CHAPTER 118

AUTHOR UNKNOWN: THANKSGIVING FOR THE LORDS SALVATION

¹O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good: because His mercy endures forever. (This was the last Song sang at the Pascal Supper, as stated by the Hebrew historians. It gives it an added preciousness to the heart who knows the Lord to picture Him singing it immediately before setting out for Gethsemane.)

²Let Israel now say, that His mercy endures forever. (Israel will repeatedly say this because of the constant failure that checkers her past through her present. Therefore, they realize that it is only by the Mercy of God that they have been spared.)

³Let the house of Aaron now say, that His mercy endures forever. (As well, the Priesthood constantly failed and failed constantly; therefore, any act of Grace extended toward them by the Messiah can only be attributed to His Mercy.)

⁴Let them now who fear the LORD say, that His mercy endures forever. (Those who properly fear the Lord will see that His mercy endures forever.)

⁵I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place. (In the coming Great Tribulation, and especially in the Battle of Armageddon, Israel will call on the Lord, and He will answer her. It is remarkable in the fact that He has not answered her in over 2,000 years. But then He will answer; then He will set her in a large place.)

⁶The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me? (Once Israel realizes that God has heard her and is coming to her rescue, which pertains to the Second Coming, then all fear is dispelled [Zech. 14:13].)

⁷The LORD takes my part with them who help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them who hate me. (Israel, at long last, realizes that to have the Lord on her side and take her part is better than all men in their riches.)

⁸It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. (Confidence in man was Israels great problem, and it is the problem of the modern Church, as well.)

⁹It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes. (Some think that because a person is rich and powerful that they can truly help. Most will not and, if they do, it is the Lord Who moves upon them to do so.)

¹⁰All nations compassed me about: but in the Name of the LORD will I destroy them. (This speaks of the nations of the world that will gather at the Battle of Armageddon.)

¹¹They compassed me about; yes, they compassed me about: but in the Name of the LORD I will destroy them. (Regardless of the number of nations arrayed against Israel during the Battle of Armageddon, they will go down in defeat.)

¹²They compassed me about like bees; they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the Name of the LORD I will destroy them. (The hundreds of thousands of men gathered at Armageddon will push at Israel like bees. Regardless of the number, they will be defeated.)

¹³You have thrust sore at me that I might fall: but the LORD helped me. (The pronoun you is important because it refers to Satan. He energized the enemies of Verses 712.)

¹⁴The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my Salvation. (Israel confesses here that her Restoration apart from the once-rejected Messiah is impossible.)

¹⁵The voice of rejoicing and Salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the Right Hand of the LORD does valiantly. (This rejoicing will take place at the Second Coming, when the Lord then vanquishes all of Israels enemies.)

¹⁶The Right Hand of the LORD is exalted: the Right Hand of the LORD does valiantly. (The Right Hand of Jehovah is symbolic of His Power [Ex. 15:6; Ps. 17:7; 20:6; 44:3].)

¹⁷I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD. (During the Battle of Armageddon, it looks like Israel will die; but the Second Coming will change that.)

¹⁸The LORD has chastened me sore: but He has not given me over unto death. (Israel now acknowledges the wisdom and love which permitted her sufferings at the hands of man. She approves these moral lessons. When the Believer comes to this place, he can expect the same type of Deliverance that God will give to Israel.)

¹⁹Open to me the Gates of Righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD (the Gates of Righteousness were opened to her upon the First Advent of Christ; she refused to walk through those gates; now, the Lord has given her a second opportunity):

²⁰This Gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter. (Israel, on her own, could never claim righteousness. Neither can we! Now, she accepts the Righteousness that the Lord freely gives unto her, which she rejected so long ago in favor of her own righteousness [Rom. 10:3].)

²¹I will praise You: for You have heard me, and are become my Salvation. (Now, Israel proclaims that the once-rejected Saviour is her God and Redeemer.)

²²The stone which the builders refused is become the Head Stone of the corner. (The Lord Jesus is the Stone, and furthermore, the Head Stone. This was quoted and referred to in Mat. 21:42, Mk. 12:1011, Lk. 20:17, Acts 4:11, and I Pet. 2:48.)

²³This is the LORDs doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. (The whole of Salvation is from the Lord. None of it pertains to man in the realm of its origin. All pertains to God.)

²⁴This is the day which the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. (This refers to Israels great day of Restoration. She will then acknowledge that it is all of the Lord and none of her. Consequently, it will be a day of rejoicing and gladness.)

²⁵Save now, I beseech You, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech You, send now prosperity. (These words were sung by Christ, when He made His entrance into Jerusalem [Mat. 21:9]. Prophetically, it pertains to Israels glad day, when, at the Feast of Tabernacles, at the beginning of and throughout the Millennial Reign, she will not only ask the Lord for prosperity, but will also rejoice in a prosperity already sent, because Jesus Christ is that prosperity.)

²⁶Blessed be He Who comes in the Name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the House of the LORD. (At the beginning of the Great Millennial Reign, Christ will once again come into Jerusalem, and Israel will shout these words all over again. The difference will be that now Israel is a Redeemed Israel, and they now know Who He is.)

²⁷God is the LORD, which has shown us light: bind the Sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the Altar. (At this time, the Kingdom Age, Israel will proclaim to the world that they now understand the meaning of the Sacrifices of old. When the Sacrifice was bound with cords to the Altar, likewise, Jesus Christ died on Calvary for Israel and the whole of humanity.)

²⁸You are my God, and I will praise You: You are my God, I will exalt You. (Here, after some 2,000 years, Israel will exalt Christ. They will proclaim to the whole world that Messiah is my God.)

²⁹O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good: for His mercy endures forever. (Thus, Israel closes this grand and great Psalm even as it was opened. It was opened with Mercy. It closes with Mercy. Israel will then proclaim to the whole world that God is good.)