The Voice: Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever VS His love endures forever, for he is good; give thanks to the Lord
This creedal and liturgical verse proclaims the nature of God and calls for a heartfelt response:
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.”
Yet can we, with hand-on-heart, recite and rehearse the three parts of this creed? Some days are probably easier than others to do so. Some days we can give full voice to our thanks to the Lord having experienced his goodness and being certain of the eternity of his love. Other days we engage in this spiritual practice in a quieter voice; circumstances dull our enthusiasm. Still other days it seems more honest to remain silent. We have lost sight of the majesty of the proclamation and reciting it feels hollow. However, Psalm 118 in its entirety, schools us in scenarios that immerse ourselves in this creed and help us find God in the midst of it. Psalm 118 is well crafted to achieve such spiritual work. The Psalm is the last of the six Hallel psalms (Pss 113–118) that were sung during Passover, remembering the exodus. There is also the sense that Psalm 118 relates to the exile of Israel. Hence, it is a psalm of exodus and exile, of redemption and rebuke. Psalm 118 is possibly the hymn that Jesus and his disciples sang at the end of the Last Supper (Matt 26:30; Mark 14:26) before they went to the Garden of Gethsemane.
Psalm 118 sits like a hinge immediately after the shortest chapter in the Bible: Psalm 117. In two verses Psalm 117 calls the nations to worship God because of his great love and faithfulness. In two verses the vision is invitational and international.
Psalm 118 sits like a hinge immediately before the longest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 119. In 176 verses, Psalm 119 focuses on the Word of God. In 176 verses, the vision is inspirational and intimate.
If Psalm 117 is invitational and international and Psalm 119 is inspirational and intimate, then Psalm118 is incisive and insightful. If Psalm 117 is centred on the worship of God and Psalm 119 on the Word of God, then Psalm 118 is centred on the ways of God. As we immerse ourselves in Psalm 118 and its lessons, we are better able to respond to the call of Psalm 117 and the invitation of Psalm 119. Psalm 118 schools us in the ways of God that we might better engage in the worship of God and the Word of God. Psalm 118 does this by introducing and concluding with the same words: “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his love endures forever” (Ps 118:1 and 29). Having stated this great truth, Psalm 118 explores it in reverse order. In reversing the order, Psalm 118 empowers us to be better placed to declare this creed. By examining the creed in reverse order, Psalm 118 provides reasons and examples to help us take this statement of worship and faith upon our lips. By reversing the order, Psalm 118 reveals the ways of God that leads us to worship God (Ps 117) and delight in the Word of God (Ps 119).
His Love Endures Forever (vv. 1–4)
In verses one to four, the psalm calls on different groups to take up the phrase “His love endures forever.” The three groups named are representatives of God’s redemptive plan for humanity. Israel (v. 2) as the people of God, the house of Aaron (v. 3) as the priests of God, and all who fear the Lord (v. 4) as the redeemed of God. Once they are marshalled and saying in harmony “his love endures forever,” Psalm 118 focuses on the next part of the creed: “For he is good.” This is where it gets especially intriguing.
For He is Good (vv. 5–18)
For fourteen verses (vv. 5–18), the psalmist recites example after example of intense threats, pressure, and struggle. Yet every threat is punctuated by the discovery that God’s presence is constant. The title “Lord” appears twenty-eight times in the twenty-nine verses of Psalm 118. In these fourteen verses exploring “for he is good,” the title “Lord” appears in each verse. The Lord is present regardless of whatever evil or threatening event confronts the psalmist and God’s people. God’s goodness is not overpowered but magnified. The journey to discovering that God is indeed good, is a journey that is incisive – like a surgeon’s scalpel– and insightful – like the healing that follows surgery.
Even though the psalmist’s journey is harrowing, he knows that the Lord answers (v. 5), the Lord is on his side (v. 6), the Lord helps (v. 13), and the Lord is his strength might, salvation. and song (v. 14). To ensure the weight of the story is felt, accounts of the attacks on the psalmist are repeated and so is the testimony of God’s goodness. The journey of discovery that God is good grows in crescendo with shouts about the victory of God (v. 15) culminating with the words: “I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord. The Lord has punished me severely, but he did not give me over to death” (vv. 17-18 NIV). There has been a change in circumstances and in the psalmist’s character. Somehow God has worked redemptive elements through everything and there has been a change of heart. Somehow there has been the loving discipline by God’s hand in the darkness and distress. God’s love has endured. God has proven to be good.
There is no suggestion that God sent afflictions to teach his disciple a lesson; but there is testimony that through God’s presence in affliction, discipline has been exercised and discipline meted out. The psalmist leans into that spiritual reality and what emerges from this section of Psalm 118 is a defiant and obstinate faith. What emerges is that the psalmist is empowered to declare, “For he is good.” Here are echoes of Jacob wrestling with a Man all night (Gen 32:22-32) and receiving a new name signifying that he had become a new person. The psalmist’s enemies have failed profoundly to unnerve his faith.
In 2018, I was in Cambridge (UK) for study leave. While there, the Christian writer and Pulitzer Prize winner, Marilynne Robinson, was giving a lecture. For fifty minutes she read from a full manuscript with little change in intonation and I found it difficult to stay focused or interested. At the conclusion of her lecture the time was opened up for questions-and-answers. At this point Marilynne Robinson came alive as she gave answers. I forget the question, but one answer will stay with me forever. In an unscripted moment she said, “When people are in the presence of great evil or terrible rejection and still speak of the goodness of God – that is true theology. The rest is just embroidery.” That is Psalm 118 in two sentences!
Give Thanks to the Lord (vv 19–28)
So we have heard the representatives of God’s redemption cry “his love endures forever” (vv. 1–4). We have seen the psalmist immersed in a context of threats and attacks but discovering the Lord’s constant presence “for he is good” (vv. 5–18). Now the psalmist is positioned to lead us all in worship to “give thanks to the Lord.” Now he has us at the gates of the temple (vv. 19–20) in worship founded on the fact that God’s love endures forever, worship fueled by the fact that he is good, and now worship focused on giving thanks to him.
Psalm 118 is both an account of life and faith, and an order of service for worship. By the time we come to verse nineteen, the call to open the gates reflects a literal instruction to temple attendants of the day; and a symbolic and metaphoric call for us today.
We stand there too having been called to declare, “His love endures forever.” We stand there too having navigated threats and pressures which assail us, yet we can say, “For he is good.” We too stand at verse nineteen with the same cry: “Open for me the gates of the righteous; I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.”
But we do so from a privileged position.
We are this side of the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. We are able to read this Psalm through that lens and with a thrill in our hearts. We experience what Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:10–12 – we see what prophets searched intently for and angels longed to look into. We are in the privileged position to recognise what has become of Psalm 118:19–28. We find that the means and ability to “Give thanks to the Lord” ultimately rests in Christ.
The worshippers in Psalm 118 stood before a stone temple (v. 19). Jesus did the same in John 2:19 and said, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
The worshippers in Psalm 118 enter the gates to give thanks (v. 20) and we recall Jesus saying, “I am the gate” (John 10:7-10 NIV).
The worshippers in Psalm 118 say the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone (vv. 22–23). We hear Jesus apply that to himself (Matt 21:42), Peter quotes it when on trial (Acts 4:11), Paul uses it to declare the nature and foundation of the church (Eph 2:20), and Peter, again, describing the living and vibrant nature of the people of God and how they are being built into a spiritual house (1 Pet 2:7).
We read “The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad” (v. 24). We now see in the light of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus what that looks like.
We read “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (v. 26) and we hear that cry used by the crowds as Jesus rode into Jerusalem the week of his crucifixion (Matt 21:9 NIV).
We read in verse 27 that “The Lord is God, and he has made his light shone on us” – and Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12 NIV).
We find ourselves well placed for our voices to take up the script of Psalm 118:28:
“You are my God, and I will praise you;
you are my God, and I will exalt you.”
We find we have been led in the ways of God and our hearts are full of thanksgiving.
The Ways, Worship, and Word of God
Psalm 118 shows that the ways of God are marked by his constant presence: that he is good and his love endures forever. We see this most clearly in that Christ dwelt among us.
We look back at the words of this Psalm and see that – his love endures forever – is most clearly seen in that God so loved the world he sent his only Son. We see that the means to give thanks is found most profoundly and purposefully in Christ.
Psalm 118: a journey that is incisive, and insightful which reveals the ways of God.
Psalm 118: a journey that empowers us to respond to the invitational and international mission of God as declared in Psalm 117, resulting in worship.
Psalm 118: a journey that empowers us with the inspirational and intimate Word of God celebrated in Psalm 119.
Geoff New is Dean of Studies/Acting Principal at the Knox Centre for Ministry and Leadership (Dunedin) where he teaches preaching, pastoral care, and Christian Formation. He is a trainer for Langham Preaching in South Asia and also leads Kiwimade Preaching. His most recent book is Echoes: the Lord's Prayer in the Preacher's Life(2020).