“This is the day which the Lord has made, Let us rejoice and be glad in it!”
Psalms 113-118 comprise a wonderful 6 psalm praise to God called the “Egyptian Hallel” (Hallel meaning praise in the Hebrew.) These 6 psalms were sung during the main Jewish holidays, Passover, Pentecost and the Feast of the Tabernacles. Traditionally, Psalms 113 and 114 were sung before the Passover meal and Psalms 115 through 118 afterwards, reflecting on their deliverance from Egypt. Psalm 118 was most likely sung by Jesus Christ Himself and the disciples before they left the upper room in Jerusalem the night He was betrayed.
We’re not sure who the author is, although some believe this is one of David’s writings. We’re also unsure of the date it was written. But as we look closely, there are two, perhaps better, possibilities. It was written during Moses’ day in the Exodus from Egypt, or it was written sometime after the Jews returned to Jerusalem from their 70 year captivity in Babylon. I believe it was written by Moses during the Exodus. The language is very similar. Moses wrote this beautiful Psalm to look back in worship at the Historical Passover and look ahead in wonder to the Spiritual Passover in Christ. And we are very sure of its importance. This Psalm is intensely Messianic and it is the most quoted Psalm in the New Testament. Don’t you think this is important?
Psalm 118 has bookends at the start and at the end; “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.” Let’s look a few of these verses and how they apply to our lives today, and then I want to close with a powerful story of persecution, faith and endurance It’s a true story about a Godly woman who is worshipping with us today.
I love the start of Psalm 118. It’s very liturgical as the Psalmist writes “For His lovingkindness is everlasting.” Verses 1 – 4; “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting. Oh let Israel say, His lovingkindness is everlasting. Oh let the house of Aaron say, His lovingkindness is everlasting.” Aaron was Moses’ brother and the very first High Priest in the tabernacle days. The house of Aaron represents all of the Priests. “Oh let those who fear the Lord say, His lovingkindness is everlasting.” Other meanings of the word “fear” include love, reverence, or exaltation. This is something we should take to heart. Every day giving thanks for His lovingkindness with full knowledge that His lovingkindness is everlasting, or never ending, or His lovingkindness will continue throughout eternity! Praise God.
And then the Psalmist continues with honest truth. Verse 5 says, “From my distress I called upon the Lord. The Lord answered me and set me in a large place.” Think about when you are or have been in distress. When we are in distress we can be experiencing great pain, anxiety, or sorrow; suffering, affliction or trouble of any kind. And freedom from distress oftentimes requires immediate action, not necessarily immediate solutions. It is God’s timing.
What is the first thing we are to do when we are in distress? The Psalmist says to call upon the Lord and He will set us in a large place. When we’re in distress often times we feel closed in and heavily burdened. God will take our burdens and take away that closed-in feeling. In place He will set us in a large open space where we can breathe and be at peace – even facing any kind of persecution whatsoever. Sometimes I picture myself in green pastures and beside quiet waters as David writes in the 23rd Psalm. It’s interesting that Psalm 23 ends with these words; “Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever.” God’s lovingkindness is His mercy and it is for eternity.
Psalm 118 continues in verses 6 – 10; “The Lord is for me; I will not fear. What can man do to me? The Lord is for me among those who help me, therefore I will look with satisfaction on those who hate me.” Or in other words, those who hate us cannot hurt us, I will be satisfied with the knowledge that there will be those in our lives who will hate us. “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to trust in princes (or those who are in authority.) If we put our trust anywhere else other than in the Lord, we will be let down at some point. Don’t misunderstand, we are to absolutely respect those in authority and their positions, but our unconditional trust needs to be with God. Mankind will let us down, appointed and elected leaders will let us down, even our family members may let us down from time to time, but God will never disappoint. His mercy, His lovingkindness is everlasting.
There are many wonderful verses in this Psalm that point directly to Christ. And if Moses was the writer of this Psalm, it was written 14 centuries before the birth of Christ. Verses 22 and 23 refer to Christ as the stone that was rejected who became the chief cornerstone. In the New Testament, Peter identified the chief cornerstone as Christ. In Acts chapter 4 verse 11, after Peter and John were arrested, Peter filled with the Holy Spirit addresses the Sanhedrin, the Jews national ruling body and Supreme Court – the pious religious rulers of the day. Peter says; “He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief cornerstone and there is no salvation in no one else, for there is no other Name under Heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”
And verses 25 and 26; “O Lord, do save, we beseech You. O Lord we beseech You, do send prosperity” (not just in material blessings!) “Blessed is the One who comes in the Name of the Lord, we have blessed you from the House of the Lord.”
