Psalms 118

Psalms 107:150

Gordon Churchyard

Hosanna! (Save Us Now!)

Psalms 118

Jesus said, "Did you not read (this) in the Bible? The *builders threw away a stone. It is now in an important place at the corner (of the building). The *Lord has done this. And we think that it is *wonderful" (Matthew 21:42).

Psalms 118

v1 Thank the *LORD because he is good.
His *kind love will always be (with us).

v2 Israel must now say,
"His kind love will always be with us".

v3 The house of Aaron must now say,
"His kind love will always be with us".

v4 Everyone that is afraid of the *LORD must now say,
"His kind love will always be with us".

v5 (My enemy) shut me (in a prison).
There I cried to the *LORD.
The *LORD answered me and made me free.

v6 The *LORD is with me. I will not be afraid.
What (bad thing) can anybody do to me?

v7 The *LORD is with me. He gives me help.
So, I will see (the *LORD destroy) my enemies.

v8 It is better to *trust in the *LORD
than to *trust in people.

v9 It is better to *trust in the *LORD
than to *trust in the leaders (of people).

v10 All the *nations were round me,
(but) I destroyed them *in the name of the *LORD.

v11 They were all round me, yes, all round me.
(But) I destroyed them in the name of the *LORD.

v12 They were round me like (a cloud of) *bees.
They burnt (quickly) like a (dry) bush (burns quickly).
I destroyed them in the name of the *LORD.

v13 (My enemy) pushed me so that I started to fall.
But the *LORD gave me help (not to fall).

v14 The *LORD makes me strong and gives me psalms to sing.
He has saved me.

v15 Listen to the happy shouts of God’s people in their *tents.
(They do this) because they have destroyed (their enemies).
The *right hand of the *LORD is very strong.

v16 The *LORD has lifted his right hand very high.
The right hand of the *LORD is very strong.

v17 I will not die. I will live.
I will tell everyone what the *LORD has done.

v18 The *LORD has *punished me a lot,
but he has not let me die.

v19 Open the gates of the *temple for me.
I will go in and thank the *LORD.

v20 This is the gate of the *LORD.
*Righteous people can go in through it.

v21 Thank you because you answered me.
You saved me.

v22 The men who were building threw away a stone.
It is now in an important place at the corner (of the building).

v23 The *LORD has done this.
And we think that it is *wonderful.

v24 This is the day that the *LORD has made.
We will be happy in it, we will be very happy.

v25 *LORD, save us now!
*LORD, make us do very well!

v26 The man that comes in the name of the *LORD will be *blessed.
We *bless you from the house of the *LORD.

v27 The *LORD is God and he has made his light to shine on us.
With branches in (our) hands
we will go with the people who are going to the *feast.
Go to the *horns of the *altar.

v28 You are my God and I will thank you.
You are my God and I will say that you are great.

v29 Thank the *LORD because he is good.
His kind love will always be (with us).

The Story of Psalms 118

The *Jews have a legend. A legend is a story that may or may not be true. The legend is about building the *temple in Jerusalem. The *temple was the house of God. They cut big stones to build the *temple. One stone was the wrong shape and size. They threw it away. Then they needed one that shape and size. They needed it to fix two walls together. So, they found the stone that they threw away. They put it in an important place at the top of the two walls. It fixed the two walls together. As Psalms 118:23 says, "The builders (men who were building) threw away a stone. It is now in an important place at the corner".

The legend makes Bible students think this: the *psalmist wrote Psalms 118 after the *Jews had built something. Perhaps they had just built the *temple, or the walls of Jerusalem. (We call the person that wrote the psalm the *psalmist.) Now Solomon built the *temple in 950 B.C. (B.C. means "years Before Christ came to the earth.) Soldiers from Babylon destroyed it in 586 B.C. The *Jews built it again in 516 B.C. They built the walls round Jerusalem again in 444 B.C.

Bible students think that the date of Psalms 118 is 444 B.C. This is because the *Jews had a special *feast (big party) in 444 B.C. They called it "the *feast of tree houses". This was because they made little houses with branches from trees. They lived in them for a few days in October. This *feast happened every year. But in 444 B.C., it was very important, because they had just built the walls of Jerusalem. The story is in Nehemiah 8:14-18. But why do Bible students think this? They think this because of a strange verse in the psalm, (verse 27). One way to translate the middle of the verse is, "with branches in your hands, go with the people at the *feast".

