SERMON OUTLINE:
Background:
author & setting unknown
part of the Egyptian ‘hallel’
theme is found in verse 6
it is a very repetitious Psalm
it was used in a procession
Outline:
collective praise (vs 1-4)
personal salvation (vs 5-7)
national salvation (vs 8-26)
collective praise (vs 27-29)
Prophetic Meaning:
salvation (vs 25-26)
resurrection (vs 22-24)
SERMON TEXT:
Quote:
• A university student was seen with a large “K” printed on his T-shirt.
• When someone asked him what the “K” stood for, he said, “Confused.”
• “But,” the questioner replied, “you don’t spell “confused” with a “K.”
• The student answered, “You don’t know how confused I am.”
In many ways Psalm 118 is a confusing Psalm;
• The structure of this Psalm is complex and not very obvious:
• As we look at it you will notice that it does not fit into a nice neat outline.
(A). Background to the Psalm:
(1). Unknown writer and setting.
• We are not sure who wrote it,
• Or exactly what the background setting was when it was written.
• That is of course true about various parts of the Bible:
• Quote: “Many writers only ever one author – God himself!”
• Now not knowing who the human author was;
• Is a hindrance to interpreting the events that this psalm describes.
• i.e. We can’t pinpoint a place or experience that the writer was going though.
As you read this Psalm it is a strange mix:
• It seems to require different readers at different points,
• It moves from the singular, the individual;
• To plural, to collective elements.
• Its content is also mixed,
• Using imagery from both a battle and the temple.
• The easiest thing to say about this psalm is:
• It is connected to a time when God had given victory to his people.
(2). It is a HALLEL PSALM.
• Six of the Psalms (numbers 113 to 118):
• Form what is called the Egyptian Hallel,
• These six psalms are called this;
• Because they celebrate the Children of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt.
• And these six psalms were sung collectively at the three great Jewish feasts,
• Passover, Pentecost, and Booths or Tabernacles.
• This Psalm is very likely the hymn Jesus song after he instituted the Lord’s supper.
• Matthew 26:30: "When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives ".
• We are used to reading that Jesus preached and taught or served or prayed;
• But this is the only time in the gospel records where we find Jesus singing.
(3). THE THEME OF THE PSALM IS FOUND IN Vs 6:
“The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?”
• Unlike the Psalmist we might read that verse and think;
• ‘What can man do to me?’ Answer: A lot!"
• e.g. People can oppose, slander, hurt, hate, maim, murder us etc.
• Evil people can do evil things!
• But the point that the psalmist is making is in the end,
• They cannot really harm us because our lives are preserved by God and in God.
Ill:
• An American tourist’s visit to the 19th century Polish rabbi, Hofetz Chaim:
• Astonished to see that the rabbi’s home was only a simple room;
• All it contained was a few books, a table and a bench,
• The tourist asked: “Rabbi, where is your furniture?”
• “Where is yours?” replied the rabbi.
• “Mine?” asked the puzzled American tourist.
• “But I’m a visitor here. I’m only passing through.”
• The Rabbi replied:
• “So am I, so am I!”
I believe that is what the Psalmist is saying in verse 6:
• The enemy cannot really harm us;
• Short term they may kill the body but they cannot destroy the eternal soul.
• Because our lives and our future is in God.
(4), THE PSALM USES A LOT OF REPETITION:
• Quote: Repetition is a good teacher.
• Ill: last week at the Holiday Club at each quiz I asked the same questions.
• The reason being - repetition is a good teacher.
• The object of a quiz is not to catch out the children but to teach;
• To reinforce the teaching they have received the day before etc.
• So it is always good to review and revisit what we have previously learnt.
Notice: The use of repetition is quite notable throughout this psalm.
• e.g. The opening and closing verses are identical.
• e.g. The same refrain "His love endures forever", also appears in verses 2, 3, and 4.
• e.g. Verses 6 and 7 both start the same way.
• e.g. Verses 8 and 9 are almost identical. Except for the last few words.
• e.g. Verses 10, 11, 12 contain the phrase "They surround".
• e.g. As well as the words "I cut them off’”.
• e.g. Verses 15 & 16 the expression "the right hand of the LORD" is used three times.
• e.g. Verses 19 & 20 repeat the words "gate" and "righteous".
• e.g. And ,there is a threefold invitation to reflect God’s mercy.
