BIBLE CHAPTER STUDY
Psalms 118 — The Rejected Stone and Enduring Lovingkindness
Psalm 118 is a liturgical thanksgiving that opens and closes with the refrain "his lovingkindness endureth for ever," moving from corporate testimony through personal distress and rescue to a processional entrance through the "gates of righteousness" and the climactic stone image of verse 22.
Scripture
1Oh give thanks unto Jehovah; For he is good; For his lovingkindness endureth for ever.
2Let Israel now say, That his lovingkindness endureth for ever.
3Let the house of Aaron now say, That his lovingkindness endureth for ever.
4Let them now that fear Jehovah say, That his lovingkindness endureth for ever.
5Out of my distress I called upon Jehovah: Jehovah answered me and set me in a large place.
6Jehovah is on my side; I will not fear: What can man do unto me?
7Jehovah is on my side among them that help me: Therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me.
8It is better to take refuge in Jehovah Than to put confidence in man.
9It is better to take refuge in Jehovah Than to put confidence in princes.
10All nations compassed me about: In the name of Jehovah I will cut them off.
11They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about: In the name of Jehovah I will cut them off.
12They compassed me about like bees; They are quenched as the fire of thorns: In the name of Jehovah I will cut them off.
13Thou didst thrust sore at me that I might fall; But Jehovah helped me.
14Jehovah is my strength and song; And he is become my salvation.
15The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous: The right hand of Jehovah doeth valiantly.
16The right hand of Jehovah is exalted: The right hand of Jehovah doeth valiantly.
17I shall not die, but live, And declare the works of Jehovah.
18Jehovah hath chastened me sore; But he hath not given me over unto death.
19Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will enter into them, I will give thanks unto Jehovah.
20This is the gate of Jehovah; The righteous shall enter into it.
21I will give thanks unto thee; for thou hast answered me, And art become my salvation.
22The stone which the builders rejected Is become the head of the corner.
23This is Jehovah's doing; It is marvellous in our eyes.
24This is the day which Jehovah hath made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.
25Save now, we beseech thee, O Jehovah: O Jehovah, we beseech thee, send now prosperity.
26Blessed be he that cometh in the name of Jehovah: We have blessed you out of the house of Jehovah.
27Jehovah is God, and he hath given us light: Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.
28Thou art my God, and I will give thanks unto thee: Thou art my God, I will exalt thee.
29Oh give thanks unto Jehovah; For he is good; For his lovingkindness endureth for ever.
What this passage means
Psalm 118 is structured as a thanksgiving liturgy. Verses 1–4 are a call-and-response: a leader invites worship, then four groups — Israel, the house of Aaron, those who fear Jehovah, and by implication all worshipers — each affirm that his hesed endures forever. The repetition is not redundant; it is the formal shape of a congregational confession, widening the circle from the nation to the priesthood to every God-fearing individual before the personal testimony begins.
The second movement (vv. 5–21) is the speaker's first-person account: distress, cry for help, divine rescue, and vindication. The repeated declaration "Jehovah is on my side" (vv. 6–7) anchors the psalmist's boldness. Verses 8–9 contrast trust in God with trust in man or princes; verses 10–13 narrate being surrounded by enemies and pushed toward falling, then rescued. Verses 14–18 give the doxological response — "Jehovah is my strength and song" — and verses 19–21 stage a processional entry through the "gates of righteousness," where the speaker gives thanks for answered prayer.
The final movement (vv. 22–29) supplies the theological climax: the stone the builders rejected has become the head of the corner, an act of Jehovah that is "marvelous in our eyes." The psalm then names "this day" (v. 24) as Jehovah's making, voices a plea for salvation and prosperity (v. 25), blesses the one who comes in Jehovah's name (v. 26), and rings out with the festal cry and a renewed call to thanksgiving. The closing line of v. 29 returns exactly to v. 1, making the whole psalm a single framed confession of hesed.
