Psalm 118
The first time I read this psalm properly was quite a few
years after I accepted Jesus. I was just going through the motions, wondering
what the point of all of it was. Life, purpose, suffering… Why suffer at all?
It hit me like a rock, this psalm. It talked to me, like nothing or no one ever
had. It understood what I was feeling. Like a friend, David told me what he had
done in a similar situation. Since then, it’s my ‘go-to’ buddy. Every time I
desperately need God to reassure and put me back on track no matter what my
circumstance is, I fall at its feet; I cry out for it. So I’d like to share it
with you, it may help you too.
Oh give thanks to
the Lord, for he is good;
For his steadfast
love endures forever!
Let Israel say,
“his steadfast love endures forever.”
Let the house of
Aaron say, “his steadfast love endures forever.”
Let those who fear
the Lord say, “his steadfast love endures forever.”
What stands out for me in this passage is the word: endures.
His love endures forever. Its not a simple
‘I’ll love you forever’ but rather an understanding of our nature to run away.
The song ‘Come thou fount of every blessing’ puts it best when it says: ‘Prone
to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.” But carries on to
say: ‘Take my heart, O take and seal it, Seal it for thy courts above.’ God
knows it, he understands. And so his love will endure. Whatever comes, how ever
far you run, his love for you will endure it. He’ll keep knocking on your door,
persistently carrying you out of trenches you fell in or that you made for
yourself, because he can’t help himself. His love endures! And that is
ultimately the love story of our existence. A constant pursuance of pure,
genuine, altruistic love. He showed that by giving his life for us. 1 Corinthians
13: 7 says- “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” So whatever you
think is too grievous for Gods love to encompass, its simply not.
Out of my distress
I called on the Lord;
The Lord answered
me and set me free.
I don’t know about you, but when I first read this I
thought to myself; its not that easy!
It cant be that easy.. but that’s
just what I did. I called out to God, begging for an answer. And I got it from
the next verse.
The Lord is on my
side; I will not fear.
What can man do to
me?
I achieved a smile on my face. Most problems we go
through are people related; either they don’t talk to you, talk badly to you/
of you, instill fear/ physically assault you, betray your trust, make you feel
that you’re not worth anything. In my experience, everyone has the capacity to
do that, be it family or your best friend. There’s a small activity I like to
do when faced with a problem; to ask myself what’s the worst that can happen? This
verse makes you ask just that. And the answer is a resounding: not much. What
can man do to you? When you have God on your side with a truck load of promises
and plans to keep you safe, who is man to say any better? When you hit rock
bottom, and you look around realizing there’s no one/ nothing to hold on to;
you finally understand and get reminded of the person that’s been there with
you from the start, and he never left. So, forget man who’s simply made of
dust; and look at your creator. Man will constantly disappoint you. We’re quite
incompetent that way. So instead of looking towards them for a constant flow of
joy, peace and love; verse 8 onwards reads:
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.
“Friends of the earth may let you down but Jesus never
fails!”- Is a song we sang at an EU camp; and how true it is. He’s never failed
me. I have failed, definitely; multiple times. But he’s never failed me.
All nations
surrounded me;
In the name of the
Lord I cut them off!
They surrounded me,
surrounded me on every side;
In the name of the
Lord I cut them off!
They surrounded me
like bees;
They went out like
a fire among thorns;
In the name of the
Lord I cut them off!
You can feel the intensity building in this passage.
David must’ve been going through so much; enemies on all sides wanting to kill
him. Is there a more fathomable justification to surrender? Thank goodness most
of us reading this aren’t and hopefully won’t be in that position. But
sometimes you can feel like just that in a social situation- like you’re at the
bottom of a well and surrounded with people who despise and torment you. You
feel ‘life’ is against you and theres no escape; you’re suffocating. Here I’ll
bring in a verse from psalm 23: 4 which reads: “Even though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your
rod and your staff, they comfort me.” David survived and he lived to tell his story;
now that we’ve established that God is with us no matter what, we’ve got to
remind ourselves this especially when we’re in the battlefield. And God’s never
lost a battle!
I was pushed hard,
so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me.
You will be pushed hard, You will fall. But, the Lord
will help you.
The Lord is my
strength and my song;
He has become my
salvation.
Glad songs of
salvation are in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of
the Lord does valiantly,
The right hand of
the Lord exalts,
The right hand of
the Lord does valiantly!”
I shall not die,
but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord.
This was it for me, my search was over. I will be brave
and admit that the fleeting thought of ‘what is the point of living’ has crossed
my mind, and perhaps it has crossed yours too. But after reading the above
statement, it never dared to enter my mind again. This was all the purpose I
ever needed; it’s a clear commitment. No metaphors here. It’s a testimony from
David, and we’re free to adopt it. If we can make it through life doing only
this, I think we and the people around us would be quite happy.
The Lord has
disciplined me severely,
But he has not
given me over to death.
If God has to make the best version of yourself during
this life on earth, where you would be truly happy and content with so much to
give, he will discipline you. We may mistake it for something else and may feel
it’s beyond us. But the verse resonates with 1 Corinthians 10:13 which says: He
will not let you be tempted more than you can bear. That’s like a school
teacher telling us our syllabus at the beginning of the new year. You will
overcome it.
The next couple of verses are a thanks to God. Cause once
David (and I) realized this, of course he wanted to give thanks!
Open to me the
gates of righteousness,
that I may enter
through them and give thanks to the Lord
I thank you that
you have answered me and have become my salvation.
The stone that the
builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
Like all of us, I think God loves the story of an
underdog. A person who against all odds and challenges is victorious at the
end. Which is why 2 Corinthians 12:10 says: For when I am weak, then I am
strong.
The last two verses read:
You are my God, and
I will give thanks to you;
You are my God; I
will extol you.
Oh give thanks to
the Lord, for he is good;
For his steadfast
love endures forever!
‘Nuff said!
Psalm 34:8 “Oh taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”