• e.g. And the expression; "His love ("Mercy") endures forever". Occurs five times.
Ill:
Repetition is a good teacher.
• There is the story told of the visiting preacher;
• Who visited a Church and preached a particular message.
• A few weeks later he was booked to visit that Church again;
• And he stood in the pulpit and preached exactly the same message.
• Well the congregation were too polite to say anything;
• So they all shook the preachers hand and looked forward to his next visit.
• A few weeks passed and once again he was booked to preach at that Church again;
• And to everyone’s amazement for a third time he preached exactly the same message.
• At the end of the meeting one of the Church leaders took him aside and said;
• “Thank you for coming, we always enjoy your ministry etc,
• But you have preached that same message now on your last three visits”.
• The visiting preacher replied:
• “Yes I know! And I will preach it another three times until you start applying it!”
(5). Procession (Verse 27):
“The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us.
With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar”.
• I mentioned earlier that this Psalm is a strange mix:
• It seems to require different readers at different points,
• It moves from the singular, the individual;
• To plural, to collective elements.
• The hymn was probably sung in procession by king, priests and people:
• As they approached the temple.
Ill:
• Just like we saw in the DVD clip;
• The people on this occasion got palm leaves and waved them in celebration.
(6). Trivia fact: Middle verse of the Bible:
• There are 30,442 verses in the complete Bible.
• O.T. contains 22,485 and N.T. 7,957
• Verses 8-9 are the middle verse of the entire Bible;
• Which gives them a novelty value.
• Ill: Verse & chapter divisions are not inspired, verse divisions;
• Were introduced by Rabbi Isaac Nathan (O.T. 1440) & Robert Estienne (N.T. 1551)
Verse 8-9:
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in man.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in princes.
• The verse does not say it is not bad or wrong to trust people,
• The verse is emphasizing the fact, it is just better to trust the Lord:
• Because people fail, even our loved ones at times let us down.
• Governments wane - but God never fails!
(B). An outline to the Psalm:
(1). Collective Praise (1-4):
• The opening and closing verses of this psalm;
• Are an invitation to three groups of people to come and to praise God.
• Three groups of people mentioned are:
• Verse 2: ’Israel" the people of God.
• Verse 3: ’The House of Aaron’, they are the priests.
• Verse 4: ’Those who fear the Lord’.
• They would be Gentiles – those who are seekers of truth;
• Proselytes, converts to Judaism.
• Three groups of people mentioned and told to give thanks:
• The reason we should give thanks and praise him,
• Is the love of God, which is eternal, it is ongoing, it is everlasting!
• “His love endures forever”.
Ill:
• Oliver Cromwell, who ruled England during the seventeenth century,
• Once decreed that a certain young man should be executed at the ringing of curfew.
• The young man’s fiancée pleaded with Cromwell for his life;
• But Cromwell would not change his mind.
• “The young man you love will die at the ringing of curfew,” he declared.
• That night the old and completely deaf bell-ringer;
• Went up to the church that night to ring the curfew as was normal.
• Unknown to him, the young lady who loved the condemned man;
• Had climbed up inside the great bell and was hanging on for dear life to the clapper.
• So every time the deaf sexton pulled the bell rope,
• He assumed it was ringing loud and clear,
• He was unaware that the woman’s body was hitting against one side of the bell;
• And then the other; preventing a note being struck.
• When the sexton finished what he thought was the ringing of curfew,
• The girl made her way down, battered, bloody, and bruised.
• As she came stumbling down the hill,
• Oliver Cromwell was already on his way up to see why the curfew had not rung.
• Suddenly he saw her and realized what she had done.
• Looking her in the eyes, he said, “Curfew shall not ring tonight.”
• Love had conquered disaster and won the day!
• God’s people were to give thanks for an even greater love,
• An everlasting love,
• That endures for ever and ever and ever and ever and………
(C). A song of deliverance (verses 5-21):
• We are not going into this whole section in any detail;
• Time will not permit and I certainly couldn’t explain it all.
• There are however two situations that are easy to understand.
• Two situations where the psalmist is delivered, and experiences God’s salvation.
(A). PERSONAL SALVATION (VERSES 5-7):
“In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered by setting me free.
The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
The LORD is with me; he is my helper.
I will look in triumph on my enemies.”
