the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 5 of 5
Psalms 117:1-2; ; Psalms 118:1-14
If we enjoy the Lord for ourselves (Psalms 116:1-19), by so doing we will invite others to worship Him with us. The same happens here with Israel. At one time they were jealous of their privileges and absolutely despised the other nations, but now they invite the nations to join in the universal praise (v. 1; Romans 10:19; Romans 15:11).
Once again the mercy and the truth of God are mentioned together (v. 2; see Psalms 108:4; Psalms 115:1). They represent the twofold manifestation to men of God’s essential characteristics: love and light. What an inexhaustible theme of meditation is contained in this precious, little psalm (which happens to be the central chapter of the Bible).
In Psalms 118:1-29 the mercy of the LORD is the theme of praise. Surrounded and threatened by the whole world, Israel will experience that the help of men and princes is vain (vv. 8, 9; Psalms 108:12). The name of the LORD will be the only safeguard. As for us, we are threatened, alas, essentially by the lusts of our own wretched hearts (James 1:14). We have been on the verge of falling so many times, but God has been there to help us; He has kept our feet from falling (v. 13; Psalms 116:8). Man will be able to do nothing against us (v. 6), nor for us (v. 8), for the Lord is our strength (v. 14).
