Bird's-eye view
Psalm 118 is a psalm of public, corporate, and robust thanksgiving. This is not a man murmuring his gratitude under his breath in a quiet room. This is a processional, a national declaration, a liturgical summons for all the people of God to lift their voices as one. The structure is built on a great refrain, "His lovingkindness endures forever," which is to be affirmed by escalating groups of worshipers. It moves from a general call to the specific covenant people, then to the priests who minister in the house of God, and finally expands to include all true worshipers everywhere. This is a pattern of worship that is both deeply rooted in Israel's history and broadly expansive, looking forward to the day when all the nations would fear Yahweh.
This psalm is the last of the so-called Egyptian Hallel psalms (113-118), which were sung at the great feasts, particularly the Passover. This means that these were the very words that our Lord Jesus sang with His disciples after their last supper together, on their way to the Garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:30, Mark 14:26). Knowing this context ought to transform how we read it. These are not just words of historical triumph; they are the words of the Son of God on His way to the ultimate conflict and the ultimate victory. He was singing of God's enduring lovingkindness right before He went to provide the ultimate demonstration of it.
Outline
- 1. The Universal Call to Give Thanks (v. 1)
- a. The Command to Thank Yahweh
- b. The Reasons for Thanksgiving: His Goodness and His Lovingkindness
- 2. The Specific Calls to Affirm God's Lovingkindness (vv. 2-4)
- a. The Affirmation of Israel (v. 2)
- b. The Affirmation of the House of Aaron (v. 3)
- c. The Affirmation of All Who Fear Yahweh (v. 4)
Context In The Psalms
As the capstone of the Hallel psalms, Psalm 118 functions as a great crescendo of praise. These psalms were deeply embedded in the liturgical life of Israel, sung during the Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. They recount God's faithfulness, beginning with the Exodus from Egypt (Ps. 114) and culminating here in a triumphant celebration of God's enduring mercy and the victory He gives to His people, centered on the Messianic figure of the rejected stone who becomes the cornerstone (Ps. 118:22). The call-and-response structure of these opening verses suggests a formal worship setting, where a leader would issue the call and various segments of the congregation would respond, building a chorus of unified praise.
The Great Refrain: His Lovingkindness Endures Forever
Verse 1
Give thanks to Yahweh, for He is good; For His lovingkindness endures forever. The psalm opens with a command. Thanksgiving is not optional for the creature; it is a fundamental duty. To fail in gratitude is the root of all idolatry and foolishness (Rom. 1:21). We are not instructed to give thanks because our circumstances are pleasant, or because we feel like it. We are to give thanks for a fixed and objective reason: "for He is good." This is not a statement about God's mood, but about His very nature. God's goodness is essential to who He is. And the premier expression of that goodness is then specified: "For His lovingkindness endures forever." The Hebrew word here is hesed. This is one of the most important words in the Old Testament. It is not simply kindness or mercy in the abstract. It is covenant loyalty, steadfast love, unfailing mercy. It is God's absolute commitment to be faithful to His people because He has bound Himself to them by a promise. That it "endures forever" is the bedrock of our salvation. God will not go back on His word. His covenant love is not fickle; it is eternal.
Verse 2
Oh let Israel say, "His lovingkindness endures forever." The first group summoned to join this chorus is Israel. This is the covenant nation, the people God redeemed from Egypt and made His own. Their entire history, from Abraham to the Exodus to the Promised Land, was one long testimony to the hesed of God. They had sinned grievously and repeatedly, yet they still existed as a people. Why? Because His lovingkindness endures forever. For Israel to make this declaration was for them to confess their own story, to acknowledge that their continued existence was a miracle of God's covenant faithfulness, not a result of their own righteousness. This is a corporate testimony. The faith is a public affair, and the people of God are to declare His praises together.
Verse 3
Oh let the house of Aaron say, "His lovingkindness endures forever." From the nation as a whole, the focus narrows to the priesthood. Why are the sons of Aaron singled out? Because they were the ones who ministered daily at the place where sin and mercy met. They handled the sacrifices. They saw the constant, bloody reminder of the people's sin, and they administered the constant, bloody provision of God's forgiveness. More than anyone, they were professionally acquainted with the people's need for mercy and God's inexhaustible supply of it. Their entire ministry was a testimony to the fact that God's lovingkindness was the only thing that made it possible for sinful men to approach a holy God. For us in the new covenant, who are a "royal priesthood" (1 Pet. 2:9), this call is now ours. We who have been cleansed by the final sacrifice of Christ should be the first to declare His enduring mercy.
Verse 4
Oh let those who fear Yahweh say, "His lovingkindness endures forever." And now the circle expands beyond all ethnic or vocational lines. It is not just for Israel, nor just for the priests. The call goes out to all "who fear Yahweh." This is the defining characteristic of a true believer in any age. The fear of the Lord is not the cowering dread of a slave before a tyrant; it is the reverential awe, trust, and submission of a child before a holy and loving Father. It is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:10). This category includes the Gentile proselyte who joined himself to Israel, and it prophetically looks forward to the great ingathering of the nations into the church. The qualification for joining this great choir is not bloodline, but a heart that fears God. This is the church, gathered from every tribe and tongue, declaring with one voice the central truth of all history: His lovingkindness endures forever.
Application
The structure of this passage teaches us how our worship should function. It begins with the foundational truth of God's character, He is good, and His covenant love is everlasting. This is the keynote. Then, this truth is to be echoed and affirmed by the whole community, from the general congregation to the leadership, and extending to all who genuinely believe. Worship is a corporate activity, a unified declaration of who God is and what He has done.
The central message we are to declare is the hesed of God. Our confidence before God does not rest on our performance, but on His promise. His love is steadfast, loyal, and eternal, demonstrated supremely in the sending of His Son. When Jesus sang these words on the way to the cross, He was affirming the Father's covenant faithfulness even as He was about to endure the ultimate test of that faithfulness.
Therefore, our response must be to join the chorus. We are the Israel of God. We are the royal priesthood. We are those who fear the Lord. We have every reason to take up this refrain and declare it in our homes, in our churches, and to the world. We must not be silent. Let those who fear Yahweh now say, "His lovingkindness endures forever."