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Psalm 118 · a question people ask

Who is speaking in this psalm?

In the text

The psalm has no title, so it names no writer. It opens with a call to give thanks (118:1-4), and then one voice speaks as I: "Out of my distress, I called on the LORD" (118:5), "All the nations surrounded me" (118:10), "I will not die, but live" (118:17), and "Open to me the gates of righteousness. I will enter into them" (118:19). In 118:15-16 the psalm gives words from "the tents of the righteous" (118:15): "The right hand of the LORD does valiantly" (118:15), and "The right hand of the LORD is exalted!" (118:16). From 118:23 the psalm speaks as we: "It is marvelous in our eyes" (118:23), and "We have blessed you out of the LORD’s house" (118:26). In Hebrew that you is plural, while he who comes is one person (tap Blessed). Then the one voice returns: "You are my God, and I will give thanks to you" (118:28). The psalm doesn't say who the I is, who the we are, or who he who comes is, and these notes don't. The New Testament's own uses of the psalm are in the other questions and in Go deeper.

The verses

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever. Let Israel now say that his loving kindness endures forever. Let the house of Aaron now say that his loving kindness endures forever. Now let those who fear the LORD say that his loving kindness endures forever. Out of my distress, I called on the LORD. The LORD answered me with freedom.”
Psalm 118:1-5 · World English Bible
“All the nations surrounded me, but in the LORD’s name I cut them off.”
Psalm 118:10 · World English Bible
“The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous. “The right hand of the LORD does valiantly. The right hand of the LORD is exalted! The right hand of the LORD does valiantly!” I will not die, but live, and declare the LORD’s works. The LORD has punished me severely, but he has not given me over to death. Open to me the gates of righteousness. I will enter into them. I will give thanks to the LORD.”
Psalm 118:15-19 · World English Bible
“This is the LORD’s doing. It is marvelous in our eyes.”
Psalm 118:23 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Psalm 118

Psalm 118: The stone the builders rejected

"The LORD is my strength and song" (118:14) is the song at the sea word for word (Exodus 15:2). The psalm's cornerstone is rosh pinnah in Hebrew, the words for head and corner; Jesus gave the verse after the vineyard parable (Matthew 21:42), and Peter said of Jesus, "He is" (Acts 4:11). And the crowds that met Jesus shouted 118:26's first line (Matthew 21:9).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions