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Psalm 118 reads as follows from the New Oxford Annotated Bible: O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, 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." Out of my distress I called upon the Lord: The Lord answered me and set me on a broad place, With the Lord at my side, I do not fear, what can mortals do to me? The Lord is on my side, to help me, I shall look in triumph upon those who hate me, it is better to take refuge in the Lord, than to put confidence in mortals, It is better to take refuge in the Lord, Than to put confidence in princes, All nations surrounded me, In the name of the Lord, I cut them off, They surrounded my like bees, They blazed like a fire of thorns, In the name of the Lord, I cut them off, I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me, The Lord is my strength and my might, He has become my salvation, There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous, The right hand of the Lord does valiantly, I shall not die, but live, And recount the deeds of the Lord, The Lord has punished me severely, But he has not given me over to death, Open to me the gates of righteousness, That I may enter through them, And give thanks to the Lord, This is the gate of the Lord, The righteous shall enter through it, I thank you that you have answered me, and have become my salvation, the stone that the builders rejected, has become the cornerstone, this is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it, Save us, we beseech you, give us success, Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, We bless you from the house of the Lord, The Lord is God, and he has given us light, Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar, you are my God, and I will give thanks to you, you are my God, I will extol you. O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, For his steadfast love endures forever. This psalm has a post genesis creationist theme. Much of what this psalm is saying does emanate from verse 24, which is one of the most famous verses from the Bible and even in all of history saying, “ this is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." The context of the Lord having made the very day your in and everybody is in, is part of the continuation of genesis or the origin of all things. The author of this psalm is considered anonymous and we don’t know the particular exact circumstances in which it was written. This psalm has been quoted by Jesus in the gospels and that certainly carries authenticity. While the rejoicing is found within the day in this psalm, it is not really pointing to one day and just taking the day and being grateful for it and the ways in which the Lord fills the day with his presence. This is part of what is being said, but this rejoicing also coming from the belief that there is a procession towards a unfolding of the salvation of the Lord, as the very last verse of the psalm, psalm 29 says, O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Verse 21 stresses, “I thank you that you have answered me, and you have become my salvation." The Lord has created salvation for the psalmist, a new genesis as he states, “You have become my salvation". The first 4 verses of this psalm, recant that," His steadfast love endures forever and in this context, the rejoicing is onward towards a salvation which is believed as being forever. That there is a creationist mode to this is implied where it does say," this is the day the Lord has made.’ This very day is of the Lord’s creation as well as what is becoming ultimate salvation which the psalmist believes is what the procession is moving towards and there is a certainty about this that can be the subject of rejoicing in this very day. The psalm can also be interpreted that the psalmist and those with them already believe they are in possession of ultimate salvation and therefore they can rejoice to the fullest in this very day. In human terms, even if you are having the greatest day of your life, you know that things can turn and even your own meandering spirit can potentially falter somewhere further down the road. There is rejoicing in this day because of God’s overall creation, he made us, he made the day, and he is making our way to salvation which is forever. All this is brought into the present, which is experienced as, “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." Verses 25 through 28 say, “Save us, we beseech you, O Lord! O Lord, we beseech you, give us success, Blessed is the one, who comes in the name of the Lord, We bless you from the house of the Lord, The Lord is God, and he has given us light, Bind the festal procession with branches, Up to the horns of the alter, You are my God, I will extol you" The Lord has given them his light, a green light to proceed. The road to salvation is lit by the Lord himself. And this whole psalm is about being festive in the present about the ever abiding love of the Lord coming through creation and seen in creation and manifest to them personally both in this very day and in there hopes for salvation which they believe they already have. In the context of this psalm, it would seem that salvation is something that is not earned. If it was earned, then in this very day, the rejoicing would be somewhat muted, as more work would need to be done to earn your way to salvation. The fuller rejoicing in the very present day, is indicative that there isn’t a further question of earning salvation to the forever presence of the Lord, that the celebration can begin now. Whether this is a definitive interpretation of this psalm is somewhat uncertain, but if salvation is not at hand, then the rejoicing in the day can only be partial. Whether a given individual will even get another day is subject to question and then how could salvation be earned in the days ahead if there isn’t going to be a next day for a given individual? From what the psalmist is writing in this psalm, it seems that salvation is at hand in this very day that the Lord has made. The Lord has created the day and has also provided the light to salvation, a light which is seen in this very day. The Lord is both making their way in this day and towards the ultimate salvation. The procession is alluded to again in verses 19 and 20 where it says," Open the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them, and give thanks to the Lord, this is the gate of the Lord, the righteous shall enter through it." In the context of this psalm, these verses may not only be in reference to temporal matters and they are probably referring to a greater opening of the gates, to salvation. He says, I shall not die, but live. Here again these verses are alluding to life forever, and having the gates to this opened, and the psalmist calls them the gates of righteousness, and then just talks of the gate of the Lord, which is the way. New Testament gospel references speak of entering the narrow gate as contextual to salvation. In verse 6 the psalmist says," With the Lord at my side, I do not fear, What can mortals do to me? Those who have been against him, are mortals, while the immortal presence of the Lord is beside him, even now. He again speaks of the Lord at his side in verse 7, where he says he will look in triumph upon his enemies. The triumph is a symbol of the triumph of immortality over mortality. All nations he says, surrounded him like bees, and in the name of the Lord he cuts them off. This is more of a spiritual battle, where the name of the Lord and calling upon the Lord supersedes anything anyone could face. How much worse can it get than being surrounded by all the nations to where they blazed like a fire of thorns as this psalmist describes for the situation he was facing. Yet the presence of immortality and the name of the Lord is and always will be supreme over this or any problem. This problem of the psalmist was as extensive or far reaching as a problem could be, yet the problem was cut off in the name of the Lord. In prayer, we are speaking the supremacy of this name over all else. The victory described here, which presses on into immortality was earned only through the name of the Lord.
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