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Commentary on Psalms 118 verses 1–18
It appears here, as often as elsewhere, that David had his heart full of the goodness of God. He loved to think of it, loved to speak of it, and was very solicitous that God might have the praise of it and others the comfort of it. The more our hearts are impressed with a sense of God's goodness the more they will be enlarged in all manner of obedience. In these verses,
I. He celebrates God's mercy in general, and calls upon others to acknowledge it, from their own experience of it (Psa 118:1): O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is not only good in himself, but good to you, and his mercy endures for ever, not only in the everlasting fountain, God himself, but in the never-failing streams of that mercy, which shall run parallel with the longest line of eternity, and in the chosen vessels of mercy, who will be everlasting monuments of it. Israel, and the house of Aaron, and all that fear God, were called upon to trust in God (Psa 115:9-11); here they are called upon to confess that his mercy endures for ever, and so to encourage themselves to trust in him, Psa 118:2-4. Priests and people, Jews and proselytes, must all own God's goodness, and all join in the same thankful song; if they can say no more, let them say this for him, that his mercy endures for ever, that they have had experience of it all their days, and confide in it for good things that shall last for ever. The praises and thanksgivings of all that truly fear the Lord shall be as pleasing to him as those of the house of Israel or the house of Aaron.
II. He preserves an account of God's gracious dealings with him in particular, which he communicates to others, that they might thence fetch both songs of praise and supports of faith, and both ways God would have the glory. David had, in his time, waded through a great deal of difficulty, which gave him great experience of God's goodness. Let us therefore observe here,
1.The great distress and danger that he had been in, which he reflects upon for the magnifying of God's goodness to him in his present advancement. There are many who, when they are lifted up, care not for hearing or speaking of their former depressions; but David takes all occasions to remember his own low estate. He was in distress (Psa 118:5), greatly straitened and at a loss; there were many that hated him (Psa 118:7), and this could not but be a great grief to one of an ingenuous spirit, that strove to gain the good affections of all. All nations compassed me about, Psa 118:10. All the nations adjacent to Israel set themselves to give disturbance to David, when he had newly come to the throne, Philistines, Moabites, Syrians, Ammonites, etc. We read of his enemies round about; they were confederate against him, and thought to cut off all succours from him. This endeavour of his enemies to surround him is repeated (Psa 118:11): They compassed me about, yea, they compassed me about, which intimates that they were virulent and violent, and, for a time, prevalent, in their attempts against him, and when put into disorder they rallied again and pushed on their design. They compassed me about like bees, so numerous were they, so noisy, so vexatious; they came flying upon him, came upon him in swarms, set upon him with their malignant stings; but it was to their own destruction, as the bee, they say, loses her life with her sting, Animamque in vulnere ponit - She lays down her life in the wound. Lord, how are those increased that trouble me! Two ways David was brought into trouble: - (1.) By the injuries that men did him (Psa 118:13): Thou (O enemy!) hast thrust sore at me, with many a desperate push, that I might fall into sin and into ruin. Thrusting thou hast thrust at me (so the word is), so that I was ready to fall. Satan is the great enemy that thrusts sorely at us by his temptations, to cast us down from our excellency, that we may fall from our God and from our comfort in him; and, if Go had not upheld us by his grace, his thrusts would have been fatal to us. (2.) By the afflictions which God laid upon him (Psa 118:18): The Lord has chastened me sore. Men thrust at him for his destruction; God chastened him for his instruction. They thrust at him with the malice of enemies; God chastened him with the love and tenderness of a Father. Perhaps he refers to the same trouble which God, the author of it, designed for his profit, that by it he might partake of his holiness (Heb 12:10, Heb 12:11); howbeit, men, who were the instruments of it, meant not so, neither did their heart think so, but it was in their heart to cut off and destroy, Isa 10:7. What men intend for the greatest mischief God intends for the greatest good, and it is easy to say whose counsel shall stand. God will sanctify the trouble to his people, as it is his chastening, and secure the good he designs; and he will guard them against the trouble, as it is the enemies' thrusting, and secure them from the evil they design, and then we need not fear.
