit better because it helps us understand why the psalms seem to focus so much on the Lord’s deliverance – particularly of Israel. The Jews sang these psalms at Passover – when they would have been remembering the Lord’s gracious deliverance, particularly of the Jews.
Understanding that point, it is easier for us to understand Psalms 117 and 118 in their context. As we will see, the themes of these two psalms are extremely similar. In many ways, Psalm 118 is simply Psalm 117 with more detail. And, as we will see, the tone of these two psalms – particularly Psalm 118 – is one of jubilant celebration. These psalms are a fitting culmination to this small group of psalms because they hold up for us the glorious deliverance that God brought about for his people, Israel. But more than that, as we will see, these psalms foreshadow for us the greater glorious deliverance that God was going to bring about through Christ. So, as we look at these psalms, we will first examine them in their original context. Then, we will focus our attention on the true fulfillment and point of these psalms.
The first thing that these psalms do is present a call to the hearers to offer up praise to the Lord. Psalm 117 begins, “Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples!” (117:1). Psalm 118 begins, “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good” (118:1a). The first aim of the author(s) of both psalms is that the Lord be worshipped. As we will see in a moment, they go on to provide some reasons for their hearers to do this, but we can take notice from the very beginning of the fact that the goal of this text is that the Lord be praised.
This is a very simple point, but it is worth noting at the beginning of these psalms. The central goal of the psalms (and all of Scripture) is that God be praised and exalted and glorified. The stories of the Bible are not given primarily to tell us about the human beings that make up those stories. Rather, the stories of the Bible are given to reveal to us the person and character and work of God so that we might praise him. As I said earlier, the Bible is one story about redemption. And the goal of that redemption is that God be exalted and glorified and praised above all things. This is a simple but central point that we must remember.
Having exhorted their hearers to praise the Lord, the psalmist(s) do not simply assume that this will take place. Rather, they go on to provide reasons why such praise should happen. In Psalm 117, the writer says, “Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever” (117:2a – emphasis added). There is not much detail here, but there is nonetheless a vital principle. The writer of Psalm 117 is calling his hearers to praise the Lord because the Lord has shown them love and faithfulness. That is, his hearers do not exist in a vacuum in which the psalmist is telling them to forget about everything else and just praise the Lord. Rather, he is telling them not only that they should praise the Lord but that they have more than enough reason to do so! They should praise the Lord, because he has shown them great love and faithfulness. The writer of Psalm 118 makes this same point as he writes, “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! Let Israel say, ‘His steadfast love endures forever.’ Let the house of Aaron say, ‘His steadfast love endures forever.’ Let those who fear the Lord say, ‘His steadfast love endures forever’” (118:1-4).
But that begs the question, what has the Lord done that demonstrates love and faithfulness? Thankfully, the author of Psalm 118 gives a more detailed description. As we look at the bulk of Psalm 118, we realize that it is almost like a victory speech. At the most basic level, this is the psalmist providing specific reasons why the Lord should be praised. On a deeper level, this is the psalmist speaking of the glorious victory that the Lord has given him as well as the total defeat of his enemies that the Lord has brought about. If we could envision this scene, we should probably envision a victory parade in which the speaker of the psalm is telling this story as he walks among a throng of people – all celebrating with him. He recounts for his hearers the deliverance that he has seen as he makes his way to a final destination in which the celebration will reach its culmination. So let us join this celebration and take this walk with him.
The psalmist begins with a simple declaration of what the Lord has done for him personally. He writes, “Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free” (118:5). Much like our psalm last week (Psalm 116), this is a general description of a time when the psalmist was under some type of distress and in fear of falling (and possibly dying). He makes clear that his response in that distress was call to the Lord, and the result of that call was that the Lord delivered him. He then goes on to describe the result of that deliverance – it has given him utter confidence in the trustworthiness of the Lord. He writes, “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? The Lord is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes” (118:6-9). Here we see the psalmist learning something from his deliverance. He has learned that trust in the Lord will not be disappointed. He has learned that there is no better refuge than the Lord himself. He has learned that there is no safer harbor than the Lord. In the arms of the Lord, no one and no thing can harm us or destroy us. The psalmist is rejoicing in the way that he has been delivered by the Lord, and he is boasting in the very one who has delivered him.
But the psalmist goes on to speak not only of his personal deliverance but of the deliverance of his people. The writer continues to speak in the first person (“I”), but – in verse 10 – he begins to speak about nations which seems to imply that he is using the first person to speak about his people as a whole. This could give us a hint that the speaker in this psalm is the king, though we cannot know for sure. But the king would have been understood as a representative for the people and could have spoken in such a way. In the context of Israel, the psalmist is most likely remembering one of the numerous times when Israel was surrounded by nations that sought to destroy her. He writes, “All nations surrounded me; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! they surrounded me, surrounded me on every side; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! They surrounded me like bees; they went out like a fire among thorns; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me” (118:10-13). Much like with his personal deliverance, the psalmist speaks of a time when his people were surrounded on all sides by hostile and wicked nations. Indeed, they feared being overcome. And yet the psalmist remembers, and reminds his hearers, that the Lord delivered them. The Lord enabled the nation of Israel to overcome their enemies. The Lord enabled the Israelites to escape the nation of Egypt by crossing the Red Sea. The Lord enabled the Israelites to overcome the wicked Canaanite nations that occupied the Promised Land. The Lord enabled the Israelites to overcome the many nations that sought to overthrow them – like the Philistines. In fact, the story of Israel’s history in the Old Testament is the story of wicked nations seeking their destruction. And the story of Israel’s history in the Old Testament (until the Lord judges them and lets them be destroyed) is the story of God’s delivering his people. This is what the psalmist is remembering and in which he is rejoicing.