Psalms 118 is the sixth of the Egyptian Hallels. Read more about them in the notes on Psalms 113 in this set of psalms. It is the last of the Egyptian Hallels. There are more Hallels in Psalms 135 and 136, but they are not Egyptian. "Egyptian" means that they made the *Jews think of what God did in Egypt. He led them from Egypt hundreds of years before. He made them free. But he also led them from Babylon 900 years later. He made them free again. So the psalm starts, "Thank the *LORD because he is good". *LORD is a special *covenant name for God. A *covenant is when two people (or groups of people) agree. Here, God agrees to love and give help to his people. They agree to love and obey him.

But the psalm continues, "Israel and the house of Aaron and everyone that is afraid of the *LORD must now say, 'His kind love will always be with us'." So, the "I" and the "me" in verses 5-28 is not one person. It is all the people of Israel, and the house of Aaron, and the people that are afraid of the *LORD. Psalms 116 is about one person in trouble. He prayed to God, and then could say "He saved me!" But Psalms 118 is about a whole country in trouble. They prayed "Hosanna now!" and he saved them too. Hosanna is a Hebrew word that means "Save us now!" Hebrew is the language that the *Jews spoke. But we can all read Psalms 118 for ourselves, even if it was for all the people.

So Bible students believe that the *psalmist wrote Psalms 118 for a special "*feast of tree houses" in 444 B.C. The *Jews sang this psalm at every *feast of tree houses after that. They also sang it, and the other Egyptian Hallels, at the Passover. This was the *feast (big party) in March-April when they remembered Egypt. They remembered that God made them free from Egypt. Christians also sing this psalm at Passover. Christians call their passover "*Easter". For Christians the psalm means more than it does for the *Jews. It means that Jesus, not Israel, is the stone that the builders threw away. Builders are people that build things. For Israel, her people became the important "stone" in the history (story) of the world. Israel is still important because of all the trouble round her. But for Christians, Jesus is the important "stone". He causes people of different countries to join together and makes them brothers and sisters. For more about this, study the Bible verses below in "Something to do".

So when we read Psalms 118 we must remember this: it means two different things. It means one thing to *Jews, and something else to Christians. But we must also remember that God made it like this. He wanted what happened to the *Jews to be a picture of what would happen to Jesus. As Jesus is the Christian *Messiah, we call this a messianic psalm.

What Psalms 118 means

Verses 1 - 4 tell everybody to thank the *LORD, because he is good. In verse 2, "Israel" means all the people that live in the land of Israel. In verse 3, "the house of Aaron" means the *priests and levites of Israel. *Priests were special servants of God who worked in the *temple at Jerusalem. The levites also worked in the *temple, and in the towns and villages of Israel. The words "kind love" come in all 4 verses. "Kind love" is a special love. In Hebrew, it is "hesed". It is not human love. It is the love that God showed in his *covenant. It is a love that gives help, and never stops.

Verses 5 - 7 tell us what God did to send help to Israel. Remember, "me" and "I" in these verses is not one person. It is the whole country of Israel. Maybe their leader spoke these words for them. In Hebrew, verse 5 says "I was in a small place and I could not get out". This place was like a prison. Maybe it was Egypt, maybe it was Babylon. For Christians, maybe it is a bad habit. A habit is something that you cannot stop doing. The answer is the same for everyone: cry (or pray, maybe out loud) to the *LORD. Tell him that you want to be free. He will make you free. In verse 7, the enemies may be the Egyptians, the Babylonians or the bad habits. For *Jews it may be better to translate verse 7 like this. "The *LORD was with me. He gave me help. So I saw (the *LORD destroy) my enemies". The Hebrew language does not have past, present (now) and future like most of our languages. The important thing is this: verse 7 always was true. It is true now. And it always will be true! The words "the *LORD destroy" are not in the Hebrew Bible. Most translations include them to give us help to understand the verse.

In verses 8 - 9, "*trust" is an important word. It means "believe that someone will give you help". It means a lot more than this, also. It means that if someone promises to do something, then they will do it. You can *trust them (or rely on them) to do it. The psalm teaches us that we can *trust the *LORD more than people. We can even *trust him more than our leaders!