This account which David gives of his troubles is very applicable to our Lord Jesus. Many there were that hated him, hated him without a cause. They compassed him about; Jews and Romans surrounded him. They thrust sorely at him; the devil did so when he tempted him; his persecutors did so when they reviled him; nay, the Lord himself chastened him sorely, bruised him, and put him to grief, that by his stripes we might be healed.
2.The favour God vouchsafed to him in his distress. (1.) God heart his prayer (Psa 118:5): "He answered me with enlargements; he did more for me than I was able to ask; he enlarged my heart in prayer and yet gave more largely than I desired." He answered me, and set me in a large place (so we read it), where I had room to bestir myself, room to enjoy myself, and room to thrive; and the large place was the more comfortable because he was brought to it out of distress, Psa 4:1. (2.) God baffled the designs of his enemies against him: They are quenched as the fire of thorns (Psa 118:12), which burns furiously for a while, makes a great noise and a great blaze, but is presently out, and cannot do the mischief that it threatened. Such was the fury of David's enemies; such is the laughter of the fool, like the crackling of thorns under a pot (Ecc 7:6), and such is the anger of the fool, which therefore is not to be feared, any more than his laughter is to be envied, but both to be pitied. They thrust sorely at him, but the Lord helped him (Psa 118:13), helped him to keep his feet and maintain his ground. Our spiritual enemies would, long before this, have been our ruin if God had not been our helper. (3.) God preserved his life when there was but a step between him and death (Psa 118:18): "He has chastened me, but he has not given me over unto death, for he has not given me over to the will of my enemies." To this St. Paul seems to refer in Co2 6:9. As dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and not killed. We ought not therefore, when we are chastened sorely, immediately to despair of life, for God sometimes, in appearance, turns men to destruction, and yet says, Return; says unto them, Live.
This also is applicable to Jesus Christ. God answered him, and set him in a large place. He quenched the fire of his enemies; rage, which did but consume themselves; for through death he destroyed him that had the power of death. He helped him through his undertaking; and thus far he did not give him over unto death that he did not leave him in the grave, nor suffer him to see corruption. Death had no dominion over him.
3.The improvement he made of this favour. (1.) It encouraged him to trust in God; from his own experience he can say, It is better, more wise, more comfortable, and more safe, there is more reason for it, and it will speed better, to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in man, yea, though it be in princes, Psa 118:8, Psa 118:9. He that devotes himself to God's guidance and government, with an entire dependence upon God's wisdom, power, and goodness, has a better security to make him easy than if all the kings and potentates of the earth should undertake to protect him. (2.) It enabled him to triumph in that trust. [1.] He triumphs in God, and in his relation to him and interest in him (Psa 118:6): "The Lord is on my side. He is a righteous God, and therefore espouses my righteous cause and will plead it." If we are on God's side, he is on ours; if we be for him and with him, he will be for us and with us (Psa 118:7): "The Lord takes my part, and stands up for me, with those that help me. He is to me among my helpers, and so one of them that he is all in all both to them and me, and without him I could not help myself nor could any friend I have in the world help me." Thus (Psa 118:14), "The Lord is my strength and my song; that is, I make him so (without him I am weak and sad, but on him I stay myself as my strength, both for doing and suffering, and in him I solace myself as my song, by which I both express my joy and ease my grief), and, making him so, I find him so: he strengthens my heart with his graces and gladdens my heart with his comforts." If God be our strength, he must be our song; if he work all our works in us, he must have all praise and glory from us. God is sometimes the strength of his people when he is not their song; they have spiritual supports when they want spiritual delights. But, if he be both to us, we have abundant reason to triumph in him; for, he be our strength and our song, he has become not only our Saviour, but our salvation; for his being our strength is our protection to the salvation, and his being our song is an earnest and foretaste of the salvation. [2.] He triumphs over his enemies. Now shall his head be lifted up