Psa 118:5-14 | KingComments | STEP | The psalmist tells why he calls to praise the LORD for His lovingkindness. He has from his “distress … called upon the LORD” and “the LORD” has “answered” him and set him “in a large place” ( ; cf. ). He testified that by virtue of the covenant, by virtue of the LORD’s lovingkindness, He heard the psalmist’s cry for help and redeemed him. “[Set] in a large place” means “redeemed”; it is so rendered in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. The psalmist here represents the people, that is, the faithful remnant, who have been in distress and in their distress have cried out to the LORD. The LORD has answered the cry. Out of a narrow place the remnant cried out and the LORD answered with a large place. He has led out of the distress and set in the large place of freedom. The LORD has not put the remnant, which is His people, in a large space only to leave them to themselves. He is for His people ( ; ). The people are aware of this and express it. This gives utter peace to the earlier so anxious heart. Now there is no more fear. The remnant even says with great confidence: “What can man do to me?” (cf. ; ). Trusting the LORD drives out fear, just as in trusting the LORD and His word ( ; cf. ). “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline” ( ). The wise King Solomon once said: “Fear of man [someone] lays a trap, but those who rely on the LORD are put in a safe fortress” ( ). Once again the psalmist says the LORD is for him ( ). There are others for him, for the LORD is “among those who help me”. He is in a similar position with others and has support from the others. However, they could never help him if the LORD were not for them. The LORD is the only, true support. Because He is in the midst of them, victory over his haters is certain. He can look on them with satisfaction because they are all lie defeated around him (cf. ). The remnant, through the great distress because of the LORD’s discipline of them by the king of the North, learned to put their trust in the LORD. For this they have always resorted to the help of men, sometimes to Egypt ( ), sometimes to Assyria ( ). They have experienced the futility of that and in contrast have experienced the help of the LORD. Therefore, they twice confess that it is “better to take refuge in the LORD, than to trust in man”, even if they were “princes” ( ; cf. ). Ordinary man ( ) and princes ( ) are similar to “the small” and “the great” in Psalm 115 ( ). The help of men, whether they hold a low or a high position, avails nothing. Only the LORD is able to deliver from need. This is a lesson we must learn again and again.

‏ Psalms 118:5-14

The LORD Is For Me

The psalmist tells why he calls to praise the LORD for His lovingkindness. He has from his “distress … called upon the LORD” and “the LORD” has “answered” him and set him “in a large place” (Psa 118:5; cf. Psa 4:2 ; Psa 18:20). He testified that by virtue of the covenant, by virtue of the LORD’s lovingkindness, He heard the psalmist’s cry for help and redeemed him. “[Set] in a large place” means “redeemed”; it is so rendered in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament.

The psalmist here represents the people, that is, the faithful remnant, who have been in distress and in their distress have cried out to the LORD. The LORD has answered the cry. Out of a narrow place the remnant cried out and the LORD answered with a large place. He has led out of the distress and set in the large place of freedom.

The LORD has not put the remnant, which is His people, in a large space only to leave them to themselves. He is for His people (Psa 118:6; Heb 13:6). The people are aware of this and express it. This gives utter peace to the earlier so anxious heart. Now there is no more fear. The remnant even says with great confidence: “What can man do to me?” (cf. Psa 56:11; Rom 8:31).

Trusting the LORD drives out fear, just as in trusting the LORD and His word (Psa 56:10-11; cf. 1Jn 4:18). “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline” (2Tim 1:7). The wise King Solomon once said: “Fear of man [someone] lays a trap, but those who rely on the LORD are put in a safe fortress” (Pro 29:25).

Once again the psalmist says the LORD is for him (Psa 118:7). There are others for him, for the LORD is “among those who help me”. He is in a similar position with others and has support from the others. However, they could never help him if the LORD were not for them. The LORD is the only, true support. Because He is in the midst of them, victory over his haters is certain. He can look on them with satisfaction because they are all lie defeated around him (cf. Exo 14:30-31).

The remnant, through the great distress because of the LORD’s discipline of them by the king of the North, learned to put their trust in the LORD. For this they have always resorted to the help of men, sometimes to Egypt (Isa 31:1), sometimes to Assyria (Hos 5:13 ; Hos 7:11). They have experienced the futility of that and in contrast have experienced the help of the LORD.

Therefore, they twice confess that it is “better to take refuge in the LORD, than to trust in man”, even if they were “princes” (Psa 118:8-9; cf. Psa 146:3). Ordinary man (Psa 118:8) and princes (Psa 118:9) are similar to “the small” and “the great” in Psalm 115 (Psa 115:13). The help of men, whether they hold a low or a high position, avails nothing. Only the LORD is able to deliver from need. This is a lesson we must learn again and again.

The Enemies Cut Off

In the time of distress, the remnant is surrounded by “all nations” (Psa 118:10; Psa 83:3-8; Zec 12:2-3 ; Zec 14:2). In Psa 118:5-9, the remnant has said that the LORD is for them and is their refuge. Therefore, they can say that “in the name of the LORD” they “will surely cut them off” (cf. 1Sam 17:45; Mic 5:4-5). They say this three times in Psa 118:10-12.

In Psa 118:11, they once again pronounce that the nations had surrounded them. They even say it twice, preceding the second time by an empowering “yes”. Being surrounded by their enemies felt to them like a suffocating stranglehold. But they freed themselves from it by invoking “the name of the LORD”, the God Who is for them by virtue of the covenant with them.

The nations had “surrounded” them “like bees” (Psa 118:12; cf. Deu 1:44; Isa 7:18). A cloud of bees coming at people causes them to flee in panic. In the case of the remnant, the danger of the bees is “extinguished as a fire of thorns”. The remnant has taken refuge “in the name of the LORD”. The fire of His judgment has burned the nations like a fire of thorns, that is, very quickly, as quickly as thorns burn (cf. Isa 33:12). As a result, the danger of the nations disappeared.

We are also surrounded by nations, by people who do not know God and do not want to know God. They want to impose their will on us and that we submit to them. We see this in anti-godly legislation. Only the Name of the Lord Jesus, fellowship with Him, can deliver us from the stranglehold by which we are otherwise stifled in our witnessing for Him. To avoid being strangled, we must put on the armor that God has made available to us (Eph 6:10-18). Thereby we must remember that our struggle is not against flesh and blood.

The psalmist says: “You pushed me violently so that I was falling, but the LORD helped me” (Psa 118:13). This is about the Assyrian, the discipling rod of God, who did everything possible to wipe out the faithful remnant. He failed, because the remnant fought in the name of the LORD.

They give credit to the LORD for the victory when they say, “The LORD is my strength and my song” (Psa 118:14). This is what Moses sang after the people were delivered from the pursuing Egyptians who perished in the Red Sea (Exo 15:2). Here the final deliverance of the people in the end time from the great tribulation is connected to the first deliverance of the people, the deliverance from the bondage of Egypt. We also see this connection between the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb (Rev 15:3).