The Bible — World English Bible
Psalm 118
In brief
Psalm 118 closes the Hallel, sung at the Jewish feasts. It begins and ends with the same praise: God's loving kindness endures forever. A man tells the story of his rescue: out of distress he called on Yahweh, who set him in a large place. It is better to take refuge in God than to trust in people. The psalm also holds the rejected stone that became the cornerstone, which the New Testament applies to Jesus, and the cry of the crowd on Palm Sunday: blessed is he who comes in the name of Yahweh.
Psalm 118 has no title, so its author is unknown. It is a song of thanksgiving composed for worship. You can hear calls and responses, a procession asking for the gates of the temple to be opened, and a sacrifice offered near the altar. The speaker tells how God delivered him while nations surrounded him; he could be a king or a leader of the people, but the text does not say. The psalm closes the Hallel, the series of Psalms 113 to 118 sung at the great Jewish feasts, especially Passover. Jesus most likely sang it with his disciples on the evening of his last meal. The New Testament quotes several of its verses, including the rejected stone and the acclamation of Palm Sunday. Today many churches read it on Easter Day, and believers pray it to thank God for a deliverance.
The chapter in 5 parts
1Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.
2Let Israel now say that his loving kindness endures forever.
3Let the house of Aaron now say that his loving kindness endures forever.
4Now let those who fear Yahweh say that his loving kindness endures forever.
5Out of my distress, I called on Yah. Yah answered me with freedom.
6Yahweh is on my side. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
7Yahweh is on my side among those who help me. Therefore I will look in triumph at those who hate me.
8It is better to take refuge in Yahweh, than to put confidence in man.
9It is better to take refuge in Yahweh, than to put confidence in princes.
10All the nations surrounded me, but in Yahweh’s name, I cut them off.
11They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me. In Yahweh’s name I indeed cut them off.
12They surrounded me like bees. They are quenched like the burning thorns. In Yahweh’s name I cut them off.
13You pushed me back hard, to make me fall, but Yahweh helped me.
14Yah is my strength and song. He has become my salvation.
15The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous. “The right hand of Yahweh does valiantly.
16The right hand of Yahweh is exalted! The right hand of Yahweh does valiantly!”
17I will not die, but live, and declare Yah’s works.
18Yah has punished me severely, but he has not given me over to death.
19Open to me the gates of righteousness. I will enter into them. I will give thanks to Yah.
20This is the gate of Yahweh; the righteous will enter into it.
21I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me, and have become my salvation.
22The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
23This is Yahweh’s doing. It is marvelous in our eyes.
24This is the day that Yahweh has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it!
25Save us now, we beg you, Yahweh! Yahweh, we beg you, send prosperity now.
26Blessed is he who comes in Yahweh’s name! We have blessed you out of Yahweh’s house.
27Yahweh is God, and he has given us light. Bind the sacrifice with cords, even to the horns of the altar.
28You are my God, and I will give thanks to you. You are my God, I will exalt you.
29Oh give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.
Understanding Psalm 118 verse by verse
v. 1-4His loving kindness endures forever: a refrain for the whole people
The psalm opens with a call: “Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.” Then three groups are invited to take up the refrain: Israel, the house of Aaron, that is, the priests, and all who fear Yahweh. You can picture a leader sounding the call and an assembly answering with one voice. The Hebrew word translated loving kindness is the faithful love of God, his loyalty to those with whom he has made a covenant. It depends neither on our moods nor on our successes: it endures forever. The last group, those who fear Yahweh, is the widest and can include everyone who turns to him. Before he even tells of his trial, the psalmist lays the foundation: God is good. This will be the key to everything that follows, and you can make it, too, the refrain of your days.
v. 5-9Out of distress, God set me in a wide open place
The psalmist tells his story in one sentence: “Out of my distress, I called on Yah.” The Hebrew word for distress suggests a narrow place, a vise that keeps tightening. God's answer is the opposite: “Yah answered me with freedom,” and the Hebrew behind freedom speaks of a wide open place, room to breathe again. Then comes a declaration of trust: Yahweh is on my side, I will not be afraid. “What can man do to me?” The letter to the Hebrews takes up these words to encourage Christians under trial. This verse does not say that people can do nothing, but that they do not have the last word. Verses 8 and 9 draw a lesson: it is better to take refuge in Yahweh than to put confidence in man, even in princes. Human help has its value, but it cannot carry the weight of your ultimate trust. Only God can.
