Exposition by Max A Forsythe
As you all know, I dearly love the Psalms and if you remember this time last year, I used Psalm 22 for our instruction at the end of Holy Week. This year, I have chosen to use Psalm 118 to set the stage for the holiest week of our Christian year. In looking through my records I didn't realize that it had been seven years since I last used this psalm, usually for christmas and easter, I have to reuse material every four years or so. A new book on the psalms helped me to set this particular Psalm in focus for this Communion Sunday. O Palmer Robertson is the author. The theme that he strikes with this Psalm is the theme of Covenant love. Practically every place you see the word love and Lord in your NIV translation, Robertson inserts the word "covenant". Through his translation and meditation "Covenant Lord" and "Covenant love" echo from refrain to refrain. Of course, his translation would not be tolerated in non-reformed congregations and when I first read his translation, I just had to dig out my United Bible Society translation helps and my Interlinear Old Testament to compare him with.
In the past some of you have heard me discuss Robertson's book Christ of the Covenants on occasion. And in that very important book, Robertson describes a covenant with Adam. As I have told many of you, I am almost persuaded that Robertson is a lot like General Montgomery who went a bridge too far with his great airborne assault into Holland What I mean is this, since we know so very little of Adam and his relationship with God, I would be more careful in describing the Covenant terms understood by Adam. Of course, I well know that God has always acted through Covenants and that there probably was one with Adam. But I believe that Robertson went a covenant too far in his excellent book.
So when I see "Covenant Lord" and "covenant love" in almost every line of this psalm, I want to check it out very carefully. It is not because I do not want to see it there, but because I do not want to say any more than what the Scripture allows. When the very first Geneva Bible was printed, there were Reformed notes up and down every page explaining the clear meaning of the Old and New Covenants. At that time, study Bibles with notes were unheard of and there was so much hew and cry about putting ideas into Scripture, that the practice was discontinued until the Armenians adopted the practice in the late nineteenth century. So these are the reasons I took a very close look at the translation of the key words in this Psalm.
This is what I found. In an older translation steadfast love is a very common translation of the Hebrew word "Chesed" which means love and devotion of a particular kind. It is a love of faithfulness to a promise or covenant. So the covenant love here celebrated is indeed God's Covenant Love. And since we know that our God is the Lord of the Covenant we certainly may celebrate both terms in a special way as we commune with Him today. However, I do not find enough evidence to insert Covenant Lord into every phrase where God's Name is mentioned in this Psalm, so I will not do so even though is it entirely appropriate! When we as Reformers speak before you and a watching world we ought always to be careful that we do not stretch God's word beyond the clear wording of Scripture. And yet, our Covenant Lord has loved us according to His eternal Covenant of Grace.
In this Coronation Psalm His only Son was honored before laying down His life as a Covenant sacrifice. This Psalm describes the appointment by the Lord of an elect champion who finds himself rejected and opposed. With His faith in God, He battles for His appointed place and in obtaining it witnesses to the power and goodness of His Father in heaven There I go again, as some people would warn me, here I see the Christ who at the time of this Psalms writing was only a promise. Nevertheless, the Old Covenant saints looked forward to see his day. While, the earthly king in this psalm is only a dim reflection of Christ's greater glory, we with the hindsight of the New Covenant may understand more clearly that our Christ is indeed reflected through the earthly king here described. Why is it that the worldly who cannot see our divine Christ even in the New Testament would not allow us to see Him in the Old Testament if they could prevent it? Nevertheless, He is here for those whose eyes are opened to see His face and fall down and worship Him around His table.
We may divide this psalm into five parts. The first four verses call the faithful to praise the everlasting mercy of the Lord. The second part in verses five to eighteen narrate the experience and expression of the psalmist's faith. In the third part, verses nineteen to twenty-one, the psalmist acknowledges the divine salvation. Part four, in verses twenty-two to twenty-seven describes the acceptance of their ruler by the people. And finally in the last two verses, the grateful psalmist exalts and praises God.
"O give thanks unto the Lord" runs the refrain in the first portion. Here the psalmist feels that by himself he cannot sufficiently express his thankfulness. This is how we sometimes feel when something wonderful happens to us, we have to share it friends. Especially this should be so within Christ's own Church where we spend time in prayer for one another. The joys of answered prayer ought to be shared. So it is in King David's time. The whole nation was concerned in David's triumphant accession, and it was right that they should unite in his adoring song of praise. Notice the sequence in invitation. First, the Psalmist gives God His rightful thanks, then he invites the people to do likewise. Third, he calls on the priests to give thanks as well. Last of all, the King calls upon those within the faith to give their heartfelt thanks to the Lord. Before we move on we should focus upon that love and mercy which is the object of many thanks.
