Psalms 118 KJV
Thanksgiving for Victory
About This Psalm
This is the day the LORD has made! The stone the builders rejected became the cornerstone. Jesus quoted this of Himself.
1 give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever.
2 Let Israel now say, that his mercy endureth for ever.
3 Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endureth for ever.
4 Let them now that fear the LORD say, that his mercy endureth for ever.
5 I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place.
6 The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?
7 The LORD taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me.
8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.
9 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.
10 All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD will I destroy them.
11 They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.
12 They compassed me about like bees; they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.
13 Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall: but the LORD helped me.
14 The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.
15 The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.
16 The right hand of the LORD is exalted: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.
17 I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.
18 The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD:
20 This gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter.
21 I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation.
22 The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.cf.
23 This is the LORDโs doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.cf.
24 This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.
26 Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.
27 God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.
28 Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee.
29 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
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Did You Know?
Psalm 118 forms the climax of the Egyptian Hallel (113-118) and was traditionally intoned by Levites at the Passover sacrifice while the altar was encircled, linking its victory thanksgiving directly to the exodus narrative reenacted each year.
Verses 19-20 describe entry through 'the gates of righteousness,' a phrase that Second Temple sources associate with the eastern gate of the Temple Mount, later called the Gate of Mercy, through which the Messiah was expected to enter.
The cornerstone saying in 118:22 is the only Old Testament text quoted in all four Gospels plus Acts and 1 Peter, each time applying the rejected stone to Jesus while preserving the psalm's original communal restoration theme.
Verse 17's declaration 'I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord' was cited by early Jewish martyrs and later by Reformers as a proof-text for faithful witness under persecution, reflecting the psalm's shift from individual to collective testimony.
The psalm's antiphonal structure alternates between singular and plural voices, suggesting a liturgical dialogue between a returning king or governor and the temple congregation, a pattern preserved in the KJV's punctuation that mirrors ancient responsive reading.
Commentary & Study Notes Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871) ยท Public Domain The trine repetitions are emphatic (compare Ps 118:10-12, 15, 16; 115:12, 13). Let... say โ Oh! that Israel may say. now โ as in Ps 115:2; so in Ps 118:3,
Classic verse-by-verse commentary on Psalms 118 from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (1871). Covers: After invoking others to unite in praise, the writer celebrates God's protecting and delivering care towards him, and then represents himself and the people of God as entering the sanctuary and uniting in solemn praise, with prayer for a continued blessing. Whether composed by David on his accession to power, or by some later writer in memory of the restoration from Babylon, its tone is joyful and trusting, and, in describing the fortune and destiny of the jewish church and its visible head, it is typically prophetical of the christian church and her greater and invisible head.
- 1-4
- The trine repetitions are emphatic (compare Ps 118:10-12, 15, 16; 115:12, 13). Let... say โ Oh! that Israel may say. now โ as in Ps 115:2; so in Ps 118:3,
- 4
- After "now say" supply "give thanks." that his mercy โ or, "for His mercy."
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