The Song of Defiant Life Text: Psalm 118:15-18
Introduction: The Sound of Victory
We live in an age that is terrified of death, and so it is obsessed with it. Our culture is a walking corpse, rouged and perfumed, pretending it is not rotting from the inside out. It fears the final end because it has no answer for it. It whistles past the graveyard, distracting itself with endless noise, entertainment, and political hysterics, all to drown out the silence of the tomb. But for the Christian, the reality is entirely different. Our reality is not defined by the fear of death, but by the triumph of a resurrection.
The tents of the righteous are not quiet places of timid hope. They are not hushed libraries of abstract doctrine. No, the Bible tells us they are filled with the sound of joyful shouting and salvation. There is a robust, noisy, celebratory confidence that belongs to the people of God. This is not the cheap optimism of a motivational speaker; it is the blood-bought joy of those who have been snatched from the jaws of death by a mighty hand. It is the song of a people who know that the decisive battle has already been won.
Psalm 118 is one of the great Hallel psalms, sung during the Passover. It is a psalm of triumph, a psalm of deliverance, and ultimately, a psalm about the Messiah. When the crowds waved palm branches and shouted "Hosanna!" as Jesus rode into Jerusalem, they were quoting this very psalm. They were recognizing, however imperfectly, that the King had come to do what the psalm describes: to conquer enemies, to be the cornerstone, and to bring salvation. This psalm was on the lips of our Lord, and it ought to be in our hearts. The portion before us today is the very heart of this triumphant song. It is a declaration of defiant life in the face of death, a testimony to God's powerful salvation, and a lesson on His fatherly discipline.
We must understand that this is not a song for times of peace and ease. This is a war song. This is the jubilant cry of a soldier in the thick of the fight who has just seen his king turn the tide of battle. The nations had surrounded him like bees, but the Lord quenched them. He was thrust back, on the verge of falling, but the Lord helped him. And out of that conflict comes this explosion of praise. This is the Christian position. We are in a battle, yes, but our King has already secured the victory, and so we fight with the sound of salvation already ringing in our ears.
The Text
The sound of joyful shouting and salvation is in the tents of the righteous; The right hand of Yahweh does valiantly.
The right hand of Yahweh is exalted; The right hand of Yahweh does valiantly.
I will not die; indeed I will live, And recount the works of Yah.
Yah has disciplined me severely, But He has not given me over to death.
(Psalm 118:15-18 LSB)
The Triumphant Right Hand (v. 15-16)
We begin with the sound coming from the dwellings of God's people.
"The sound of joyful shouting and salvation is in the tents of the righteous; The right hand of Yahweh does valiantly. The right hand of Yahweh is exalted; The right hand of Yahweh does valiantly." (Psalm 118:15-16)
The first thing to notice is the atmosphere in the camp of the saints. It is not one of grim, stoic endurance. It is loud. It is joyful. There is shouting. This is the natural, spontaneous eruption of praise that comes from witnessing God's salvation. When God works, His people sing. This is a far cry from the sort of beige, respectable, and utterly bloodless religion that is so common today. Biblical faith is robust, hearty, and vocal.
And what is the cause of this joyful noise? It is the work of God's right hand. The "right hand" in Scripture is a metaphor, an anthropomorphism, for God's power and authority in action. It is His executive strength. Think of the parting of the Red Sea: "Your right hand, O Yahweh, is majestic in power, Your right hand, O Yahweh, shatters the enemy" (Exodus 15:6). The psalmist here is seeing that same enemy-shattering power at work in his own day.
The phrase "does valiantly" is repeated. This is for emphasis, like a drumbeat in a victory march. The right hand of Yahweh acts with heroic strength. It accomplishes great and mighty things. Then it says this right hand is "exalted." It is lifted high, both in its own triumph and in the praises of the people. This is the hand that cannot be defeated. This is the power that overcomes every foe.
Now, we must read this with New Testament eyes. Who is it that sits at the right hand of God the Father? It is the Lord Jesus Christ. After His resurrection and ascension, He was exalted to the place of ultimate power and authority. He is the right hand of Yahweh in action. The valiant work described here finds its ultimate fulfillment in the work of the cross and the empty tomb. Christ, by His mighty power, did valiantly. He crushed the head of the serpent. He disarmed the principalities and powers. And because He has been exalted, we, His people, live in the joyful reality of His victory. The shouting in our tents is all about Him.