Ill:
The Pit Poem (or DVD Clip from sermonspice.com)
(B). NATIONAL SALVATION (VERSES 8-21):
• A second word of testimony is now given,
• But notice that this time the language has changed;
• It has shifted from the personnel to national.
• The Psalmist is now speaking in the first person,
• For the entire nation.
“All the nations surrounded me,
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
11 They surrounded me on every side,
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
12 They swarmed around me like bees,
but they died out as quickly as burning thorns;
in the name of the LORD I cut them off.”
• The terms he uses suggest some military situation,
• Probably being besieged by opposing armies (see verses 10-12).
Out of that dangerous and hazardous position he was delivered:
• And therefore he can declare that because the Lord is with him,
• His fear is banished.
• With a song of victory on their lips;
• In verses 15-16 the congregation respond again.
“Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous:
"The LORD’S right hand has done mighty things!
16 The LORD’S right hand is lifted high;
the LORD’S right hand has done mighty things!"
Notice:
• These verses make three powerful statements about God,
• And about our right relationship to him.
(a). THE LORD IS GOD (VS 27).
“The LORD is God,
and he has made his light shine on us”.
• This verse is a reminder that the great issue of religion is not; ‘Is there a god?’
• But rather, WHO is the true God?
• And in this verse the psalmist declares that Jehovah is the true God,
• And that he has revealed this to us by making his light shine on us.
Ill:
• A businessman decided to avoid a £40 service charge;
• By replacing a fluorescent light in his office all by himself.
• He had to smuggle a new light into his office and then put it in place,
• His plan went surprisingly well!
• But he had the problem of the old fluorescent light tube.
• He managed to sneak it out of his office and carried it onto the tube he was taking home.
• As he stood on the crowded tube with his seven-foot light bulb vertically next to him;
• He noticed as the train became more crowded other passengers,
• They took hold of the tube, assuming it was a stanchion.
• By the time the man reached his stop,
• He simply removed his hand and exited the car,
• Leaving the other passengers gripping the fluorescent tube!
Question:
• More seriously – has God’s light shone on you?
• Jesus said: “I am the light for the world”.
(b). YOU. ARE MY GOD (VS 28).
• Notice this God spoken of in this psalm is not a distant deity;
• He is the psalmist’s own personal God,
• Not merely the God of the nation;
• Or the God of his forefathers, or the God of tradition.
• But his God.
• A God who is great and mighty and unique,
• But a God who is willing to be involved in his and the nations affairs.
• Quote: the great reformer Martin Luther:
• “Enjoy the personal pronouns of the Bible”.
(c). THE; LORD IS GOOD (VS 29).
• In this verse the psalmist calls on the people among whom he is bearing witness,
• To thank God because this true God "is good."
• The psalm began and now ends with these words, "The Lord is good".
• The writer probably always new that theoretically;
• But now he knew it by experience as well;
• Practically, God had been good to him:
Ill:
• He had been oppressed,
• But God had freed him from his oppression.
• He had been attacked, but God had delivered him from his enemies.
• He had been about to fall, but God had raised him up,
Jesus in the Psalm:
• During the last three or four days before going to the cross:
• The mind of Jesus would have dwelled on this psalm.
• This Psalm is almost certainly;
• The very likely the hymn Jesus song after he instituted the Lord’s supper.
• Matthew 26:30:
• "When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives ".
• As Jesus prepared himself to face the cross and the surrounding events,
• He found comfort and encouragement in these words.
There are two things to note.
(1). Salvation (verses 25-26)
“O LORD, save us;
LORD, grant us success.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD.”
• ‘O LORD, save us’ or ‘Ho Shana’ or ‘Hosanna’;
• This is much more than a heavenly ‘hello’.
• It was a demand for freedom.
• These are the very words the crowd shouted to Jesus,
• As he entered Jerusalem on that very first Palm Sunday.
• All four gospel writers quote one or both of these verses,
• In their accounts of the triumphant entry.
Ill:
Matthew 21 verse 9: The people exclaimed
"The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"" "Hosanna in the highest!"
• "Save us we pray" is the Hebrew word "Hosanna",
• A one word prayer.
• This prayer is a recognition that the Lord can save;
• And that the Lord will save.
• By crying out "Hosanna" the people recognise their own need for salvation;
• And are inviting God to show his presence by delivering them.
