Commonplace –
“The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?
It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in any man.
This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good: for his mercy endureth forever” (Psalm 118: 6, 8, 24, 29).
What a poignant reminder that our fear should be in God and not man. What can man do to me? If I put my trust in God and not man, I can trust that God, whose mercy endures forever, will always do what is best for me. What a wonderful hope to rest in!
Matthew Henry suggests,
“In singing this psalm we must glorify God for his goodness, his goodness to us, and especially his goodness to us in Jesus Christ” (Henry 555).
Specifically, Henry states,
“It appears here, as often as elsewhere, that David had his heart full of the goodness of God. He loved to think of it, loved to speak of it, and was very solicitous that God might have the praise of it and others the comfort of it. The more our hearts are very impressed with a sense of God’s goodness the more they will be enlarged in all manner of obedience” (Henry 556).
This is a great point! Focusing on God’s goodness orders our hearts aright and helps us to continue in obedience.
Also, as Henry notes, while this psalm was written by David regarding specific events in his own life, Psalm 118 foreshadows Jesus and his life.
Works Cited
Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 118.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.
Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.
© 2025 Angela Hormberg
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