Singing with Jesus - An Easter meditation on Psalm 118

I have always been intrigued by Mark's comment, at the end of his account of the last supper. 'And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives' (Mark 14.26). What words were ringing in the ears of Jesus and his disciples as they went out to his betrayal and passion? Almost certainly it was Psalm 118.

The reason is that the group of Psalms 113-118, known as the Egyptian Hallel ('praise'), traditionally concluded the Passover celebration; but their message was reaching a much deeper level of fulfilment on that momentous night. The words of verse 26, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!' had greeted Jesus's triumphal entry on Palm Sunday. The words of this psalm were to ring out in the temple, as he hung on the cross at the very moment the Passover lambs were slaughtered. Josephus tells us that over 200,000 lambs were killed and that for two hours the blood was carried to the altar, as the Levites sang the great 'hallel'. But on that Friday, it was all redundant. The temple curtain had already been torn in two from top to bottom, by the very hand of God himself. The Lamb of God had already suffered and died on the cross, as the atoning sacrifice, to 'take away the sin of the world' (John 1.29). Psalm 118 takes us, then, to the very heart of the greatest events of human history, which we celebrate again this Easter, with great 'hallelujahs'.

The psalm is a processional hymn, used on many of the great occasions of Israel's temple worship, combining strands of personal testimony with corporate thanksgiving. It does not follow a logical argument, but there is development within it. In verses 1-4 the festival procession begins, and by verse 19 it is at the temple gates.

1. God praised (verses 1-4)

From the start, the LORD (Yahweh - the God of covenant faithfulness) is the focus of attention, in particular his eternal, enduring covenant-love. Not only is his character total goodness (verse 1a), but this is constantly expressed in the saving grace of his endless mercy. The house of Israel, the priests and the God-fearing proselytes are all summoned to rejoice in the God who redeems (verses 2-4). But how does that happen, and what does it involve?

2. Battle joined (verses 5-13)

Everything is expressed in terms of the first person, not only so that the individual worshippers could make it their own, but also because it represents the nation as one entity, as though the whole of Israel is speaking with one voice. Though the setting is the historical nation, the fulfilment points unambiguously to the One who declared that very night of his betrayal, 'I AM the true Vine' (John 15.1). That is, 'I am the true Israel - the true Son on whom the Father's favour rests, the faithful servant, the light to the nations.' All that Israel had failed to be is now finding its full flowering in the obedience which leads Jesus to the cross.

On the negative side, these verses emphasise the opposition Jesus endured. The distress of verse 5 is motivated by implacable hatred (verse 7). No human deliverance was possible. Even those who were closest forsook him and fled (verse 8), while those in authority were united in their hostility (verse 9). Indeed, the focus widens to the whole human race ('all nations', verse 10) surrounding the 'victim' with their menace, like a swarm of bees or a consuming fire (verse 12). This pictures the battle at closest quarters, climaxing with the personal venom of the serpent who is bruising Messiah's heel? This is the real battle. Behind the Jewish crowds and the Gentile authorities lies the enmity of the devil himself, determined to crush God's Son and destroy both him and his work.

But the glory of the cross is that what looked like total victory for Satan is the precise moment of his absolute defeat. And as if to make this point crystal clear these same verses are full of the strength Jesus appropriated. The Father's part is to answer the Son's cries, both as helper (verse 7) and ultimately in the resurrection as deliverer (verse 5). All the omnipotence of God is active here in vindicating his beleaguered servant (verses 8-9). The menace of the enemy is overcome 'in the name of the LORD' (verses 10-12), just as in the garden the arrest-party fell to the ground in confusion, at the utterance of the divine name, 'I AM' (John 18.4-6). It is a vivid picture of the spiritual reality. The opposition of evil to the work of God is as short-lived as it is fierce, for this is God's work and by his help (verse 13) the obedient Son, in his dying humanity, will fulfil the great redemptive plan, and bring a lost world back into relationship with God. 'Hallelujah! What a Saviour!'

3. Victory won (verses 14-21)

Quoting the victory song of Exodus 15.2, after the deliverance of the Israelites from what appeared to be certain destruction at the Red Sea, verse 14 expresses triumph over the opposition. The victory belongs to God alone, for the battle was won single-handedly, but its benefits are universal. Just as Israel rejoiced in their tents camped on the far side of the sea at the Lord's deliverance by which their enemies had been destroyed, so those who are 'righteous' by faith in the Saviour's delivering work exult in the knowledge that their salvation is entirely the work of 'the right hand of the LORD' (verses 15-16). God's right-hand man has won the victory and now is ascended to his rightful position at the throne of the universe, but the hands which hold the sceptre of all authority still bear the marks of the nails.

Verse 17 is amazing in its resurrection certainty, 'I shall not die but live'. While this might seem to indicate a deliverance from the experience of death, we now know that it represents the victory over death which could only be accomplished by his dying. The holy one is not allowed to see corruption. Rather, he is 'declared to be the Son of God in power ... by his resurrection from the dead' (Romans 1.4). So, this is why there is authority to require access and entrance into the dwelling-place of God (verse 19). As the gates of heaven swing open to welcome their victorious, returning king, he enters the holiest place of all solely on the basis of his own righteousness, wholly accepted on his own merits, but bringing with him a multitude of justified sinners, cleansed by his blood, recipients of his mercy. Those who are righteous through faith in Christ's death have the Easter assurance that they are as welcome and acceptable in the courts of heaven as their conquering redeemer himself. For we are 'accepted in the beloved'. 'Hallelujah! What a Saviour!'

4. Salvation shared (verses 22-29)

The reflections which close the psalm dwell on God's activity - 'the LORD's doing' (verse 23). Though rejected by men, human decisions have no autonomy outside of God's sovereign will. By the power inherent in the holy Trinity, the plan of redemption has been accomplished in time and space history, so that the day the LORD has brought into existence (verse 24) is truly a day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6.2). The Lord Jesus has become 'the head of the corner' (verse 22), bearing the weight of the walls and uniting them together. What God had long planned, he accomplished, once for all, that first Easter-time. Our part is to rejoice and be glad, as we follow his footsteps from Gethsemane to Calvary, to Joseph's tomb and to the glories of the resurrection morning.

Verses 25-26 provide us with suitable words of praise for our triumphant rescuer and ruler. These were the words with which the Palm Sunday crowd met their king as he came to his city, riding on a donkey. But what had been part of their worship for centuries became actual, historical reality on Friday, as that Roman cross became the altar of sacrifice. In that offering of himself, once for all, the cloud of God's righteous wrath against our sin was turned away from us, and the light of his free and full salvation dawned (verse 27).

Not surprisingly, the closing two verses are an expression of personal trust, in which every reader is invited to share. From the moment of his birth, the eternal inextinguishable light of God was illuminating the darkness of sin and death (John 1.4-5, 9; 2 Corinthians 4.6). But it was all leading to Calvary, where in the darkness, the light shone at its strongest and most victorious. The horns of the altar became the arms of the cross, and the result is that we can say from the depth of our beings this Easter, 'You are my God and I will extol you' (verse 28).

The Lord Jesus went out into the darkness of that cosmic battle with these 'hallelujahs' ringing in his ears, and surely, we must believe, resonating in his heart. Confident of the victory he was about to accomplish, yet facing the full onslaught of the power of evil 'for the joy that was set before him (he) endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God' (Hebrews 12.2). And, by faith, we follow in his footsteps, through suffering to glory, made righteous solely by his merits, welcomed only through his mercy, but all the way rejoicing in his steadfast love. 'Hallelujah! What a Saviour!'

David Jackman is President of the Proclamation Trust, London.