And just like he did when he remembered his personal deliverance, the psalmist uses his memory of the Lord’s help against the nations to spur him on to praise and confidence. He writes, “The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation” (118:14). The psalmist is declaring that he can now speak of the Lord not in merely abstract terms but as his very salvation. He does not merely know that God is able to save; he knows that God has saved already. And this leads him to praise. And, even further, because this deliverance is not merely personal but corporate, he leads his listeners in praising the Lord as well. He writes, “Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous: ‘The right hand of the Lord exalts, the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!” (118:15-16). Here we see not only the psalmist exalting the Lord, but the people as a whole – who are listening to him – exalting the Lord as they remember the Lord’s deliverance along with him. As this procession makes its way along, you can almost feel the growing sense of joy as the people remember together the grace of the Lord seen in His deliverance of them from their enemies. This sentiment of praise culminates in the psalmist’s declaration that “I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord. The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death” (118:17-18). Much like in Psalm 116, we see the psalmist boldly declaring that he will devote his life to the Lord because the Lord is the one who saved that life in the first place. In a very real sense, the psalmist understands that his life (and the lives of the people) belongs to the Lord because the Lord has sustained those lives and rescued them in their time of need.
As we come to verse 19, the procession that we have been following reaches a gate – and the psalmist demands entrance. He says, “Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (118:19-22). Here we see the culmination of this procession of praise. The psalmist is declaring his thankfulness and faithfulness to the Lord. And he is thanking the Lord that he is counted among the righteous. He praises the Lord because the Lord has granted him salvation. He pictures himself as a stone that has been rejected by everyone but is then accepted by the Lord. And, as a result of that salvation, he launches into praise once again – and calls the people of the Lord to praise with him: “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (118:23-24).” Then, in culmination, the people pray that the Lord would continue to grant them favor and grace: “Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success!” (118:25). And we see this joyous and worshipful procession end with the people blessing the Lord and offering up a sacrifice of thanksgiving as the visible sign of their inward thankfulness and gratefulness. The psalmist closes this section of the psalm by leading the people in declaring: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord. The Lord is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar!” (118:26-27).
Thus we can see that the vast majority of Psalm 118 is a somewhat narrative answer to the question, “Why should the Lord be praised and thanked?” The psalmist is giving his hearers a reason to praise and thank the Lord by reminding them of the glorious deliverance that he has experienced as well as the glorious deliverance that Israel has experienced. He leads the congregation in this procession of ever-increasing praise as they draw nearer to their destination – most likely the temple, as they are offering a sacrifice. This is a general, yet vivid, description of the Lord’s continued faithfulness and the response that it should elicit from us: unashamed praise and thankfulness.
Having given ample reason that the Lord should be praised, both of these psalms end in much the same way they began – with a declaration of praise to the Lord. As with the other things we have seen, the declaration in Psalm 117 is short and sweet: “Praise the Lord!” (117:2b). And as we have seen, the comparable ending in Psalm 118 has the same message but is a bit more detailed, as the psalmist declares, “You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; your are my God; I will extol you” (118:28). He then moves past simply declaring praise to calling his hearers to do the same: “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!” (118:29). Once again, we see the psalmist directing his individual praise to the Lord while simultaneously calling on his hearers to praise the Lord with him.
Much like these psalms began, they end by reminding us that the past deeds of the Lord are not mere facts to be remembered. Rather, they are really logs that are to be used to fuel the fire of our hearts so that we erupt into praise to the Lord. If we do not respond to the Lord’s faithfulness and goodness with praise, we waste his merciful grace. God grants grace and deliverance for a purpose – so that he might be praised.
It would be easy to stop at this point and draw some spiritual lessons merely from the things we have seen on the surface of this psalm. However, to do so would be to miss the main point of this psalm. There is something more to this psalm than merely the things we have seen so far. What is it? This psalm points unmistakably and clearly to the coming of Jesus Christ. In fact, at the deepest level, this psalm is not primarily about the psalmist. At the deepest level, this psalm is not primarily about the nation of Israel. At the deepest level, this psalm is not primarily about deliverance from physical enemies. This is a psalm in which a redeemer is promised and the work of that redeemer is laid out.