Our translation here focuses on love, the older King James focuses upon mercy given through love. Both words are appropriate here. The endurance of this love and mercy is the special subject for praise and song then in this Psalm. We know that the best of earthly joys pass away, and even the world itself grows old and hastens to decay, but there is one thing that we, like the psalmist can count upon: the love and mercy of the Lord does not change. God Himself is with us, just as He was with David and all our fathers in the faith. He will in the same way be with our children and grandchildren until the end of time. His mercy does indeed endure for ever and ever. Praise the Lord!
In the second division of the psalm, the King gives his personal testimony. He begins with his personal distress which he laid before the Lord. Now, at his coronation he praises the Lord for bringing him to this place. He witnesses further to the power of the Almighty to accomplish whatever God sets His mind to do. And if the Almighty has accomplished so much for this psalmist, how can he consider fearing any other living man? In verse eight David acknowledges that it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in any human source, man, prince or nation. David recognizes no other power but that of the Lord and he celebrates God's strength in song and recognizes Him as the source of his very own salvation. David observes that the proper place of rejoicing and salvation is in the presence of the righteous who recognize what God has done. David witnesses to the power and accomplishment of God's own hand in history. Further, he proclaims that in spite of his worst fears of death, he lives and will live to declare the works of the Lord. Certainly he notes in the last verse of this section that he has not lived without doubts and fears. He has even been disciplined by the Lord, but God in His great mercy has not given him over to death.
Our hero in this psalm, enthroned by the very power of God and rescued from the dangers of battle, now lifts up his own song and asks all Israel to assist him. In his ascension to the House of the Lord, David here asks permission to enter in a set form. He seeks permission through this formula of words. Only the Lord may open His gate, all who enter into His fellowship come in through His invitation. David recognizes this in his words of praise in verse twenty-one where he gives thanks for being heard and saved. Also notice that he addresses the Lord directly with the personal pronoun. He praises his very own God by mentioning His acts of mercy. These include answered prayer and salvation. Both of these divine actions bring God very close to us and enable us to sense His divine presence. For these David as we also, ought to be, is grateful.
We come now to the fourth division of Psalm 118. In verse twenty-two is a messianic passage relating to Jesus Christ especially, but also applicable to the coronation of David as well. King David had been rejected by those in authority, but God had placed him in power anyway. In a like manner was the Son of God rejected by the spiritual rulers centuries later. In both cases, God sovereignly acts and His will is accomplished. David gives the Lord credit and marvels in His accomplishments. In verse twenty-five he gives two petitions. Save us O Lord and give us success in your name. Save us is David's prayer, and so have we begun last week regular prayers for the salvation of souls. The second phrase is also one that is close to our hearts as we endeavor to lift high the Gospel and Glory of our own Lord Jesus Christ. We should be comforted in David's injunction here, in both of these we have need to see the Lord at work in the lives of those He is calling into His kingdom. Blessed indeed are those who come into fellowship through the Lord's precious and holy Name. Like David, we too acknowledge that His providential hand has opened our eyes to see the light of His love and His word in Jesus Christ. On this Lord's day especially we celebrate with boughs of palms as King Jesus comes into David's Royal city in preparation to become the Lamb of God chosen for the necessary sacrifice and atonement to be made for our own sins.
We now come to the closing song of the psalmist. "You are my God" David asserts even as we should also pray. "You are my God" for that we must give Him the thanks and praise due His Holy Name. The Psalm concludes as it began, giving thanks for love and mercy of our very own God. And how shall we give thanks? In some places, the Lord's Supper is called the Eucharist. The simple translation of that word is the "giving of thanks". So let it be today that in our communion together around the Lord's table we can earnestly and joyfully give thanks for the Covenant Love of our Father in heaven.
Resources Used:
Kidner, Derek. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries: Psalms.
Robertson, O Palmer. Psalms in Congregational Celebration.
Spurgeon, C.H. The Treasury of David.
Places Preached:
Christ Covenant REFORMED (Presbyterian Church in America)
Box 132049 -- Columbus, OH 43213-8049
Psm 118b 31 March 96
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