Translated from the Hebrew this becomes “Hosanna” and these very words were shouted by the crowds during Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. “Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!” And a few days later Christ would be betrayed, rejected and crucified. Christ taught that the Nation of Israel would not see Him again after His accession into Heaven until they could genuinely offer these words to Him at His second coming.
And sandwiched between these four Messianic verses we find verse 24, which is one of my favorites in the whole Bible; “This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Every day is a new day which has been given to each of us by God. What a beautiful gift. A new day to behold His creation, to enjoy loved ones in our lives, to praise and worship God in the morning, the afternoon and the evening. Truly, let us rejoice and be glad for all God has done for us, will do through us and who will walk beside us daily. Praise be to God!
Earlier I mentioned times of distress that we all will endure in our lives. Two years ago this Godly woman I mentioned was arrested and charged with felony embezzlement by her former employer. Years ago, when she was working directly for the company’s Chief Financial Officer, she received some information that was troubling to her. She went to the CFO and suggested an internal audit and even calling the police in to investigate. Nothing was done, and within days she was fired. Years later an investigation took place ultimately resulting in her arrest warrant. Immediately bail was posted and plans were made to go to trial.
We hired the very best attorney we could find and made repeated trips to Superior Court. Finally a jury was selected and the District Attorney proceeded with his case and these erroneous charges. He was out to get my daughter-in-law, no question about it. On many occasions he made the statement “I will lose this case before I dismiss it.” On the stand, under oath, the CFO blatantly lied putting as much blame on her as he could. The District Attorney was belligerent, often yelling in the courtroom, he was rude and hateful and painted her to be worse than a common criminal.
The trial, earlier this year, lasted three long weeks and after deliberation, the jury could not reach a unanimous decision and a miss-trial was declared. The District Attorney was still not satisfied. He promised he would bring this case in front of another jury and a trial date was set for the end of October.
Meanwhile, over the past two years you can imagine how much money was spent in support of our daughter-in-law. Everything all of us had, and our resources were rapidly running out. And then our family uncovered more information. Going before the judge in the presence of the District Attorney our attorney presented the information. Some years earlier at a different company, the same CFO was arrested and convicted of 113 counts of felony embezzlement. He served a year and a half in prison and was required to pay back over $400,000 in restitution. After this he was hired by company that our dear daughter-in-law worked for as their CFO, and no one knew a thing. The District Attorney had failed to run a background check on his key witness. Presented with this information and the words from the DA stating it was not the same person because of identity theft, the judge gave both sides two weeks to prove this evidence to be true.
Our investigator was able to find the actual court case and conviction, with proof it was the same person. We still were unsure of the DA’s strategy at this point. On Friday we were back in court. Standing before the judge, she and her attorney, the DA and his investigator, the District Attorney literally whispered, “Your honor, the people would like to dismiss this case.”
I think about the years involved, the wrongful termination, her name and integrity compromised and slandered the fear of spending time in prison all because of lies, away from her husband and wonderful children. And yet, none of us questioned our faith in God, in fact we leaned on Him the most.
How many times did we pray together that God would give them the strength to carry through? How many times did we feel God’s Holy Spirit in that Superior Courtroom. Prayer helped us through. “From my distress I called upon the Lord and He answered me and set be in a large place.” And freedom is sometimes as large as we could possibly want or need. Before we went into the court building, we prayed together, asking that God would give us a miracle. And in less than an hour later God gave us that miracle and the strength to carry on. There were seven of us in the courtroom praying. And after the dismissal, the only sounds that could be heard were tears of joy and tears of gratitude.
Later that night, their house was filled with family and friends. We held hands in prayer and thanked God for His lovingkindness and mercy.
I asked for my daughter in-law’s permission to share this very personal and private ordeal with you all. And she said, “I would like my church family to know." She continued, “I just want everyone to know that all praise goes to our Lord for this victory. I don’t want any credit at all, it all belongs to Him. The support and love from all of our families and friends was all the difference in this battle. You said, If He brings you to it, He’ll bring you through it. Those words kept me fighting. With love from her and from us, we are humble.
His strength is perfect when our strength is gone. He’ll carry us when we can’t carry on. Raised in His power the weak become strong. His strength is perfect. His strength is perfect.
