PSALMS LESSON 120
We will begin this lesson by giving the 118th Psalm in metre.
THE PSALMS OF DAVID IN METRE
Chapter 118
Verse 1 "The Lord is good; O bless his name; His mercy ever is the
same, And let the house of Isr'el say, His tender mercy lasts
for aye.
Verse 2 "Let Aaron's house this truth declare, Jehovah's mercies
endless are. Let all that fear the Lord proclaim, His mercy
ever is the same.
Verse 3 "I called on God in time of grief; He heard my prayer, and
sent relief. The Lord to rescue me is near; What man can do I
will not fear.
Verse 4 "The Lord doth take my part with those Who give me help
against my foes; I my desire shall therefore see On those who
hatred bear to me.
Verse 5 "Better to trust the Lord Most High, Than on the help of men
rely. Better to trust Jehovah's grace, Than confidence in
princes place.
Verse 6 "The nations all around me came; I'll them destroy in God's
great name. They gathered, and around me came; I'll cut them
off in God's great name.
Verse 7 "Like bees they swarm in fiercest ire, They shall be quenched
like thorns on fire. In God's great name I shall prevail, And
those destroy who me assail.
Verse 8 "Thou hast thrust sore at me to slay, But God has been my help
and stay. My strength and song is God the Lord; To me he
safety doth afford.
Verse 9 "The voice of joy and saving grace Is in the just man's
dwelling place; The right hand of the Lord above In mighty
deeds, doth valiant prove.
Verse 10 "The Lord's right hand is lifted high, The Lord's right hand
doth valiantly. I shall not die, but live, and praise
Jehovah's gracious works and ways.
Verse 11 "Jehovah hath me chastened sore, But unto death did not give
o'er Unfold the gates of righteousness, I'll enter in the
Lord to bless.
Verse 12 "This gate doth to the Lord belong, And hither shall the
righteous throng. I will thee praise, for thou hast heard,
And hast become my Saviour, Lord.
Verse 13 "The stone which builders did disown Is now become chief
corner-stone. This from Jehovah doth arise, And it is
wondrous in our eyes.
Verse 14 "This day God made; with cheerful voice In it we'll triumph
and rejoice, Save now, O Lord we plead with thee; Lord, send
us now prosperity.
Verse 15 "Him ever blest do we proclaim, Who cometh in Jehovah's name;
We from the place of his abode Have blest you in the name of
God."
Verse 16 "Jehovah is the God of might; And he to us hath given light.
Bring to the altar's horns, and bind The sacrifice with cords
confined.
Verse 17 "My God thou art; thee will I laud; I will exalt thee, O my
God. The Lord is good; O praise his name; His mercy ever is
the same.
We will now begin the verse by verse study of the 118th Psalm.
Psalms 118:1 "O give thanks unto the LORD; for [he is] good: because
his mercy [endureth] for ever."
Some believe this whole chapter of Psalms to be a song of praise
to be sung in the temple when it was built. We see a reference to that
very thing, here in Ezra. Ezra 3:10 "And when the builders laid the
foundation of the temple of the LORD, they set the priests in their
apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals,
to praise the LORD, after the ordinance of David king of Israel." Ezra
3:11 "And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks
unto the LORD; because [he is] good, for his mercy [endureth] for ever
toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when
they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD
was laid." I personally, believe this to, also, be a prophetic
Scripture of the Lord Jesus Christ the Chief Cornerstone.
Psalms 118:2 "Let Israel now say, that his mercy [endureth] for
ever."
This, also, can be two-fold. The physical house of Israel would
certainly be able to say that His mercy endureth forever. They were
able to build the temple. Spiritual Israel {Christians} could shout
this even more, because the mercy of Jesus Christ is sufficient to
save thousands and even millions of people for all generations. It is
His great mercy that saves them, if they believe.
Psalms 118:3 "Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy
[endureth] for ever."
This verse has to do with the physical house, because Aaron had
been high priest. The earthly priesthood would have to do with the
earthly sanctuary or temple.
Psalms 118:4 "Let them now that fear the LORD say, that his mercy
[endureth] for ever."
This verse reaches much further than just the Hebrews. This is
for all who fear Him. This includes the Christians. One reason to fear
Him, is because we are not worthy to be saved. He saved us, because of
His mercy toward us, not because of anything we did for Him.