First, let me demonstrate to you that this is the case. More than likely, if you have ever read the story of Jesus’ life in the gospels of the New Testament, you noticed some similarities. Just as I mentioned that Psalm 118 seems to have this processional feel to it – as if the people are following the psalmist as he journeys along a particular path to the temple – it is not then surprising that this psalm is quoted in the context of another processional that would happen hundreds of years later: a procession centering on a man riding a donkey. You can tell that the psalm begins to feel different around verse 18 – as if there is a deeper meaning. And then, in verse 26, we see the psalmist and the people speaking to someone whose identity is not revealed! They bless this one who is coming in the name of the Lord, but they do not identify him. In fact, the identity of this one is not revealed until Matthew 21 – when we read of Jesus’ triumphal entry. Matthew writes, “And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!’” (Matt. 21:9; also Mk. 11:9-10; Lk. 19:38; Jn. 12:13). The people that surround Jesus are quoting Psalm 118 – specifically verses 25-26! Even the words translated “Save us…” in verse 25 are literally, in the Hebrew, hosi a na - that is, Hosanna! The people recognized that Jesus was the one coming in the name of the Lord.
Moreover, we also see that verse 22 explicitly makes reference to Jesus Christ. It seems that even the Israelites themselves began to view this statement as a statement about the coming Messiah. The prophet Isaiah, in one of his declarations of judgment, speaks for the Lord and says, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste’” (Isa. 28:16b). But how does Jesus fulfill this? The answer to that question lies in the Jewish misunderstanding of the Messiah. They anticipated a physical deliverance like that spoken of by the psalmist in Psalm 118. Instead, Jesus came to deal with sin, and – as a result – he was rejected by the vast majority of people. Even as the Jews pointed to Jesus as the fulfillment of one part of this psalm, they demonstrated that he was the fulfillment of another part by their rejection of him. Jesus is the true stone that has been rejected by the builders, and he is the true stone that has been made the cornerstone by God himself.
Jesus applies this text to himself as he tells the Pharisees the parable of the tenants. He tells them a story about a man who owns a vineyard and rents it out to some people. When the vineyard bears fruit, the owner sends people to get some of the fruit for him. Instead of sending fruit to the owner, the renters beat up the servants repeatedly. Finally, the owner sends his son, and the renters kill the son so that they might take his inheritance. With the story, Jesus is making clear that the renters are the Jewish leaders (and the majority of the nation as a whole) and that He is the son who is killed. After finishing the story, Jesus says, “ ‘Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him’” (Matt. 21:42-44; also Mk. 12:10-11; Lk. 20:17-18).
More than that, Jesus’ followers applied this text to Christ as well. Peter, before the Jewish leaders, says to them, “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts. 4:11-12). Even the apostle Paul will make direct reference to the fact that Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of the holy temple that God is building as he builds the Church (Eph. 2:20).
So with that in mind, Psalm 118 suddenly takes on a new perspective. It is no longer a psalm about the deliverance of a person who lived thousands of years ago. It is no longer a psalm about the physical victory of one nation over another in battle. In short, this is no longer a psalm that has nothing to do with us. Instead, we recognize that the physical deliverance of which the psalmist spoke was merely a preview of the spiritual deliverance that we have experienced. Though we may never have been physically enslaved, we were born spiritually enslaved, and if we are believers, we have been set free and we can rejoice with the psalmist. And we also recognize that the physical deliverance of Israel that is remembered in the psalm is just a preview of the way that God was going to redeem a group of people for himself. This group of people would not be merely Jewish but would come from every nation on earth. Suddenly, the righteousness of Psalm 118 takes on new dimensions as we think about the fact that we are sinful, and our only hope is to trust in the one who was perfectly righteous. Suddenly, the problem of Psalm 118 is not physical but spiritual. And the ones needing to be redeemed are us. And the redeemer is Jesus Christ – the chosen stone that was rejected by the builders but has been chosen by God.
So, understanding the true point of this psalm, how should we respond? Let me speak first to those who are believers. Listen to the words of Peter in his epistle:
As you come to him [Jesus Christ], a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’ So the honor is for you who believe…But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds nad glorify God on the day of visitation. (1 Pet. 2:4-7a, 9-12)
This is how we should respond: offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. That is, thank him and praise him and live a life of obedience to him through Jesus Christ. Recognize that you have been chosen out of your death and brought to life! Proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you to everyone in the world! Abstain from the passions of the flesh! This is how we respond. We have believed, and we will never be put to shame. Live in confidence; live with faith. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
For those who are not believers, listen to Jesus’ own words: “…the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him” (Matt. 21:44). And listen to the words of Peter: “…for those who do not believe, ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,’ and ‘A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.’ they stumble because they disobey the word” (1 Pet. 2:7-8). I will say to you boldly that your rejection of Jesus Christ is a serious thing with serious consequences. If you reject him, there is no hope for you because your sin is too great. The Lord’s wrath burns against you and your sin and the only way for that wrath to be appeased is to trust in the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ. If you trust in him, you will not be put to shame. But if you reject him, you will be crushed by the very one you rejected. Repent and believe and be saved. Amen.