Psalm 117:1 Praise the LORD, all nations!  Extol him, all peoples!  2 For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.  Praise the LORD

Psalm 117 is the middle and shortest chapter of Bible.  It assures one that God is good.   That’s in contrast to the devil’s deception. Satan implied that God wasn’t giving them the best by keeping the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil from them.

Between the shortest chapter, Psalm 117, and the longest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 119, lies the redemption story.   It is prophesied as events of the life of Jesus Christ, in Hebrew “Yeshua HaMashiach”.  The Bible itself reflects the redemption story because it is crucial to understanding how good God is – that He would pay the price for man’s sins!  Even the Feasts of the LORD reflect it:   from being spared the death plague in Egypt to our living forever with the LORD!

PSALM 118 

MAN’S  REDEMPTION

Psalm 118 begins with:

1 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;
for His steadfast love endures forever!

He is ever faithful to those who have an awesome respect for God.  God is good!  His redemption story secures it.

GETHSEMANE

Verses 5-9 express what Christ would have experienced in Gethsemane.

5 Out of my distress I called on the LORD;
the LORD answered me and set me free.
6 The LORD is on my side; I will not fear.
What can man do to me?
7 The LORD is on my side as my helper;
I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.

The Messiah will look on in triumph at the Second Coming when everyone will confess that Jesus Christ (Yeshua HaMashiach) is LORD!

‘To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.’  Isaiah 45:23  This is also reiterated in Romans 14:11 and Philippians 2:10-11.

TAKE REFUGE

The popular “middle verse” of the Bible in my days (but changed to Psalm 117):

8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in man.

It’s a good standard to follow ALWAYS.   Mankind can mislead you.  The LORD never will.

GOLGOTHA

Verses 10 – 13 show the LORD on Golgotha:

10 All nations surrounded me;
in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
11 They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;
in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
12 They surrounded me like bees;
they went out like a fire among thorns;
in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
13 I was pushed hard, so that I was falling,
but the LORD helped me.

The blessed LORD was pushed hard in His flesh, but the LORD, His eternal essence, sustained Him.

RESURRECTION

Verses 14 -18 show the Resurrection of the LORD.

14 The LORD is my strength and my song;
He has become my salvation.
15 Glad songs of salvation
are in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the LORD does valiantly,
16 the right hand of the LORD exalts,
the right hand of the LORD does valiantly!”

17 I shall not die, but I shall live,
and recount the deeds of the LORD.
18 The LORD has disciplined me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.

The LORD died physically, yes, indeed.  His Holy Spirit, however, remains!  It is the life-giving force to His resurrected body! Did not He say:

“and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”  John 11:26

We can all live for Christ is resurrected!  And now He opens to us doors to eternal life!

19 Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the LORD.
20 This is the gate of the LORD;
the righteous shall enter through it.

The “gates of righteousness” are now open to all through the blood of Yeshua the Messiah!  But some rejected His work on the cross.

22 The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.

Will they come back? YES!

23 This is the LORD’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.

Salvation is marvelous!   God is good!  Salvation has been bought and paid for!

HOSANNA!

“Hosanna” means “Oh, save now!”

25 Save us, we pray, O LORD!
O LORD, we pray, give us success!

27 The LORD is God,
and He has made His light to shine upon us.

As the celebrants saluted Yeshua the Messiah on His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, so it will be again the cry of the righteous.   “Oh, save now!”   Yeshua has promised His return and the LORD will defend Jerusalem!

3 Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. 4 On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west …   (Zechariah 14:3-4)

First, Yeshua needed to pay the price for our sins, that which keeps us separated from God, but soon all who are Israel will be drawn to Him.

10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.”

May I stress: “on Him whom they have pierced.”   They pierced the arms and legs of Yeshua the Messiah!   He is the Savior!

“Truly, you are a God who hides Himself,
O God of Israel, the Savior.”  Isaiah 45:15

GOD IS GOOD!

Yeshua HaMashiach made atonement for our sins, so great is His mercy!  Psalm 118 ends in the same way as it started:

29 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;
for His steadfast love endures forever!

His love endures!  God is good all the time!