The Stone the Builders Rejected
1 Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever. 2 Let Israel now say that his loving kindness endures forever. 3 Let the house of Aaron now say that his loving kindness endures forever. 4 Now let those who fear Yahweh say that his loving kindness endures forever. 5 Out of my distress, I called on Yah. Yah answered me with freedom. 6 Yahweh is on my side. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? 7 Yahweh is on my side among those who help me. Therefore I will look in triumph at those who hate me. 8 It is better to take refuge in Yahweh, than to put confidence in man. 9 It is better to take refuge in Yahweh, than to put confidence in princes. 10 All the nations surrounded me, but in Yahweh’s name I cut them off. 11 They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me. In Yahweh’s name I indeed cut them off. 12 They surrounded me like bees. They are quenched like the burning thorns. In Yahweh’s name I cut them off. 13 You pushed me back hard, to make me fall, but Yahweh helped me. 14 Yah is my strength and song. He has become my salvation. 15 The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous. “The right hand of Yahweh does valiantly. 16 The right hand of Yahweh is exalted! The right hand of Yahweh does valiantly!” 17 I will not die, but live, and declare Yah’s works. 18 Yah has punished me severely, but he has not given me over to death. 19 Open to me the gates of righteousness. I will enter into them. I will give thanks to Yah. 20 This is the gate of Yahweh; the righteous will enter into it. 21 I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me, and have become my salvation. 22 The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 23 This is Yahweh’s doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day that Yahweh has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it! 25 Save us now, we beg you, Yahweh! Yahweh, we beg you, send prosperity now. 26 Blessed is he who comes in Yahweh’s name! We have blessed you out of Yahweh’s house. 27 Yahweh is God, and he has given us light. Bind the sacrifice with cords, even to the horns of the altar. 28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you. You are my God, I will exalt you. 29 Oh give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.
The last psalm sung at Passover, and its rejected stone and its blessing on the one who comes are both quoted at the entry into Jerusalem.
Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.
The closing psalm of the Passover group, sung after the meal — which means these are among the last words Jesus sang before Gethsemane.
The opening line is answered antiphonally by three groups, exactly as in the hundred and fifteenth psalm: Israel, the house of Aaron, and those who fear Yahweh Psalms 118:2–4.
Out of my distress, I called on Yah. Yah answered me with freedom.
The word is a large place — the answer to constriction is space.
Yahweh is on my side. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
The letter to the Hebrews quotes it to people facing loss of property Hebrews 13:6.
8 It is better to take refuge in Yahweh, than to put confidence in man. 9 It is better to take refuge in Yahweh, than to put confidence in princes.
They surrounded me like bees. They are quenched like the burning thorns. In Yahweh’s name I cut them off.
Bees swarm and sting and cannot be fought; burning thorns flare loudly and are out in seconds. The two images are put together to say that the panic and the actual threat were different sizes.
17 I will not die, but live, and declare Yah’s works. 18 Yah has punished me severely, but he has not given me over to death.
The discipline is admitted in the same breath as the deliverance, and neither cancels the other.
22 The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 23 This is Yahweh’s doing. It is marvelous in our eyes.
Jesus quotes this at the end of the parable of the tenants, to the chief priests, and asks whether they have never read it Matthew 21:42. Peter quotes it to the same council Acts 4:11, and again in his letter 1 Peter 2:7. The builders are the people whose job was to know which stones were good.
This is the day that Yahweh has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it!
Save us now, we beg you, Yahweh! Psalms 118:25. The Hebrew is hosanna.
Blessed is he who comes in Yahweh’s name! We have blessed you out of Yahweh’s house.
These two verses are what the crowd shouted as Jesus rode into Jerusalem Matthew 21:9 — a plea for rescue and a blessing on an arrival, taken from the psalm they had sung at every Passover of their lives.
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