Psalm 118 –
A wonderful, prophetic-Messianic Hallel Psalm around Pesach

André H. Roosma
22 april 2012

In one of the articles about Pesach I already mentioned that in the Jewish tradition during the Pesach-festival usually a Hallel was and is sung or spoken. That can either be the Great Hallel or the common Hallel; Psalm 136 or the Psalms 113 to (and including) 118.

Below I will pay attention to the end of the common Hallel (which is not common at all but very special): Psalm 118. This was one of Luther’s favorite Psalms; he wrote about it: “This is my Psalm, that I love.”¹

For the overview I include the entire Psalm here. And to illustrate some things from the Hebrew I also add the Hebrew original, next to my English translation.
As we shall see, it is a very prophetic and applicable Pesach Psalm, full of references to The Pesach Lamb Yashu‘ah, Who opened the way to life with YaHUaH – God the Father – for us; Hallelu-YaH!
Most likely this also was the last hymn that Yashu‘ah and His disciples were singing just before He went with them to the Mount of Olives where He was arrested a litte later to become The Pesach Lamb for all of us (Mattit-Jahu (Matthew) 26: 30).

Psalm 118

What stands out when we review this Psalm is how very often the glorious Name of God: YaHUaH appears in it: 28 times (of which 6 times in the short form YaH). As usual, that is related to what this wonderful Name stands for.² The glorious Name YaHUaH brings to mind that God has said that He wants to be close; with His people. That magnificent Name also awakens the memory that He is the One Who gives life – full life in joyful wonder and adoration towards our Creator and in attachment with Him and each other.
That magnificent Name is connected here at the beginning and end of the Psalm with the Hebrew word חסד - chesed, which we encountered and discussed already earlier. It describes a characteristic aspect of God’s character, connected with Pesach: His grace of ‘loving kindness’. The Psalmist says that the chesed of YaHUaH lasts to in eternity. He is never exhausted.
Verse 5 denotes on what the Psalmist bases this: his own positive experiences with YaHUaH.
For him, this has consequences for the future (verse 6); because YaHUaH is with him, he looks at the future with confidence.
In verse 7 he extends this to situations that are difficult, because of people who hate him.

In the verses 8 and 9 he concludes for everyone: regarded the eternal chesed of YaHUaH, He is a better basis to put our trust in than one is oneself and even better than noble men will ever be. And again he motivates this from his own positive experiences with YaHUaH, in the verses 10 to 18.
Remarkable in the verses 10, 11 and 12 is the word אֲמִילַם - ’amilam, here translated as ‘I will cut them off’. This is a declension of the verb מוּל - mul [pronounced as: mool], which stands for to cut off, destroy or circumcise (or: to be cut off, destroyed or circumcised). Those who do not allow God to circumcise their heart, awaits being cut off and destroyed (cf. Deuteronomy 10: 16; Yirme-Yahu (Jeremiah) 4: 4; Romans 2: 29; Philippians 3: 3; Colossians 2: 11 and John 15: 6)!
Verse 14 is remarkable, for it is one of the many verses in the First Testament that implicitly already refer to Jesus / Yashu‘ah (cf. Exodus 15: 2).

Verse 16 makes me think of the old symbol of the raised hand: and the meaning of it.³ The raised right hand of a tuler or priest represented his authority or His blessing. The writer notices here that the right hand of YaHUaH is exalted and works out things with power.

That combination of the chesed and the blessing power of YaHUaH gives the writer of the Psalm much confidence. He knows that thereby he will not just survive, but Live to the full (verse 17)! How YaHUaH is gracious to him and blesses him from His power, also creates a bond and much appreciation. He wants to honor YaHUaH and poclaim His deeds to others (verses 17 and 19).

In the significant text of the first part of verse 19 we see in fact the original pictographs of the word chesed: – literally: to enter the set boundary around the palm tree (symbol of the Tree of Life).³ In the third article about Pesach we saw that Yashu‘ah opened the entrance to the life with God, when He as The Pesach Lamb gave His blood at the cross in our place. “This is the gate unto YaHUaH, the righteous enter through it.” (verse 20). And it is very clear in these verses, that the Psalmist wants nothing else than to be and live there in the sanctuary, close to God (comparable with what David says in Psalm 27: 4).
And indeed it is a strong reason to confess (as the verb jadah from the second part of verse 19 can be translated also) His Name YaH and to praise Him (verse 21), that YaHUaH has come down to this world and became Yashu‘ah, The Pesach Lamb to give us eternal life in His wonderful presence!

