The Rejected Stone
TRANSLATION
(22) The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. (23) This is Yahweh’s doing. It (is) marvelous in our eyes. (24) This (is) the day which Yahweh has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. (25) O Yahweh, deliver us, we pray! O Yahweh, cause us to prosper, we pray! (26) Blessed is he who comes in the name of Yahweh! We bless you from the house of Yahweh! (27) Yahweh is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. (28) You (are) my God, and I will praise you. (You are) my God. I will exalt you. (29) Give thanks to Yahweh, for (he is) good, for his steadfast love (endures) forever.
OBSERVATIONS
In this concluding segment of Psalm 118, repetitions included the name, “Yahweh,” occurring eight times along with “God” (Elohim) found three times to emphasize its focus on worship. Of particular note are the two exclamatory prayers which both followed the pattern, “O Yahweh + imperative + we pray” (vs. 25) and the repeated declarations, “You (are) my God and I will praise/exalt you” (vs. 28). The psalmist employed the same exhortation which opened the psalm to close it (cf. vss. 1 & 29).
This final segment of Psalm 118 is inextricably linked with Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, an event recorded for us in all four Gospels (Mt. 21:1-11; Mk. 11:1-11; Lk. 19:29-38; Jn. 12:12-16). As Jesus rode into the city on the back of a donkey’s colt, the crowds shouted quotations from this psalm, specifically, the exclamation, “Hosannah,” translated “deliver us” (vs. 25) and the statement, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of Yahweh” (vs. 26).
OUTLINE
I. Yahweh will deliver us by means of the rejected cornerstone. (22-26)
II. For this we praise Yahweh whose love endures forever. (27-29)
IDEA STATEMENT
Because of Yahweh’s delivering us by means of the rejected cornerstone, we rejoice in his steadfast love.
APPLICATION
The irony expressed in the first verse compels us to wonder how those so-called expert builders could have rejected a stone that would became the chief cornerstone. A general answer is found in Isaiah’s prophecy: “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts’” (Is. 55:8 & 9). A more specific answer was given us two chapters earlier in Isaiah 53 which portrayed the unexpected sacrifice of Messiah.
At his first coming, God’s servant was despised and rejected because he came not to rule but rather to bear our sins and carry our sorrows. By means of his atoning work, God provides us with what we are reluctant to admit that we need, redemption and reconciliation. Israel stumbled at the thought of Messiah needing to die as a substitutionary sacrifice for our sins in order to restore us to fellowship with God. The chosen people wanted a dynamic leader, someone who would impress the world and quickly establish Israel’s dominance over the nations. No wonder the nation rejected the stone who came the first time in humility but would eventually become the chief cornerstone. Only Yahweh could have accomplished something so “marvelous,” so unthinkable from a human standpoint.