Ill:
• There is a Russian fable about a master and a servant who went on a journey to a city.
• Before the two men could reach the destination they were caught in a blinding blizzard.
• They lost their direction and were unable to reach the city before nightfall.
• The next morning concerned friends went searching for the two men.
• They finally found the master, frozen to death, face down in the snow.
• When they lifted him they found the servant -- cold but alive.
• He survived & told how the master had voluntarily placed himself on top of the servant;
• So the servant could live.”
• He was willing to surrender up his life;
• So that his servant might live!
• In similar fashion God’s Messiah would lay down his life;
• So that those who did not deserve it, could live!
Now remember that Psalm 118 is part of the Egyptian Hallel:
• That the Hallel was songs the Jews sang at the time of Passover,
• And it was Passover when Jesus entered and later died at Golgotha.
• Jesus entered Jerusalem on the day that the Lambs were being taken into the;
• Jewish homes in preparation for the sacrifice.
Sadly the people that day didn’t fully appreciate the fuller picture:
• Jesus had come "In the name of the Lord".
• In other words he had come to do "His Father’s will".
• He had literally come to "Save his people".
• But not save them from the Roman oppressors, but from sin, death & the evil one.
(2). Resurrection (Verses 22-24)
"The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone;
the LORD has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes.
This is the day the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in"
A ’capstone’ or ’cornerstone’ is a term used for an important stone in a building’s design.
• It is a term which could be used for a stone at the top or bottom of a building,
• But is always used of a vital stone which gives a building its strength and stability.
• It could therefore be used of a stone which completes and supports an arch-like structure,
• Or a foundation cornerstone which would hold together rows of stones.
Note:
• These verses are quoted six times in the New Testament:
• 1 Peter 2:6-7; Matthew 22:42; Mark 12:10;
• Luke 20:17; Acts 4:10-11, Eph 2:20.
Ill:
Jesus himself quoted these verses in Matthew 21 verses 42 in reference to himself:
• Jesus told a parable about the owner of a vineyard,
• Who rented a field out to some farmers.
• They were to care for it, harvest the grapes, and when the time came,
• They would give the owner of the vineyard his share of the profit,
• When that time came and to grapes had all been harvested,
• The owner sent servants to collect his profit.
• But the tenants beat, stoned and killed the servants,
• Finally the owner sent his own son, thinking they will respect him.
• Instead they killed the son,
• Hoping to gain the land for themselves.
• Jesus then asked the chief priests and elders to whom he was telling the story,
• "When the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants? "
They answered:
"He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, " they replied, "and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time. "
• This was the right answer of course,
• Jesus then applied the parable by quoting Psalm 118 vs 22-23:
Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures:
" ’The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone;
the Lord has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes’ ?
43 "Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed"
The chapter ends by noting:
"When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables,
they knew he was talking about them. .
There is no doubt how Jesus understood the parable:
• God the Father was the owner.
• The leaders of Israel were the evil tenant farmers.
• The servants were the prophets,
• And Jesus himself was the Son who they killed.
• Therefore Jesus is the stone rejected,
• He is the Son of the Father who was killed,
• Who has been resurrected and has become the chief stone.
• You and I, the Church are the new tenants.
• And one day Jesus will return to judge both the living and the dead.
In the Old Testament the term is used for a human figure:
• Who will bring stability, justice and salvation .
• (see Isaiah chapter 28 verse 16; Zechariah chapter 10 verse 4).
• It is this use which is assumed in the New Testament .
• Where Jesus’ role in the church as her foundation and glory is explored
Ill:
• A Police sergeant with a class of cadets asked;
• “Imagine you are on duty when two cars smash into each other.
• You are just about to go to their aid when you notice an articulated lorry;
• Heading down towards the blind corner where the accident occurred.
• Just then you hear a scream and see that the shock of the crash;
• Has sent a pregnant woman on the pavement into premature labour.
• Meanwhile, a fireball from one of the cars petrol tank;
• Is heading towards a crowded pub full of under-age drinkers. What do you do?
• One young cadet replied:
• “Sarge, I would slip off my uniform and merge with the crowd”.
Listen:
• The choice, the decision this afternoon is not that complicated!
• But it is as important as if those events were real!
• The choice we make regarding Jesus,
• Affects not just this life but the whole of eternity!