Psalms 118:5 "I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD
answered me, [and set me] in a large place."
To pray in distress, would mean that this was a sincere prayer of
the heart. We have spoken before of how this type prayer gets to the
heart of God. The LORD takes him from the closed in place that he was
in and freed him. This could have been a physical, or a spiritual,
prison that he had been closed up in.
Psalms 118:6 The LORD [is] on my side; I will not fear: what can
man do unto me?
Notice the act of the psalmist's will, in stating, I will not
fear. This is very similar to the statement, Let not your heart be
troubled. In many instances throughout the Bible, we are told to fear
not. It is within our ability to fear, but it is not in our best
interest. Those who put their trust in the LORD, should not fear.
Fear, in a case like that, would be to say that we can not trust God.
We must determine in our heart to trust God and not to fear. If God be
for us, who can be against us? Man is no match for God. If God is
fighting our battles for us, man can do us no harm. There is no reason
to fear. Faith is the opposite of fear. Have faith!
Psalms 118:7 "The LORD taketh my part with them that help me:
therefore shall I see [my desire] upon them that hate me."
The Lord said vengeance is mine. We are not to take vengeance
ourselves. We are to let the Lord handle the problem. Those who offend
the chosen of the Lord shall not prosper.
Psalms 118:8 "[It is] better to trust in the LORD than to put
confidence in man."
If you place your confidence in man, he will let you down. The
LORD will never let you down.
Psalms 118:9 "[It is] better to trust in the LORD than to put
confidence in princes."
Even a prince is a man. They can not really be trusted any more
than just an average man. Man, in his weakness, will disappoint you,
because he is flesh. God will never let you down. Even though a
prince, or anyone else who is in authority, is looked up to in the
flesh, they many times have even more temptations, and may even
succumb to some of them.
Psalms 118:10 "All nations compassed me about: but in the name of
the LORD will I destroy them."
I believe the psalmist here to be David. We do know that he had
trouble with the countries around him. We, also, know that God was
with him in battle. He is very aware, that with the help of God, he
can destroy these nations coming against him.
Psalms 118:11 "They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me
about: but in the name of the LORD I will destroy them."
David had discovered when he was just a lad fighting Goliath,
that his power in battle was the name of the LORD. We would do well to
remember the very same thing, when the enemy surrounds us. We can not
fail, if we do battle in the name of the LORD.
Psalms 118:12 "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."
Perhaps, the statement about the bees means that they were
buzzing around David on every side. A thorn will pierce the skin, but
it seems, here, that they were quenched before they even wounded David
or his men. He says, again, that the power is in the name of the LORD.
Psalms 118:13 "Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall: but
the LORD helped me."
The enemies did attack David {thrust sore at me}, but they did
not defeat David. If we were to look at this to get us a message for
today, we would realize that the devil is like a roaring lion seeking
whom he may destroy. We have the same help that David had here. We
must use the name of the Lord. The 6th chapter of Ephesians gives us a
few suggestions on how to fight this battle. Ephesians 6:10 "Finally,
my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might."
Ephesians 6:13 "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that
ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to
stand." Ephesians 6:14 "Stand therefore, having your loins girt about
with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;" Ephesians
6:15 "And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;"
Ephesians 6:16 "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye
shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." Ephesians
6:17 "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God:"
Questions 120
1. O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is ______.
2. Where, in the Bible, is the Scriptures that make us think this
Psalm is written to be sung at the opening of the temple?
3. What does the author believe about this Psalm?
4. How could verse 2 apply to Christians?
5. Who does the house of Aaron represent, and why?
6. Why did Jesus save us?
7. What is meant by the large place in verse 5?
8. What two words show the Psalmist determined not to fear, in verse
6?
9. If we fear, what are we saying about God?
10. What is the opposite of fear?
11. Those who offend the chosen of God, will not ________.
12. It is better to ______ __ ____ ______ than to put confidence in
man.
13. What happens, if you put your confidence in man?
14. Even a prince is a ___.
15. Even though nations compassed him about, he put his confidence in
what?
16. When had David learned that God would help him in battle?
17. They compassed me about like ______.
18. What does the statement {thrust sore at me} mean?
19. Today, what is the devil like?
20. What are we to use against the devil?
21. Describe our armour.
22. What are our loins to be girt around with?
23. What is the breastplate?
24. How are our feet shod?
25. What is the sword of the spirit?
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