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His Love Endures Forever
Psalm 118
Andy Nagahara
Psalm 118 is a long psalm in contrast to the previous one. So, my suggestion is, why don’t you read this psalm to yourself little by little this week, starting today, and have a short service of meditation and prayer every day? So today I will try to provide a guiding explanation for this.
The first thing I would like you to know about this entire psalm is that the 113-118, including this one, were sung as a series of prayers during the Passover meal. So it is likely that these were also the songs that Jesus and his disciples sang at the Last Supper (Mark 14:26, Matthew 26:30).
It describes who God is (113), who delivers his people from suffering (114), who does not lose faith in him in the midst of suffering (115), and the specifics of their suffering and trust (116), followed by confessions of praise and trust in 117 and 118.
The events that God used Moses to free Israel from Egypt help us to better understand how Jesus freed us from sin through the cross. Now let’s read Monday’s passage.
5/30（M） His love endures forever
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.”
Presumably the leader sang the first half of each verse, and the whole group sang in response, repeating “His love endures forever.” And, the purpose of singing is to memorize.
“His love endures forever.” It’s true, but we forget it easily when things go wrong. That is why we should sing it again and again.
５/31（T） The Lord is on our side
5 In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered by setting me free.
6 The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
7 The LORD is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies.
8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.
9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.
Have you ever called on the Lord in the midst of hardship?
Have you ever had the experience of relying on others when you should have relied on God and felt disappointed?
In order to realize that “the Lord is with me,” the first step is to call on the Lord. There is no man or nation that can protect us. But only the Lord can protect us.
6/1（W） In the name of the Lord
10 All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
11 They surrounded me on every side, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
12 They swarmed around me like bees, but they died out as quickly as burning thorns; in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
13 I was pushed back and about to fall, but the LORD helped me.
14 The LORD is my strength and my song; 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!”
Think back to a time when you were in the worst possible situation, where you were not understood by most of the people around you, but instead put in the position to take the brunt of the blame. I said in the previous day’s portion that the only thing to do first is to call on the Lord, and now here the one who calls on the Lord receives power and declares, “I will be victorious .
We call Him by His name, Jesus. Although it is less conscious today, names have long been considered not just labels, but rather things that represent a person’s whole way of being.
It is important to read the Bible, books, and sermons, but even more important is to make calling on the name of Jesus a part of our daily lives.
6/2（T） The Lord is my salvation
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 righteousness; 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.
Note on the first, “I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done.” is not the psalmist saying that he wants to live longer in his peaceful life, but that he is saying so in a situation where he could be taken away at any moment. The difficult situation was one that brought about as a result of Israel’s walk in disobedience to God.
The Lord opens doors for those who regret their failures, feel responsible for making things worse, and are devastated. And keep in mind that the gates are the “door of righteousness”.
The Lord’s righteousness and love are one and the same. Love without righteousness is false, and righteousness without love cannot be called justice. If we seek His love, we must seek His righteousness.
To “open the gates of righteousness” means to walk in pursuit of it. Beyond that, there is a future that we can gratefully receive.
6/3（F） The cornerstone
22 The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;
23 the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25 O LORD, save us; O LORD, grant us success.
Jesus Himself took up this part of the story and taught about Himself. (Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10, Luke 20:17)
For Israel, there was an understanding that the nation itself was the chief cornerstone that was abandoned but used again in God’s plan, but in Judaism it has been thought of as the epitome of the righteous (righteous man), as applied to Abraham and David.
Jesus used this word to refer to himself implicitly, which caused the religious people to oppose him and crucify him, but in fact, as he said, if we compare our lives to a castle wall, Jesus became the precious cornerstone that would all fall down if it were taken away.
6/4（S） Worship・blessing・thanksgiving
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you.
27 The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you.
29 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
I wonder how you all are spending your Saturday, the day before the worship service that we all offer together. When I read this, I strongly feel that God is calling us to worship. It is an invitation for us to come and be blessed, to receive the light.
The altar in the Jewish temple was a table on which animals were sacrificed and had four corners with horns. The horns were covered with the blood of animals that had been sacrificed for the forgiveness of sins. We are invited to come in a line to the closest place to it.
For us, it would be an invitation to come right down to the cross of Jesus. Please take it very seriously.
(Prayer) Through these verses we have seen that You have foretold to the people that You would soon come as the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord, for loving us so much that you yourself confided to us that you are the chief cornerstone of every person’s life, even to such an extent that you were crucified for it. Help us to remember to call on you and keep walking even in hard times, sad times, and painful times.
No one else but we call on Your name and seek Your guidance. Thankfully and expectantly we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Summary
For those of us who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and God, the Old Testament helps us know him at a deeper level. While there are no direct references to Jesus, the prophecies offer many parallels to the life, work, and words of Jesus. According to the writers of the New Testament and Jesus himself, the “cornerstone” in today’s psalm is a reference to Jesus.
For Discussion
1. What is a cornerstone?
2. Share about a time when you called upon the Lord.