The Lord’s Doing Is Marvelous in Our Eyes in Psalm 118

“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!” Psalm 118:1

Christians should be marked by gratitude. God is good, and his unending love is inexhaustible. The psalmist calls on Israel, Aaron, and all those who fear God to repeat and rehearse that his steadfast love endures forever.

“Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” Psalm 118:5-6

It’s good to be on God’s side. In distress he hears and answers. He sustains. He is our helper. We are more than conquerors. Who should we fear when everything and everyone is subject to God? The wise person realizes that it is foolishness to trust in man or princes instead of trusting in God. Like pesky bees or thorns, other nations surround the psalmist. And yet, he trusts in the Lord. Pressed hard, he was aided by the Lord.

“The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.” Psalm 118:14

The psalmist proclaims confidence. Salvation is his in the Lord—his strength and song. In fact, he contends that all of the righteous sing glad songs of salvation because God has powerful hands. Those who are saved recount and rehearse the Lord’s good deeds.

“The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death.” Psalm 118:18

Our eternal lives are secure. The wise, however, receive difficult times of brokenness as discipline. The wise learn the lessons. The wise receive the instruction, even correction.

“God often lays his hand heavily upon us to remind us that we have a Father.” Theodore Cuyler, God’s Light on Dark Clouds

The wise receive the reprimand and cry out for the gates of righteousness to be opened so they might enter and give thanks to their God. The wise enter his gates and find that salvation is at hand.

“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:22-24

Fools reject the offer of eternal salvation. The very stone they reject is the cornerstone of our faith. Those who have eyes of faith realize this is a marvelous gift. Miraculous. Awe-inspiring. Worship is roused as those with eyes of faith express praise and gratitude with joyful hearts. Salvation is the free gift of God. The rejected stone is our foundation. Good times. Bad times.

“When suffering arrives unbidden in your life, and the bottom falls out, you will either have something solid to stand on—or not.” Matt Smethurst, Before You Open Your Bible

Blessing and honor are poured out by God’s people in his house because he is the marvelous cornerstone of our faith.

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord. The Lord is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us.” Psalm 118:26-27

Quoted in Matthew 21:9, this passage heralds the most marvelous gift our eyes have ever beheld. As Jesus was looked upon by the crowd, they shouted, “Blessed is he…Hosanna in the highest!”

Psalm 118 is replete with so many exclamations of the reasons for gratitude. He has come and his light is shining upon us, his people. Festive. Celebration. Grateful. Extol his name!

Celebrate the steadfast love of the Lord. Distress and fear may come—loss and brokenness are real and we exist in a fallen world. And yet, his steadfast love endures.

“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!” Psalm 118:29