You Can’t Keep The Battle to Yourself

Topic: Rejoice
Passage: Psalms 118:10–18

October 5, 2020

Commentary

Isaiah gives a description of the foes that are massed against our Lord at Golgotha (vv. 10-13):

  1. The human foes “All nations compassed me about; but in the name of the Lord will I destroy them” (vv. 10-12). His foes are compared to bees and to a fire of thorns. “They compassed me about like bees; they quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.” The bees suggest their furious nature and the fire of thorns their furious nature.
  2. The hidden foe “Thou has thrust sore at me that I might fall; but the Lord helped me” (v. 13). The “thou” in this verse is not only unnamed but he is invisible. This hidden and unseen foe must certainly be Satan.

The suffering time of our Lord is over and we now see Him rejoicing in Glory (vv. 14-18):

  1. In His redeemed people “The Lord is my strength and song, and is become my salvation The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of he righteous” (vv. 14-16). The immediate reference seems to be to the Lord now, in Heaven, rejoicing with the redeemed people over the great salvation He has brought.
  2. In His resurrection power “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord. The Lord hath chastened me sore; but He hath not given me over unto death” (vv. 17-18). He inhabits eternity, to proclaim the merits of His finished work.

Application

I need to be rejoicing in the great salvation that the Lord has provided for me on the cross.

Psalms 118:10– 18 (NET)

10 All the nations surrounded me. Indeed, in the name of the Lord I pushed them away.

11 They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me. Indeed, in the name of the Lord I pushed them away.

12 They surrounded me like bees. But they disappeared as quickly as a fire among thorns. Indeed, in the name of the Lord I pushed them away.

13 “You aggressively attacked me and tried to knock me down, but the Lord helped me.

14 The Lord gives me strength and protects me; he has become my deliverer.”

15 They celebrate deliverance in the tents of the godly. The Lord’s right hand conquers.

16 The Lord’s right hand gives victory; the Lord’s right hand conquers.

17 I will not die, but live, and I will proclaim what the Lord has done.

18 The Lord severely punished me, but he did not hand me over to death.