If ever there were a Biblical Victory Chant, it’s Psalm 118!

The worshipper finds himself surrounded, pressed, and brought near to death. Yet, the Lord has answered and has become his salvation. Over and over again, the Psalm calls God’s people to give thanks because His faithful love endures forever!

These are not the celebrations of a people living a life of ease and safety. This praise rises from a place of great and genuine danger and deliverance.
 
“I will not die, but I will live,” the Psalmist declares, “and proclaim what the Lord has done.”
We have a distinct privilege to be able to look back through the lens of Jesus to see the ultimate fulfillment of the hopeful words of this Psalm. He was rejected as a stone cast aside by the builders, surrounded by hostility, and brought finally to a place of death. But God raised HIm up; the rejected Stone became the corner!

We see this image applied to Jesus repeatedly in the New Testament. Human authorities rejected Him, but God vindicated Him. The resurrection overturned the verdict of the world.
This passage speaks of gates opened wide so the righteous may enter and give thanks. Likewise, the resurrection has opened wide what death sought to close. Jesus has passed through death, emerging indestructible and alive. This ‘gate of Life’ now stands open for you and for me.

Though our present bodies are currently bound up in mortality, Paul reminds us death is not our final destiny. Death has, for the follower of Jesus, become a defeated enemy awaiting its final destruction in the Day of the Lord.
 
In light of this, we find ourselves wrapped in praise to God, not because we are untouched by the grave or the sting of death and sickness, but because none of those things can overturn the accomplished work of the resurrected Christ!

Because of the resurrection, we can both be honest about sorrow and certain about hope.
Even before every tear is wiped away, we give thanks because our future has already been revealed. We can sing through the dark night of the soul because the light of the risen Jesus has pierced every nook and cranny of it. Regardless of the imposing landscape around us or the swelling billows of hardship that may threaten us, we can rise and declare today is the the Lord has made, and we can rejoice and be glad!

This week we began with the sadness of loss, sealing out hope and joy, but it ends with a gate opened wide for worship. The stone is rolled away and the Cornerstone established. Jesus is alive, and all who trust Him will share it with Him.
 
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His faithful love endures forever.

What reason for resurrection hope do you need to remember and proclaim today? How can worship help you live honestly with grief without surrendering your confidence in God’s promised future?

Father, today I choose to give you thanks because of your faithful and enduring love. I’m grateful the resurrected Christ has become the cornerstone of the New Creation. Teach my heart to worship with honesty when sorrow is near. Keep my hope anchored in what You have done and promised. May my life proclaim that Jesus lives, the gate of life is open, and death is defeated. Amen.

“Today I praise God because the risen Jesus has opened __________________.”