Verses 22 and 23 again refer clearly to Yashu‘ah: “The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. This is YaHUaH’s doing; it [or: He] is marvelous in our eyes.” Jesus later refered to it (Mattit-Yahu (Matthew) 21: 40; Luke 20: 17), as the prophet Yesha-Yahu (Isaiah) had already done (Is. 8: 14-15; 28: 16) and various apostles would do later (Acts 4: 11; Romans 9: 33; 1 Peter 2: 4, 7).

The “This is the day which YaHUaH has made;” from verse 24 we can asociate in principle with any day, but in the context most applicable is that specific Pesach day on which Yashu‘ah opened the entrance to Life with God by His precious blood at the Cross. About that wonderful Day we can rejoice and be glad indeed!
The אָנָּא יְהוָה הוֹשִׁיעָה נָּא – “’Ana’ YaHUaH hoshi‘ah na’” from verse 25 and the “Blessed is He, Who comes in the Name of YaHUaH;” from verse 26 also point clearly in that direction (compare Mattit-Yahu 21: 9, where Jesus enters Jerusalem on a young donkey “And the crowds who went before, and those who followed, cried out, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed [is] He who comes in [the] Name of YaHUaH! Hosanna in the highest!”).
And there is still a future version of The Day, made by YaHUaH. That is the day on which Yashu‘ah returns and will restore justice. That will be a great Yom Kippur – Day of Atonement and Judgement day!

Such an exposé can be followed up by only one thing: a declaration of devotion to and great willingness to sacrifice to YaHUaH, a declaration that only He is eligible for the title ‘my God’, and that only to Him all praise is due (verses 27-29).

Hallelu YaH !

Notes

1	From: K. Aug. Dächsel, Bijbel, of: De geheele Heilige Schrift, bevattende al de kanonieke boeken van het Oude en Nieuwe Testament (Bible, or: The entire Holy Scriptures, containing all the books of the Old and New Testaments, in Dutch, according to the States-translation), with in-line explanations and notes of the most famous theologians of all times (Dutch edition: H. van Griethuijsen Antzn.; after the High German), Part 3: Chronicles – Song of Songs, J.H. Bos, Kampen, NL, 1897; ISBN 978 90 3310064 2 (?). p.773.
2	The glorious Name of God I presented here - as well as I could - from the oldest Hebrew original, instead of replacing this grand personal Name of The Most High by a common word, such as ‘Lord’. For more background information on this see: André H. Roosma, ‘Life, security and belonging in joyful adoration, from the hand of God’ , brief Hallelu-YaH article about the Biblical Name of God in the earliest Hebrew (old Semitic) script, January 2011. André H. Roosma, ‘The Shema‘ – the First Testament declaration of faith (1)’, Hallelu-YaH! web article, February 2012. André H. Roosma, ‘The wonderful and lovely Name of the God Who was there, Who is there, and Who will be there’ , extensive Accede! / Hallelu-YaH! study, July 2009.
3	More information on the oldest pictographic Bible script in: André H. Roosma, ‘The Written Language of Abraham, Moses and David – A study of the pictographic roots and basic notions in the underlying fabric of the earliest Biblical script’ , Hallelu-YaH Draft Research Report, 1st English version: 18 April 2011 (1st Dutch original: January 2011).

See also ‘Psalm 118’, a (structured) study of this Psalm, in the category Israel's Messenger, Messianic Prophecies, ... at the site of Jewish Awareness Ministries.

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This is a sequel to: Pesach (1) God separates His own, has them escape death, and pulls them away from Egypt; (2) God opens the way to life and (3) Yashu‘ah fulfills Pesach.

The next article is: Tsitsit – A sign of flourishing, to remember the blessing and reigning hand of YaHUaH.

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