Psalm 118 (1928 BCP)
Psalm 118 (1928 BCP) is Confitemini Domino in The Psalter (1928 BCP). The Book of Common Prayer (1928) appoints it at Morning Prayer on the Twenty-fourth Day of the month, after Psalms 116 and 117. Its movement from thanksgiving through distress and deliverance to the temple gates makes it a psalm of public praise rather than a private optimism. In the numbering of the Greek and Latin Psalters it is Psalm 117; that is why Augustine's exposition below bears that number.
Prayer Book text and Daily Office use
The 1928 Psalter gives the opening summons and its threefold congregation—Israel, the house of Aaron, and those who fear the LORD—before the speaker tells of being heard ``at large.
O GIVE thanks unto the LORD, for he is gracious; * because his mercy endureth for ever. 2 Let Israel now confess that he is gracious, * and that his mercy endureth for ever. 3 Let the house of Aaron now confess, * that his mercy endureth for ever. 4 Yea, let them now that fear the LORD confess, * that his mercy endureth for ever. 5 I called upon the LORD in trouble; * and the LORD heard me at large. 6 The LORD is on my side; * I will not fear what man doeth unto me. 7 The LORD taketh my part with them that help me; * therefore shall I see my desire upon mine enemies. 8 It is better to trust in the LORD, * than to put any confidence in man. 9 It is better to trust in the LORD, * than to put any confidence in princes.
The repeated mercy is the ground of trust, not a denial of danger. The Prayer Book preserves the psalmist's concrete language of hostile nations, a threatened fall, and help from the LORD.
10 All nations compassed me round about; * but in the Name of the LORD will I destroy them. 11 They kept me in on every side, they kept me in, I say, on every side; * but in the Name of the LORD will I destroy them. 12 They came about me like bees, and are extinct even as the fire among the thorns; * for in the Name of the LORD I will destroy them. 13 Thou hast thrust sore at me, that I might fall; * but the LORD was my help. 14 The LORD is my strength, and my song; * and is become my salvation. 15 The voice of joy and health is in the dwellings of the righteous; * the right hand of the LORD bringeth mighty things to pass. 16 The right hand of the LORD hath the preeminence; * the right hand of the LORD bringeth mighty things to pass. 17 I shall not die, but live, * and declare the works of the LORD. 18 The LORD hath chastened and corrected me; * but he hath not given me over unto death.
At the Office, the congregation does not claim a licence for personal vengeance. It learns to name affliction, to refuse confidence in rulers, and to confess that survival and praise are received gifts. The psalm's ``gates of righteousness then turn the song toward thanksgiving in the LORD's presence.
19 Open me the gates of righteousness, * that I may go into them, and give thanks unto the LORD. 20 This is the gate of the LORD, * the righteous shall enter into it. 21 I will thank thee; for thou hast heard me, * and art become my salvation. 22 The same stone which the builders refused, * is become the head-stone in the corner. 23 This is the LORD'S doing, * and it is marvellous in our eyes. 24 This is the day which the LORD hath made; * we will rejoice and be glad in it. 25 Help me now, O LORD: * O LORD, send us now prosperity.
The close retains a pilgrim and sacrificial setting: blessing is spoken from the LORD's house, and thanksgiving returns to the mercy with which the psalm began.
26 Blessed be he that cometh in the Name of the LORD: * we have wished you good luck, we that are of the house of the LORD. 27 God is the LORD, who hath showed us light: * bind the sacrifice with cords, yea, even unto the horns of the altar. 28 Thou art my God, and I will thank thee; * thou art my God, and I will praise thee. 29 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is gracious, * and his mercy endureth for ever.
Christ in the apostolic reading
The Gospels explicitly place the psalm's cry of welcome on the lips of the crowd at Christ's entry into Jerusalem. This is an apostolic and evangelical use of the psalm, not a reason to detach it from Israel's prayer.
And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
Peter likewise applies the rejected stone to Jesus before the council, and immediately frames that confession as proclamation of salvation. The connection means that Christian readers hear the psalm's thanksgiving through Christ's death and resurrection, while still allowing its own summons to Israel and worshippers to stand.
This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Augustine interprets the corner-stone as reconciliation: the one rejected by the builders is made the meeting-place of Jew and Gentile in Christ. His interpretation does not authorize contempt for Jewish people; it insists that the peace announced by the apostolic text joins rather than erases.