Context
The curated note simply records that Psalms 118 was backfilled from chapters outside the P0/P1 priority set; no genre, historical setting, or liturgical occasion is stated in the provided material. The chapter itself opens and closes with the same congregational refrain (vv. 1, 29), and verses 2–4 add three parallel invitations — to Israel, the house of Aaron, and those who fear Jehovah — which together describe the worshiping community addressed by the psalm.
Internally, the psalm moves from that communal call (vv. 1–4) into a first-person rescue narrative (vv. 5–18), then into a temple procession through the "gates of righteousness" (vv. 19–21), and finally into the cornerstone oracle and festal blessing (vv. 22–29). Because the full_chapter and context_before/after fields are empty in the provided data, this page does not import any setting, occasion, or surrounding argument beyond what the verses themselves contain.
Key words in the original
- H2617 chesed (חֶסֶד), rendered "lovingkindness," is the Hebrew term that frames the psalm. In verses 1–4 it is paired with ʿôlām ("forever," H5769) and repeated four times as the basis of Israel's, the priests', and the God-fearing worshipers' shared confession. The provided glossary glosses it as kindness, with piety as an implication toward God — a relational, covenantal quality rather than mere affection.
- H5769 ʿôlām (עוֹלָם), "forever," is the temporal qualifier attached to chesed throughout the refrain. The provided definition frames it as "time out of mind" / eternity, used here adverbially with the preposition to make the lovingkindness' duration absolute rather than merely long.
- H3034 The opening verb hôḏû (יָדָה, H3034), "give thanks," has the provided glossary noting an extended-hands posture of revere/worship alongside its root sense of throwing or striking. The psalm thus begins with a physical, bodily act of thanksgiving to Jehovah (H3068), and the same root returns in the closing call of verse 29.
Related verses
- Luke 20:17 Jesus quotes Psalm 118:22 directly — "The stone which the builders rejected, The same was made the head of the corner?" — using the psalm's cornerstone image against his listeners. The psalm itself only states the divine act and calls it marvelous; the Gospel application to Jesus' rejection and vindication is added by the New Testament speaker.
- Acts 4:11 Peter applies the same cornerstone line to Jesus after the healing of the lame man, identifying the rejected stone as the one "set at nought of you the builders." The psalm's corporate "we" of verse 23 is here turned into an address to the Sanhedrin; the underlying Hebrew text is unchanged.
- Hebrews 13:6 This verse echoes Psalm 118:6–7 directly: "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear: What shall man do unto me?" The psalm's sequence — trust, deliverance from surrounding enemies, refusal to die (v. 17) — supplies the theological pattern the writer of Hebrews reuses to encourage steadfast confession.
Common questions
Why does the opening refrain repeat four times with different speakers?
The repetition is a liturgical call-and-response. A leader first invites thanksgiving (v. 1), then Israel, the house of Aaron, and those who fear Jehovah are each invited to confirm the same confession (vv. 2–4). The widening circle — nation, priesthood, individual worshipers — is the shape of a congregational confession, not redundancy.
What is the "gate of Jehovah" that the righteous enter?
Within the psalm itself the text only depicts a processional entrance: the speaker asks for the "gates of righteousness" to be opened (v. 19), enters, gives thanks, and is told "This is the gate of Jehovah; The righteous shall enter into it" (v. 20). The chapter does not specify a building, ritual, or historical event beyond this scene; the rest is the speaker's thanksgiving for answered prayer (v. 21).
How is Psalm 118:22 used elsewhere in the Bible?
The verse is quoted several times in relation to Jesus' rejection and vindication. Matthew 21:42 and Mark 12:10–11 record Jesus quoting it against the religious leaders; Luke 20:17 records the same incident in different wording; Acts 4:11 has Peter apply it after the healing of the lame man; Ephesians 2:20 places Christ Jesus as the chief cornerstone of the church built on the apostles and prophets; 1 Peter 2:4 and 2:8 develop the image as "living stone" and "stone of stumbling." The psalm itself never makes that identification — it only declares the act "Jehovah's doing" and "marvelous in our eyes" (v. 23).