In verses 9 - 13, we read that the enemy was all round Israel. They were "like (a cloud of) bees". Bees are insects that make something sweet and sticky called *honey. Bees can sting you, or give you a sharp pain. Thousand of them live together. Often they fly together in a great cloud or "swarm". To the *psalmist, his enemies seemed like this because there were so many of them. But he destroyed them all! It was like a *thorn-bush burning. The bush becomes dry when it dies, and burns quickly. He destroyed his enemies quickly. He did it "in the name of the *LORD". These are special words. They mean "with everything that the name of the *LORD means". It means that he is great and powerful; it means that he loves his people and gives them help; it means that he will *punish anyone that hurts his people. "*Punish" means "hurt someone because they have done something wrong". So when "the enemy pushed me" then "the *LORD gave me help", (verse 13).

In verse 14, "saved" means two different things. For the *Jews, it means that the *LORD made them safe from their enemies, either Egypt or Babylon. For Christians it means that God will keep them safe after they die. They will go to live with God in his home. We call this home "*heaven".

Verses 14 - 18 tell us that this made the *Jews very happy. They sang psalms, or songs, (verse 14). They shouted how great God was in their tents. A *tent is a small house made from animal skins. Many Bible students think that the people made these tents with tree branches. This is because they sang the psalm at the *feast of tree houses. God had *punished them and hurt them a lot, but they were still alive, (verse 18). God *punished them when he let the Egyptians or Babylonians become their masters.

God did all this with his "right hand", (verses 15-16). The right hand of God is how the Bible describes God doing things on earth.

Bible students think that the *Jews sang Psalms 118 in a special way. The *priests said some verses, then the people coming in to the *temple answered them with other verses. It is not easy to see who said what in verses 1-18. It is easier in verses 19-20. The people coming in said, "Open the gates", (verse 19). The *priests answer from inside the *temple gates, "*Righteous people can go in", (verse 20). The word "*righteous" means "very, very good". Only God is really *righteous, always doing what is right. But he calls his people *righteous also. These are the people that love him. They are the people who *trust him and obey him. For the *Jews, this was the Old *Covenant (or the *Old Testament). For Christians, it is the New *Covenant (or the *New Testament). In verse 19, "gates of the *temple" is "*righteous gates" in the Hebrew Bible. Because God was in the *temple, it was *righteous too. And its gates were *righteous.

Verses 21 - 24 again tell us what God has done. He saved his people, (verse 21). Like the stone that the builders (men who were building) threw away, Israel was now important, (verse 22). The *LORD did something *wonderful, or "very great", (verse 23). He did it on "this day", (verse 24). "This day" now means the day when people remember what God did. For *Jews it is one of their *feasts, Passover, Pentecost or Tree Houses. For Christians, it is Sunday because Jesus rose from the dead on a Sunday.

Verses 25 - 29 finish the psalm. Verses 25 and 26 give us another example of the people and the *priests talking to each other. The people say, "*LORD, save us and make us do very well". The *priests *bless the people from inside the *temple. "*Bless" is a special word in the Bible. In the beginning it meant, "Have many children. Your animals have many young animals. Your plants grow big and strong". Later it meant "everything that you do will have a good result". The word "*bless" does not mean "be happy". But if everything you do has a good result, then you will be very happy! "*Blessed" describes the person that God *blesses.

Verse 27 is difficult to translate. This is because nobody is sure what the word that we translated "branches" means. Some Bible students think that it means "tie up". They translate the verse, "Tie the animal you are going to offer to God to the horns of the *altar". The horns were special parts of the *altar. The *priests killed animals on the *altar and burned them there. They believed that this made God happy. Nobody does this now, neither Christians nor *Jews.

Something to do

1. Ask God to save you. This means he will give you help in this life. And he will keep you safe when you die. But remember this: When he saves you, you make a *covenant with him. You agree to love him and obey him. You agree to be his servant. He agrees to love you and make you safe.

2. If you have a *New Testament, study what it says about Psalms 118. Read Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10-11; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11 and 1 Peter 2:7.

3. Study also verses from the *Old Testament. Read Nehemiah 8:14-18; Jeremiah 51:26 and Zechariah 4:7.

4. Psalms 118 was the psalm that some great Christians loved best of all the psalms. Examples are Saint Augustine and Martin Luther. Like them, learn to say some of the verses by *heart. "By *heart" means "without looking at the words". Then you will remember the words when God wants to speak to you through them!

Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke; they wrote the Psalms in Hebrew.
builders ~ people that build.
Lord ~ a name for God; it means he has authority, or "master"; It is the word "Adonai" in Hebrew. Look also at LORD below.
LORD ~ a special name for God that his people use. It is the covenant name of God. In Hebrew it is Yahweh or Jehovah. Look after Psalm 25 in Book 1 of the Psalms of David for more about the names of God.
lord ~ someone with authority.
LORD ~ the covenant name for God (in a covenant you agree with someone).
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke; they wrote the Psalms in Hebrew.
covenant ~ two people have agreed what each should do (here, God and his people). Look in Psalm 120 about the covenant.
Yahweh ~ the covenant name for God. Most Bibles translate it LORD with 4 capital letters. It means something like "I am" or "always alive".
Jehovah ~ how some languages say Yahweh, one of the names of God in Hebrew.
wonderful ~ great and surprising.
Lord ~ a name for God; it means he has authority, or "master"; It is the word "Adonai" in Hebrew. Look also at LORD below.
LORD ~ a special name for God that his people use. It is the covenant name of God. In Hebrew it is Yahweh or Jehovah. Look after Psalm 25 in Book 1 of the Psalms of David for more about the names of God.
lord ~ someone with authority.
LORD ~ the covenant name for God (in a covenant you agree with someone).
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke; they wrote the Psalms in Hebrew.
covenant ~ two people have agreed what each should do (here, God and his people). Look in Psalm 120 about the covenant.
Yahweh ~ the covenant name for God. Most Bibles translate it LORD with 4 capital letters. It means something like "I am" or "always alive".
Jehovah ~ how some languages say Yahweh, one of the names of God in Hebrew.
trust ~ believe that someone (usually God in the psalms) will be kind to you.
nation ~ people who live together in the same country.
bees ~ small insects that make a sweet stuff called honey.
tent ~ a home or building made from animal skins.
punish ~ hurt someone because they have not obeyed the rules.
temple ~ a place where people meet to worship God.
righteous ~ very good (only God is really righteous). God says that the people who love and obey him are righteous. Sometimes we say they are "the righteous", meaning "righteous people". Look after Psalm 5 in Book 1 of the Psalms of David for more about the word "righteous".
blessed ~ someone that God has said or done good things to.
bless ~ say good things, or do good things, to someone.
feast ~ a meal with much to eat and drink; a party.
horn ~ hard bone on head of animal; it shows that it is strong; people used them to make *musical instruments.
altar ~ part of the temple.
temple ~ a place where people meet to worship God.
Jew ~ a person who is born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children; a person who has the faith of the Jews, called Judaism.
faith ~ belief in someone or something; in the Psalms, belief in God.
psalmist ~ the person that wrote a psalm (or psalms).
covenant ~ two people have agreed what each should do (here, God and his people). Look in Psalm 120 about the covenant.
Easter ~ Christians remember when Jesus died and became alive again at Easter.
Messiah ~ in the Old Testament, the anointed king. In the New Testament, Jesus. The word messiah is Hebrew for anointed.
anointed ~ with (olive) oil poured on.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke; they wrote the Psalms in Hebrew.
olive ~ a fruit.
priest ~ a servant of God in his temple.
temple ~ a place where people meet to worship God.
priest ~ a servant of God in his temple.
temple ~ a place where people meet to worship God.
honey ~ a special sugar made by insects called bees.
punish ~ hurt someone because they have not obeyed the rules.
heaven ~ the home of God.
righteous ~ very good (only God is really righteous). God says that the people who love and obey him are righteous. Sometimes we say they are "the righteous", meaning "righteous people". Look after Psalm 5 in Book 1 of the Psalms of David for more about the word "righteous".
covenant ~ two people have agreed what each should do (here, God and his people). Look in Psalm 120 about the covenant.'Old Testament ~ the first part of the Bible, which the writers wrote before the life of Jesus; the holy things that the writers wrote before Christ’s birth.
holy ~ all good with no bad in it; separate from sin; very, very good; only God is really holy. The land where he lives with his people is also holy. This is because he is there.
sin ~ not obeying God; or what you do when you do not obey God.'New Testament ~ the last part of the Bible, which the writers wrote after the life of Jesus. It is about the things that Jesus did and taught. It is also about what Christians believe and do.
bless ~ say good things, or do good things, to someone.
blessed ~ someone that God has said or done good things to.
heart ~ (in Hebrew poems), "heart" means "mind", the part of us that thinks.
heart ~ part of the body. Jews believed that you thought in your heart.
poem ~ using words in a special (often very beautiful) way.
Jew ~ a person who is born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children; a person who has the faith of the Jews, called Judaism.
faith ~ belief in someone or something; in the Psalms, belief in God.