Clergy/Leaders’ Mail-list No. 2-134 Sunday 07 Jul 2002

Reading: Psalm 118 – DELIVERANCE AND RESTORATION

(From ‘Encounter with God’ Bible Reading Notes)

‘Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his love endures forever.'(v 1) Spend some time in praise before you read.

Like many psalms, Psalm 118 features a transformation. The writer has been through a time of difficulty and oppression, his enemies have almost triumphed. The psalm, however, far from being a catalogue of woes, is a song of praise to a God who has delivered (vs 5,14).

It is easy to minimise both the sense of despair and the reality of victory which shine through. He was surrounded (v 10), pushed back and about to fall (v 13), in anguish (v 5). Beyond that we know nothing of the circumstances of this psalm. It may reflect a battle in which some foreign power was gaining the upper hand. Or it may, in the light of verses 19-27, be a song of celebration at the completion of the Temple after its destruction and years in ruins.

Whatever the circumstances, the message is clear. Our God is in the business of deliverance and restoration. This psalm’s importance is revealed in the New Testament. Jesus takes up the words about the rejected stone,(Matt 21:42) as do Peter(Acts 4:ll; 1 Pet 2:7) and Paul(Eph 2:20). As Jesus enters Jerusalem the crowd’s shouts of praise comes from verses 25-26.(Matt 21:9; Mark ll:9) What is the significance of these references? God’s supreme act of deliverance and restoration come through his Son, Jesus.

In him we are delivered from the power of sin and released to a new life. In his strength we can face all opposition. In him, whatever the depth of personal ruin and however that has been caused, whether by the fault of others or ourselves, we can experience restoration. If the writer of this psalm had cause to praise God for his deliverance, we have more. If he had every reason to put his hope in God, so do we.

Recall some point in your own life where God has acted in deliverance and then use this psalm as the basis for your own expression of praise.

Copyright Scripture Union, 2002

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