The Defiance of Death (v. 17)
Out of this confidence in God's power comes a stunning declaration.
"I will not die; indeed I will live, And recount the works of Yah." (Psalm 118:17)
This is not the denial of a man who refuses to face his own mortality. This is the defiance of a man who has looked death in the face and seen that it has been declawed. Surrounded by enemies, pushed to the brink, the psalmist declares that the outcome is not going to be what the world expects. The world says that when you are surrounded, you die. The man of faith says, "No. I will not die, but live."
This is a resurrection statement nestled in the Old Testament. It is a profound expression of faith in the God who gives life. And of course, it is preeminently the voice of Christ. The enemy did his worst. They arrested Him, tried Him, scourged Him, and nailed Him to a cross. They put Him in a tomb and sealed it with a stone. By all human reckoning, He was dead. But the Son of God declared, "I will not die, but live." Death could not hold Him. And because we are in Him, death cannot hold us either. Jesus said, "Because I live, you also will live" (John 14:19).
But notice the purpose of this life. It is not simply to continue existing. "I will live, and recount the works of Yah." Life is for testimony. The reason God delivers us, the reason He snatches us from death, is so that we might become heralds of His mighty deeds. We are saved in order to speak. Our lives are to be a running commentary on the goodness and power of God. Every trial overcome, every sin forgiven, every prayer answered, every deliverance granted is another story to be told, another work of Yah to be recounted to His glory.
The Father's Loving Rod (v. 18)
The final verse in our text provides the necessary context for this great deliverance. It was not a deliverance from a random, meaningless trial. It was a deliverance through a purposeful, divine discipline.
"Yah has disciplined me severely, But He has not given me over to death." (Genesis 1:3 LSB)
The psalmist recognizes that his hardship was not outside of God's control. It was, in fact, God's own hand that was disciplining him. The Hebrew word for discipline, yasar, carries the idea of correction, chastisement, and instruction. It is what a loving father does for his son. The affliction was severe, it was hard, but it was not ultimate. There is a profound distinction made here between discipline and destruction.
This is a crucial lesson for every believer. When we face hardship, our first question should not be "How do I get out of this?" but rather "What is God teaching me in this?" God's discipline is a mark of his love, a sign of our true sonship. "For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives" (Hebrews 12:6). To be without discipline is to be an illegitimate child, not a son.
God's discipline is always purposeful. It is designed to correct us, to purify us, to train us in righteousness. It is always measured. He disciplines us severely, yes, but He never hands us over to death. He will bring us to the brink, but never push us over. He wounds, but He also binds up. His rod and His staff, they comfort us. This severe discipline was precisely what led to the joyful shouting. God brought him low in order to raise him high. He allowed him to be surrounded by death in order to teach him the meaning of resurrection life.
Conclusion: Living the Resurrection
So what does this mean for us, living in our tents? It means that our homes, our churches, and our hearts should be characterized by a noisy, confident joy. This joy is not based on our circumstances, but on the accomplished work of Christ, the valiant right hand of God. He has conquered sin and death.
Because of His victory, we can stand in the face of our own mortality, in the face of a hostile culture, in the face of trials and afflictions, and we can make the same defiant declaration: "I will not die, but live." This is not wishful thinking. This is the reality for all who are united to Christ by faith. The worst thing that can ever happen to you has already been dealt with on the cross. Death has lost its sting.
And when the trials come, as they will, we must see them for what they are. They are not the random flailings of a chaotic universe. They are the severe, loving, and purposeful discipline of our Heavenly Father. He is training us, shaping us, making us more like His Son. He is teaching us to rely not on ourselves, but on Him who raises the dead.
Therefore, let us live as a people who have been delivered. Let our lives be given to recounting the works of Yah. Let us tell our children, our neighbors, and the nations what He has done. He has disciplined us, yes, but He has not given us over to death. He has instead given us over to life, to joyful shouting, and to a victory that can never be taken away. The right hand of Yahweh has done valiantly, and we are the living proof.