Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures for ever!
2 Let Israel say,
“His steadfast love endures for ever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron say,
“His steadfast love endures for ever.”
4 Let those who fear the Lord say,
“His steadfast love endures for ever.”
5 Out of my distress I called on the Lord;
the Lord answered me and set me free.
6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear.
What can man do to me?
7 The Lord is on my side as my helper;
I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in man.
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes.
10 All nations surrounded me;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
11 They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
12 They surrounded me like bees;
they went out like a fire among thorns;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
13 I was pushed hard, so that I was falling,
but the Lord helped me.
14 The Lord is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
15 Glad songs of salvation
are in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly,
16 the right hand of the Lord exalts,
the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!”
17 I shall not die, but I shall live,
and recount the deeds of the Lord.
18 The Lord has disciplined me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through it.
21 I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
22 The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
23 This is the Lord's doing;
it is marvellous in our eyes.
24 This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save us, we pray, O Lord!
O Lord, we pray, give us success!
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
27 The Lord is God,
and he has made his light to shine upon us.
Bind the festal sacrifice with cords,
up to the horns of the altar!
28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God; I will extol you.
29 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures for ever!
This is the sixth and final of the Hallel Psalms sung at the Passover and therefore on the lips of our Lord when He went forth to die for the sins of men. It is a wonderful Psalm, and it becomes all the more rich and satisfying to study when (a) we decide its probable occasion, and (b) we see its association of ideas as it was sung by our Lord and His disciples. First of all, a word about its historical setting. There is general agreement that the Psalm is post-exilic, but there are without question echoes of the Exodus deliverance in the Psalm, as Kidner points out - 14 is a verbatim quote from the victory song of Moses (Exodus 15:2), and 15, 16 and 28 likewise correspond to Exodus 15:6, 12. There is little doubt that these differing 'times' are linked together, and that both are linked to the deeper New Testament fulfilment in Christ's redemptive work. After all, there is 'His exodus which He was to accomplish at Jerusalem' by which the building of God, 'the habitation of God through the Spirit' has to be established. Any analysis of the Psalm can only be tentative and rough, as there are a number of different divisions of it in different commentators. A useful outline to follow is Delitzsch's, under the title 'A Fes- tive Psalm at the Dedication of the New Temple'. The picture it gives is a festive procession going up to the Temple for the celebration; 1-4, at the setting out; 5-8, on the way; 19, at the going in; 20-27, those who receive the festal procession; 28, answer of those who have arrived; 29, all together.
The New Testament associations with this psalm are manifold. Our Lord's own singing of it in the Upper Room at the Passover must have had many moving moments for Him, as 6, 10, 13, 17, 19 and 22 must surely make clear. We must also think of the use of this Psalm in relation to our Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. In Matthew 21:9; Mark 11:10) the words 'Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord' are a literal echo of 25, 26 ('Hosannas' literally translated means 'Save, we pray' or 'Save now'). Our Lord's entry into Jerusalem was the King's offering of Himself, and He was rejected by the 'builders' (compare 22 with Matthew 21:42). And the stone that the builders refused became the chief cornerstone, a theme taken up in other parts of the New Testament (Romans 9:32; Acts 4:11; Ephesians 2:20; 1 Peter 2:6ff).