above them; for, First, He is sure they cannot hurt him: "God is for me, and then I will not fear what man can do against me," Psa 118:6. He can set them all at defiance, and is not disturbed at any of their attempts. "They can do nothing to me but what God permits them to do; they can do no real damage, for they cannot separate between me and God; they cannot do any thing but what God can make to work for my good. The enemy is a man, a depending creature, whose power is limited, and subordinate to a higher power, and therefore I will not fear him." Who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of a man that shall die? Isa 51:12. The apostle quotes this, with application to all Christians, Heb 13:6. They may boldly say, as boldly as David himself, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me; let him do his worst. Secondly, He is sure that he shall be too hard for them at last: "I shall see my desire upon those that hate me (Psa 118:7); I shall see them defeated in their designs against me; nay, In the name of the Lord I will destroy them (Psa 118:10-12); I trust in the name of the Lord that I shall destroy them, and in his name I will go forth against them, depending on his strength, by warrant from him, and with an eye to his glory, not confiding in myself nor taking vengeance for myself." Thus he went forth against Goliath, in the name of the God of Israel, Sa1 17:45. David says this as a type of Christ, who triumphed over the powers of darkness, destroyed them, and made a show of them openly. [3.] He triumphs in an assurance of the continuance of his comfort, his victory, and his life. First, Of his comfort (Psa 118:15): The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous, and in mine particularly, in my family. The dwellings of the righteous in this world are but tabernacles, mean and movable; here we have no city, no continuing city. But these tabernacles are more comfortable to them than the palaces of the wicked are to them; for in the house where religion rules, 1. There is salvation; safety from evil, earnests of eternal salvation, which has come to this house, Luk 19:9. 2. Where there is salvation there is cause for rejoicing, for continual joy in God. Holy joy is called the joy of salvation, for in that there is abundant matter for joy. 3. Where there is rejoicing there ought to be the voice of rejoicing, that is, praise and thanksgiving. Let God be served with joyfulness and gladness of heart, and let the voice of that rejoicing be heard daily in our families, to the glory of God and encouragement of others. Secondly, Of his victory: The right hand of the Lord does valiantly (Psa 118:15) and is exalted; for (as some read it) it has exalted me. The right hand of God's power is engaged for his people, and it acts vigorously for them and therefore victoriously. For what difficulty can stand before the divine valour? We are weak, and act but cowardly for ourselves; but God is mighty, and acts valiantly for us, with jealousy and resolution, Isa 63:5, Isa 63:6. There is spirit, as well as strength, in all God's operations for his people. And, when God's right hand does valiantly for our salvation, it ought to be exalted in our praises. Thirdly, Of his life (Psa 118:17): "I shall not die by the hands of my enemies that seek my life, but live and declare the works of the Lord; I shall live a monument of God's mercy and power; his works shall be declared in me, and I will make it the business of my life to praise and magnify God, looking upon that as the end of my preservation." Note, It is not worth while to live for any other purpose than to declare the works of God, for his honour and the encouragement of others to serve him and trust in him. Such as these were the triumphs of the Son of David in the assurance he had of the success of his undertaking and that the good pleasure of the Lord should prosper in his hand.
When a thought oppresses you, do not be downhearted but put up with it in courage, saying, “They swarmed around me closer and closer, but I drove them back in the name of the Lord.” Divine help will arrive at your side immediately, and you will drive them away from you, and courage will compass you round about, and the glory of God will walk with you; and “you will be filled to your soul’s desire.” For the ways of God are humility of heart and gentleness. It is said indeed, “Whom shall I consider if not the humble and the meek?” If you move ahead in the ways of the Lord, he will watch over you, will give you strength and will fill you with knowledge and wisdom. Your remembrance will remain before him at all times. He will deliver you from the devil, and in your dying day he will grant you his peace.
They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.
