Psalms 118:1

PSALM 118

A HYMN OF PRAISE TO GOD BECAUSE THE

REJECTED STONE HAS BECOME THE HEAD OF THE CORNER

A MESSIANIC PROPHECY OF THE SON OF GOD

A PSALM OF DAVID

We find ourselves unable to accept the dictum of most present-day scholars that, "This is a marching song sung by the pilgrims not yet arrived coming to Jerusalem to worship,"[1] or that it is a national hymn, "Referring to the whole congregation of Israel."[2] Neither of these views is tenable.

(1) Regarding the liturgical explanation (pilgrims marching to the Temple), as Addis admitted, "It is impossible to recover the original arrangement in detail."[3] Furthermore, how did all those marching pilgrims bring the goats, and the sheep and oxen for the sacrifices, all the while singing as they came? We simply can't see it in this psalm. Besides this, "There is little agreement on the specific persons who speak"[4] in various verses of the psalm.

(2) The "national hymn" interpretation. This is simply preposterous, because the personal pronouns, "I," "my" and "me" occur thirty times in twenty-five verses (Psalms 118:5-29). The psalm is intensely personal.

(3) The language of the psalm could not possibly have been spoken by a group of singers. Such expressions as, "I will cut them off," repeated three times in Psalms 118:10-12, presumes an authority that no group of singers, no priest, or even the whole nation of Israel had in their possession. Language such as this belongs only in the mouth of a king. Only a powerful king enjoying the blessings of God Himself could have "cut off nations" as indicated in these verses.

Barnes and others have downgraded the idea that the authorship and occasion of the psalm can now be determined.

"The common opinion has been that it is a psalm of David, and that it was composed when his troubles with Saul ceased, and when he became recognized as king. Some have referred it to Hezekiah ... others to the return from Babylon ... others to the times of the Maccabees. It would be useless to examine these opinions. They are all conjectures, and no certainty is possible."[5]

Nevertheless, it appears to us as a certainty that David is the author and that the psalm was written upon the occasion of the final defeat of King Saul and of David's coming to the throne of Israel. The whole psalm fits this assumption perfectly.

Supporting this interpretation is the fact that both Christ and the apostles applied what happened to David in this psalm to the Lord Jesus Christ, which indeed is proper enough because David was the Old Testament Type of Christ. It is the wealth of New Testament references to this psalm, therefore, which confirms our view of the Davidic and Messianic character of the composition.

Psalms 118:1-4

INTRODUCTION

"O give thanks unto Jehovah; for he is good;

For his lovingkindness endureth forever.

Let Israel now say,

That his lovingkindness endureth forever.

Let the house of Aaron now say,

That his lovingkindness endureth forever.

Let them now which fear Jehovah say,

That his lovingkindness endureth forever."

If this song was composed by King David upon the occasion of his offering a sacrifice of thanksgiving for God's raising him to the throne of Israel, such a triple repetition of praising God's lovingkindness appears understandable and highly appropriate. We discussed the "three groups" mentioned here under Psalms 115:11. It appears reasonable enough to suppose that upon the occasion of the king's coming to the tabernacle, the singers would indeed have chanted such an introduction as this.