The Stone which the builders rejected; for It has become the head Stone of the corner to make in Himself of two one new man, so making peace; and that He might reconcile both unto God in one body; circumcision, to wit, and uncircumcision.
For Augustine, ``this is the day is not mere cheerfulness. It is the saving day in which the mediator has become the corner-stone, so Christian rejoicing is tethered to the LORD's act rather than to a season or a private mood.
This is the day which the Lord has made; that is, wherein He has given me Salvation. This is the day whereof He said, In an acceptable time have I heard you, and in a day of Salvation have I helped you; that is, a day wherein He, the Mediator, has become the head Stone of the corner. Let us rejoice, therefore, and be glad in Him.
Temple, feast, and Christian worship
Neale and Littledale read the psalm's gates, altar, and festival language in relation to the restored Temple and the Feast of Tabernacles, while acknowledging that its full original setting cannot be proved. Their cautious historical judgement helps explain why a psalm of procession is at home in the Church's public Office.
On the whole, the balance of evidence is in favour of the Feast of Tabernacles recorded in Nehemiah viii. In the first place, when we find “the feast” mentioned by itself with no further detail, it always means that of Tabernacles, the greatest holyday of the Law.
They also document an old western Sunday use, explicitly associating the recurring Lord's Day with Easter. That historical observation illumines, but does not exhaust, the 1928 BCP's monthly Office appointment.
It has been in use as a Sunday Psalm in the Western Church, with special reference to the weekly commemoration of Easter, from a very remote time.
Psalm 118 consequently joins several dimensions of Anglican prayer: Israel's thanksgiving for the LORD's enduring mercy; the worshipper's plea for help amid real trouble; the Church's confession of Christ crucified and raised; and the communal praise that returns again to ``O give thanks.
See also
- The Psalter (1928 BCP)
- Daily Office (1928 BCP)
- Book of Common Prayer (1928)
- Holy Week
- Eastertide (1928 BCP)
References
- ↑ The Protestant Episcopal Church, The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church (New York: Church Pension Fund, 1928), The Psalter, Psalm 118, Confitemini Domino, verses 1–9, Twenty-fourth Day Morning Prayer, pp. 487–488; 1928 BCP Psalter, Psalm 118.
- ↑ The Protestant Episcopal Church, The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church (New York: Church Pension Fund, 1928), The Psalter, Psalm 118, verses 10–18, Twenty-fourth Day Morning Prayer, pp. 487–488; 1928 BCP Psalter, Psalm 118.
- ↑ The Protestant Episcopal Church, The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church (New York: Church Pension Fund, 1928), The Psalter, Psalm 118, verses 19–25, Twenty-fourth Day Morning Prayer, pp. 487–488; 1928 BCP Psalter, Psalm 118.
- ↑ The Protestant Episcopal Church, The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church (New York: Church Pension Fund, 1928), The Psalter, Psalm 118, verses 26–29, Twenty-fourth Day Morning Prayer, pp. 487–488; 1928 BCP Psalter, Psalm 118.
- ↑ The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version (Cambridge: University Press, 1769), Matthew 21:9; Bible Gateway, Matthew 21:1–11 KJV.
- ↑ The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version (Cambridge: University Press, 1769), Acts 4:11–12; Bible Gateway, Acts 4:5–12 KJV.
- ↑ Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 118 (numbered Psalm 117 in the Latin/Greek Psalter), §16, trans. J. E. Tweed, in Philip Schaff, ed., Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vol. 8 (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1888), revised for New Advent by Kevin Knight; New Advent, Augustine on Psalm 118.
- ↑ Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 118 (numbered Psalm 117 in the Latin/Greek Psalter), §18, trans. J. E. Tweed, in Philip Schaff, ed., Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vol. 8 (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1888), revised for New Advent by Kevin Knight; New Advent, Augustine on Psalm 118.
- ↑ John Mason Neale and Richard Frederick Littledale, A Commentary on the Psalms, vol. III, Psalms LXXXI–CXVIII (London: Joseph Masters; New York: Pott and Amery, 1871), p. 517, commentary on Psalm CXVIII; Internet Archive, full scan and text.
- ↑ John Mason Neale and Richard Frederick Littledale, A Commentary on the Psalms, vol. III, Psalms LXXXI–CXVIII (London: Joseph Masters; New York: Pott and Amery, 1871), p. 517, commentary on Psalm CXVIII; Internet Archive, full scan and text.