A Love-Fest

Psalm  118

¹Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

²Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”

³Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”

⁴Let those who fear the Lord say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”

⁵Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free.

⁶The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?

⁷The Lord is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.

⁸It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.

⁹It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.

¹⁰All nations surrounded me; in the name of the Lord I cut them off!

¹¹They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side; in the name of the Lord I cut them off!

¹²They surrounded me like bees; they went out like a fire among thorns; in the name of the Lord I cut them off!

¹³I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me.

¹⁴The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.

¹⁵Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the Lord does valiantly,

¹⁶the right hand of the Lord exalts, the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!”

¹⁷I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord.

¹⁸The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death.

¹⁹Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.

²⁰This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it.

²¹I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.

²²The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

²³This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.

²⁴This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

²⁵Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success!

²⁶Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.

²⁷The Lord is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar!

²⁸You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you.

²⁹Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

This psalm / prayer is a love-fest. And it’s long enough that as you read along, I hope you had the same experience I have whenever I read these words. When I read many of these verses I instantly think, “oh yes, that is really true!” Or they express my regard for the Lord in such a great way that I find myself reading through them over and over because they touch my spirit.

The phrase that is repeated numerous times, and the one that demanded my attention is “Your steadfast love.” That bears some serious thought. I think that we know what it means to love another person. But add the word “steadfast” and now you have a love that is unique to God alone. Yes, we all know how to love - but to be steadfast means that we never fail those we love. It means we never disappoint, ignore, or wound them. Our sinfilled-self is incapable of that love. And we most certainly do not succeed in loving God that way. But - God still shows that steadfast love to us, even though we are not able to return that gift.

It is that steadfast love that sent Jesus to the Cross. It is that steadfast love that remains by our side no matter what. There is no place in our lives where He is not there with us - holding that steadfast love out to us. This love is what makes us want to read this well-worn Psalm over and over again.

Unbelief conjures up some weird thoughts in our minds. Back in the 1990s when the New Age Movement was a “thing” I spent quite a bit of time reading what the believers in that philosophy / theology said about the world and their viewpoint of “god”. Some of it was way out there in terms of reality but after reading several books, there was a brief moment when this thought actually went through my mind: “I wonder if they’re on to something.” Just having the thought shocked my senses enough that I was able to step back and regroup. All that reading had created unbelief in my mind. Then I heard in my mind the words of my father quoting Edgar Allen Poe, “Believe nothing you hear, and only one half of that you see.” The New Age ideas I was consuming were filling my mind with nonsense. I set those books aside.

These verses need our special attention during the Lenten season.

⁵Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free.

⁶The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?

⁷The Lord is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.

⁸It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.

¹³I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me.

¹⁴The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.

The bookends of Christmas and Easter are just one long story and we tell it every year from December to April. It is fitting that we should read a psalm that was an integral part of The Passion of Jesus during the Christmas season, as 118 is one the primary Messianic psalms. That Infant was born for a purpose; that of being our Savior. This psalm is part of the Passover collection and as such may have been one of the last hymns Jesus sang with His apostles on Maundy Thursday. Our celebration of the birth of Jesus always looks forward to His death and resurrection. As we ponder the problem of our unbelief, there are several of these verses that bear our scrutiny. As I read them, it almost seems like something I would say to myself as I struggled through a difficult time of doubt. Read over the psalm again and see if there are any verses that might bring you comfort or strength during a time of unbelief. What impact might remembering that the Lord is ever at your side or that He is your helper have on your stress level?

One of the important people in my life has a problem with bouts of anger. He will simply explode when things don’t go his way. But he has learned how to separate himself from the situation and take a personal “time-out”. You can hear him talk himself down from that place of great anger and it sounds slightly familiar to the words in this psalm; a personal reminder that all is well when one is attached to the Lord. Unbelief assails us all, but just because the thoughts stream through your mind doesn’t mean you have to embrace them. Just as the Holy Spirit caused me to put aside the philosophies of the New Age Movement, so too will He help us push aside our doubts.

He has become my salvation! These are the words that need to ring in our ears as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. This verse is borrowed from the song of Miriam after the crossing of the Red Sea. She recognized that she had witnessed something truly miraculous and that the lives of all God’s people had been spared. Now remember that this psalm was a part of the liturgical life of the Jews as they celebrated the Passover. Jesus spoke these words as He prepared for death. Think that thought again; Jesus spoke these words as He prepared for death. Now go back and read this passage one more time, hearing them through the mind and heart of our Savior as He prepares to die for the sins of mankind. They suddenly take on a sharper meaning and their praise-filled nature is startling.

“I shall not die, but I shall live”. Even as He approaches the crucifixion, Jesus knows that He will conquer death and come back from the grave. The words of this passage encourage us to go through life with that same confidence. This psalm has gripped my heart and spirit today. I’ve probably read it at least 25 times and each time I can just hear Jesus speaking these words with confidence, even joy despite the hours of suffering that are before Him. Each phrase resounds with truth and salvation.