In the days of the Old Testament writers, there was often foreshadowing of future events that gave the people of Israel hope. The second coming of Christ is viewed in this last Hallelujah psalm, which was sung as a processional. Likely, there was a choir leader who would make a statement, and the whole group would answer it following him to the temple. Perhaps this was the way the Lord and His disciples sang this “hymn” before they went out to the garden of Gethsemane the night before His death on the cross.
He had instituted the Lord’s Supper following the last of the Passovers and told them again what would happen to Him. People had sung some of these words when He came into Jerusalem the week before, but now, in the quiet of the night, these words would have been sung with new contemplation and perhaps a sense of foreboding as to what was happening that night.
There were foreshadowings of the fulfillment of this psalm when victories were won, and processionals were made to the temple to give thanks and praise to the Lord for His saving power on behalf of His people. This psalm was sung at the feast of the Passover and likely at the other feasts, too. When the temple was rebuilt after the exile, this would have been sung, and likely was sung by the procession that mounted the newly built wall of the city when Ezra led some people one way and Nehemiah the other half the other way around the top of the wall until all around the newly built wall overlooking the city and temple, these words would have given praise to the Lord. There would have been genuine praise and thanksgiving for national deliverance.
The music of this psalm being sung will be heard again in Jerusalem when our Lord Jesus Christ makes His way to sit on the throne of His kingdom. All Israel will rejoice then. All nations that had opposed Him will submit to Him and His leadership. He will be a benevolent King who has all authority over His kingdom. “O give thanks unto the Lord” will be sung with full hearts, meaning what they sing rather than just making a nice sound for the entertainment of listeners, as happens so much in church buildings today.
This psalm begins with a call to praise that all believers can openly and honestly sing with their whole hearts. “O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good: because His mercy endureth forever.” There is always rejoicing over deliverance, whether it be the eternal consequences of sin or the temptations of sin in life. Victory comes from the power of God. The psalmist said it well: “The Lord helped me,” “The Lord is my strength and my song, and is become my salvation.” We are like the one who wrote, “I called…” and the Lord answered.
To put confidence in man or a man is to put our trust in one who is fallible. The enemies that compassed our Lord when He was here were the Jews and Romans, who “compassed” Him like “bees” and “thorns.” But when deliverance comes, a song of salvation sounds forth. Resurrection and the survival of a nation produce a song of rejoicing. Our Lord was the first fruit of the resurrection, and because He lives, we will live. Graves will be opened, and even nations will be revived when “the gates of righteousness” are opened.
Our Lord Jesus is the gate. “I am the door, by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved.” He is “the stone” that the builders rejected. The experts (builders) didn’t know what a perfect stone was like because they always shaped them to their own opinion of what was right. The “head of the corner” was either the first stone set in place to begin a building or the capstone of an arch, which was the last one put in place. It means both when referring to our Lord because He is both the “Beginning and the End.” “The First and the Last.” Our Lord Jesus is “the Christ,” the “Messiah,” the “Stone,” the “Head,” and the “Gate.”
“This is the day which the Lord has made” is the day of salvation, not merely twenty-four hours. Often, twenty-four-hour days are not days in which we can rejoice, nor should we. The day of salvation is a day of continual rejoicing because souls are entering the kingdom of God. The victory of our Lord will be evident to all when He comes again. “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” is also our Lord Jesus Christ. “The sacrifice” that was bound is our Lord Jesus Christ, who won a great victory, as the world has never seen nor ever will again. He is the Victor over sin, death, and hell.
Our privilege, responsibility, and joy are to worship, praise, and glorify our Lord. I ask myself, “Do I really put my trust in the Lord? Are there other people or things in which I place my confidence? Do I really exalt Him from my heart, or is much of what I do a form of religious activity? In reading this middle verse of the Bible, “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man,” I am made conscious that in the 594 verses before this one, there were people who indicated they did, but the fact was, they didn’t. There are consequences to face if we allow anyone or anything to take the place of our Lord in our lives.
PSALM 118 HYMN # 118 v.1-4. The Invocation. “O give thanks unto the Lord…” v.5-21. The Deliverance. “I called… the Lord answered.” v.22-29. The Application. “This is the Lord’s doing…”