v. 10-14Surrounded on every side, saved in the name of Yahweh
The psalmist describes an extreme danger: all the nations surrounded him, closed in on him like a swarm of bees. The verb keeps coming back, and the answer comes back three times: in Yahweh's name, I cut them off. It is not his own strength that saves him; it is the name of God, his presence and his authority. The enemies are quenched like burning thorns, a fire that blazes high but does not last. Verse 13 speaks directly to the adversary: you pushed me back hard to make me fall, but Yahweh helped me. Then verse 14 takes up word for word the song of Moses after the crossing of the Red Sea: “Yah is my strength and song. He has become my salvation.” Your personal deliverance belongs to the great story of salvation. For the Christian, the fight is not waged with a sword, but the lesson remains: facing what surrounds you, your strength is in the name of the Lord.
v. 15-18I will not die, but live to tell of his works
Victory becomes a feast: shouts of triumph rise in the tents of the righteous. Three times the right hand of Yahweh is sung, an image of his power in action, the same power that had already delivered Israel at the edge of the Red Sea. Then comes a sentence that many have held on to in dark hours: “I will not die, but live, and declare Yah’s works.” Martin Luther is said to have written it on the wall of his room during a time of trial. Verse 18 adds an honest nuance: “Yah has punished me severely, but he has not given me over to death.” The trial was real, and the psalmist also sees in it a correction from God, but it did not have the last word. This passage does not guarantee that you will escape every illness; it tells you that your life is in God's hands and that it has a purpose: to tell what he has done.
v. 19-21Open to me the gates of righteousness: entering to give thanks
The psalmist arrives at the temple and asks: “Open to me the gates of righteousness.” Here we hear a procession: he wants to go in to give thanks to God in front of everyone. A voice answers him: this is the gate of Yahweh; the righteous will enter into it. These righteous are not perfect people, but those whom God has saved and who come to him with an upright heart. Verse 21 gives the reason for the thanksgiving: I give thanks to you because you have answered me and have become my salvation. A deliverance lived in private becomes a public testimony. Many Christians read these verses thinking of Jesus, who said that he himself is the door. They also remind you that gratitude needs to be spoken, and often spoken with others, in the assembly.
v. 22-24The rejected stone that became the cornerstone
Verse 22 is one of the most quoted in the New Testament: “The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” In the psalm, the image describes the one who had been despised and whom God lifted up: the psalmist himself, and through him the people. The cornerstone, the head of the corner at the junction of two walls, gives the building its alignment and its strength. Jesus applies this verse to himself before the religious leaders who were about to reject him, and Peter takes it up after the resurrection: the one whom people rejected, God has placed as the foundation. “This is Yahweh’s doing. It is marvelous in our eyes.” Verse 24 flows from it: “This is the day that Yahweh has made.” This day of joy is first of all the day of salvation. Christians sing it at Easter, the day of the resurrection, but it also lights up each of your days.
v. 25-27Hosanna: blessed is he who comes in the name of Yahweh
Verse 25 is a plea: “Save us now, we beg you, Yahweh!” In Hebrew, this plea is what became hosanna, that is, save, we pray. It is the cry the crowd would take up at Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, together with verse 26: “Blessed is he who comes in Yahweh’s name!” In the psalm, these words welcome the one who arrives at the temple; on Palm Sunday, the crowd applies them to Jesus, recognized as the expected king. The prosperity asked for in verse 25 is the success of what God undertakes with his people, not a promise of personal enrichment. Verse 27 declares that Yahweh is God and has given us light, then calls for the sacrifice to be bound with cords to the horns of the altar: the feast ends with a sacrifice. For Christians, the connection is striking: the one the crowd acclaims with these words is about to give his life. These verses invite you to welcome Jesus not only as the one who helps but as the one who saves.
v. 28-29You are my God: the praise comes back to where it started
After the crowd, the procession and the altar, the psalmist speaks again in his own name: “You are my God, and I will give thanks to you. You are my God, I will exalt you.” The faith of a whole people becomes a personal relationship: my God. Then the psalm ends exactly as it began: “Oh give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.” Between those two refrains, there was distress, being surrounded, punishment, rejection. None of it was hidden, but all of it is now enclosed by the faithful love of God. This is how the psalm teaches you to reread your own story: not by erasing the trials, but by setting them between God's goodness at the beginning and his loving kindness at the end.