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SUMMARY
Psalms 118:11 stands as a profound declaration of unwavering faith and ultimate triumph in the face of overwhelming opposition. It vividly portrays the psalmist's experience of being relentlessly besieged by adversaries, yet confidently asserts that victory is assured, not through human might, but solely through the divine power and authoritative character of the LORD. This verse encapsulates a timeless truth: that God's omnipotence decisively surpasses all earthly threats, transforming situations of imminent peril into assured deliverance for those who trust in His name.
CONTEXT
Literary Context: Psalms 118 is a triumphant psalm of thanksgiving, serving as the capstone of the "Egyptian Hallel" (Psalms 113-118), a collection traditionally recited during significant Jewish festivals, particularly Passover. The psalm begins with a universal call to praise God for His steadfast love, then transitions into a deeply personal, yet representative, testimony of deliverance from acute distress. Verse 11, "They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD I will destroy them," is part of a series of declarations (vv. 10-14) that recount the psalmist's (and by extension, Israel's) experience of being surrounded by enemies and God's subsequent intervention. This section builds towards the climactic celebration of entering the gates of righteousness and the famous messianic prophecy concerning the rejected stone becoming the chief cornerstone, illustrating a journey from tribulation to vindication and glorification.
Historical & Cultural Context: The imagery of being "compassed about" by enemies reflects the frequent military threats, sieges, and periods of national distress that ancient Israel endured. Situated at a crossroads of empires, Israel often found itself vulnerable to invasion and political subjugation. The declaration "in the name of the LORD" (בְּשֵׁם יְהוָה, b'shem YHWH) carries immense theological weight in the ancient Near East. A "name" was not merely an identifier but represented the essence, character, authority, and inherent power of the one bearing it. To act "in the name of the LORD" was to invoke His divine authority, drawing upon the very being of YHWH, the covenant-keeping God. This concept was foundational to Israel's understanding of their identity and their relationship with God, especially in warfare, where divine intervention was crucial, as exemplified in accounts like Gideon's victory over the Midianites or David's defeat of Goliath.
Key Themes: This verse powerfully contributes to several overarching themes within Psalms 118 and the broader biblical narrative. Firstly, Divine Deliverance is paramount; the psalmist's triumph is attributed solely to God, underscoring that God is the ultimate source of salvation and victory, even when human efforts are futile, a truth echoed in Psalm 20:7. Secondly, Faith Amidst Adversity is vividly portrayed. Despite being intensely threatened and "hemmed in on all sides," the psalmist expresses resolute trust in God's power to overcome, demonstrating a proactive faith that declares victory even before its full realization. Thirdly, The Power of God's Name is central. Declaring victory "in the name of the LORD" signifies acting by His authority, drawing upon His character, and invoking His supreme, omnipotent power. This is not a mere utterance but a profound reliance on His very being and covenant faithfulness, a truth also articulated in Proverbs 18:10. Finally, the verse speaks to the theme of Overcoming Opposition, whether from literal adversaries or the spiritual and circumstantial challenges that seek to overwhelm, providing a paradigm for assured victory through divine intervention.
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Psalms 118:11 employs several powerful literary devices to convey its message of faith and victory. The most prominent is Repetition, evident in "They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about." This emphatic repetition serves to highlight the intensity, persistence, and overwhelming nature of the threat, vividly impressing upon the reader the psalmist's dire predicament and the relentless pressure faced. Following this, a stark Contrast is immediately introduced by the conjunction "but," which pivots dramatically from the overwhelming external threat to the internal declaration of divine empowerment. This creates a powerful tension and resolution, emphasizing that God's power is the decisive factor against all odds. Furthermore, the phrase "in the name of the LORD" functions as a profound Metonymy, where "name" stands for the entire person, character, authority, and power of God Himself. It is not merely an utterance of a word, but a profound invocation and reliance upon the very essence and being of YHWH. The declaration "I will destroy them" can also be seen as a form of Hyperbole, expressing the absolute certainty and totality of the victory, focusing on the complete neutralization of the threat rather than necessarily a literal, individual annihilation.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Psalms 118:11 is a profound theological statement that resonates throughout biblical theology, affirming God's absolute sovereignty and His active role as the deliverer of His people. It teaches that true power and ultimate victory do not reside in human strength, military might, or strategic cunning, but solely in the omnipotence and unwavering faithfulness of God, invoked through His revealed character and covenant name. This reliance on "the name of the LORD" underscores the intimate covenantal relationship between God and His people, where His name represents His active presence and unwavering commitment to their salvation. The verse provides a paradigm for robust faith in the face of overwhelming odds, encouraging believers to confront adversity not with despair, but with a confident declaration of God's superior power. It anticipates the New Testament understanding of spiritual warfare, where believers overcome not by their own might, but by the authority and power inherent in the name of Christ.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Psalms 118:11 offers profound and enduring encouragement for believers navigating the complexities and challenges of contemporary life. When faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles—be they personal struggles like chronic illness, financial distress, or deep-seated anxieties; spiritual attacks that threaten to overwhelm faith; relational conflicts that feel like a siege; or societal pressures that seek to compromise convictions—this verse powerfully reminds us where our true strength and ultimate victory lie. It is a call to proactive, defiant faith: rather than succumbing to fear, anxiety, or despair when "compassed about," we are invited to declare God's sovereign power and authority over our circumstances. Our triumph is not contingent upon our own abilities, resources, or cleverness, but upon the omnipotence and unwavering faithfulness of God, invoked through reliance on His very character and presence. The psalmist's steadfastness amidst intense pressure challenges us to cultivate a similar resolute trust, knowing that with God, no opposition is too great to overcome. This verse empowers us to face our "enemies"—whether literal or metaphorical—with the confident assurance that victory is secured "in the name of the LORD."
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What does it mean to "destroy them" in the context of this psalm, and is it always a call to literal violence?
Answer: The phrase "I will destroy them" (אמילם, 'amilam) signifies a decisive and complete victory over the adversaries. While the immediate historical context for the psalmist might have involved literal military threats or national enemies, the spiritual and theological application extends far beyond physical violence. In a broader sense, it refers to the complete neutralization of any threat—whether physical, spiritual, emotional, or circumstantial—that seeks to overwhelm God's people. For the New Testament believer, this concept is primarily understood in terms of spiritual warfare, where the "enemies" are not primarily flesh and blood but spiritual forces of evil and the schemes of the devil, as articulated in Ephesians 6:12. The "destruction" then refers to God's ultimate triumph over sin, death, and the powers of darkness, and the believer's participation in that victory through Christ. It is a declaration of God's assured vindication and the ultimate defeat of all that opposes His righteous will and kingdom.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Psalms 118:11 finds its ultimate and most profound fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The psalmist's declaration of victory "in the name of the LORD" powerfully foreshadows Christ's absolute triumph over the ultimate enemies of humanity: sin, death, and the devil. Jesus, as the incarnate "LORD" (YHWH), perfectly embodies the power and authority invoked by the psalmist. He was indeed "compassed about" by enemies—the religious authorities, the Roman state, and ultimately, the spiritual forces of darkness that sought to destroy Him on the cross. Yet, it was precisely through His crucifixion and resurrection that He decisively "destroyed" them. Colossians 2:15 declares that Christ disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities, triumphing over them by the cross. Furthermore, Hebrews 2:14-15 explains that through His death, Jesus destroyed "him who has the power of death, that is, the devil," and delivered those who were held in slavery by the fear of death. The victory the psalmist anticipated "in the name of the LORD" is fully realized in the person and redemptive work of Jesus, who now holds the keys of death and Hades (Revelation 1:18). Believers, united with Christ, share in this victory, empowered to overcome all opposition not by their own strength, but by the authority of His name, which is above every name (Philippians 2:9-11).