How to pray Psalm 118
When to pray this psalm
- After a deliverance, a healing or a trial you have come through, to say thank you to God.
- When you feel surrounded by difficulties and everything seems to be closing in on you.
- When fear of what others can do or say to you paralyzes you.
- When you feel rejected, set aside or despised by those around you.
- During a serious illness, to place your life in God's hands.
- In the morning, to welcome the day as a gift from God rather than with anxiety.
- During the week from Palm Sunday to Easter, to follow Jesus all the way to the resurrection.
A prayer inspired by Psalm 118
Lord, you are good, and your loving kindness endures forever. Out of my distress, I call on you. You see what is closing in on me, the worries, the conflicts, the fears that surround me like bees. Set me in a wide place; give me room to breathe again. You are on my side: teach me not to fear what people can do to me. Forgive me for so often looking for my security in other people or in the powerful, rather than in you. You are my strength and my song. If you correct me, do not give me over to death; keep my life so that I may tell of your works. Lord Jesus, you are the stone the builders rejected that became the cornerstone, and I acknowledge you as the foundation of my life. Hosanna: save me, Lord. Blessed are you, who come in the name of the Father. You have made this day: help me to rejoice in it. You are my God, and I will give thanks to you. Amen.
Key verses
Yahweh is on my side. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
David (or the psalmist) declares that God's presence makes the fear of people pointless. It is not the absence of opponents, but the certainty of a stronger ally.
It is better to take refuge in Yahweh, than to put confidence in man. It is better to take refuge in Yahweh, than to put confidence in princes.
Taking refuge in God is better than trusting in people, even powerful ones. The psalm does not despise human help; it puts it back in its place.
The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is Yahweh’s doing. It is marvelous in our eyes.
The image of the rejected stone that became the cornerstone. Jesus and the apostles apply it to Christ, rejected and then set by God as the foundation of the church.
This is the day that Yahweh has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it!
A verse of joy that is often sung: every day is received from God, and we are invited to welcome it with thanksgiving rather than worry.
Blessed is he who comes in Yahweh’s name! We have blessed you out of Yahweh’s house.
The crowd repeats this blessing when Jesus enters Jerusalem. The word Hosanna in verse 25 means save us, we pray.
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What the sermons say
Frequently asked questions about Psalm 118
What does Psalm 118:22, the rejected stone, mean?
The stone the builders rejected that became the head of the corner is an image of rejection followed by an exaltation God willed. Jesus applies this verse to himself, and Peter takes it up in Acts. The cornerstone sets the alignment and strength of the whole building: Christ is the foundation of the church.
What does verse 24 mean about the day Yahweh has made?
Verse 24 invites us to receive each day as a gift from God, with joy rather than anxiety. It comes after the announcement of deliverance: if God has saved, we can rejoice. It is not a promise that the day will be easy, but an invitation to look to the one who holds our days.
Why did the crowds shout the words of Psalm 118 on Palm Sunday?
Psalm 118 was one of the songs of the Jewish feasts. By crying Hosanna and blessed is he who comes in the name of Yahweh, the crowd applies to Jesus a psalm they knew by heart, which announces the coming of the king. The Gospels report this scene at his entry into Jerusalem.
Articles quoting Psalm 118
- 20 Bible Verses for Graduation in Japan: Giving Thanks and Entrusting Your Next Step to God
- 20 Bible Verses for Christian Weddings in Japan: Vows, Blessing and Invitations
- Daniel 2: The Stone That Carries Your Hope
- Genesis 38: Tamar and the God Who Changes Our Story
- God Will Perfect the Work He Started in You
- Eternal Joy: Your Name Is Written in Heaven
World English Bible translation — public domain.