Read Psalm 118:15–18
Questions from the from the Scripture text: What “voice” does Psalm 118:15a describe? Where is it heard (verse 15b)? What does it rejoice over (verse 15c, Psalm 118:16a, verse 16b)? What has this right hand of YHWH done? What else does this right hand ensure will not happen (Psalm 118:17a)? What will happen instead? Why will the righteous one live (verse 17b)? What has YHWH done to the righteous one (Psalm 118:18a)? But what hasn’t He done?
What does a righteous home sound like? Psalm 118:15–18 prepares us for the opening portion of public worship on the Lord’s Day. In these four verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that a righteous home is loud with the sound of rejoicing over Jesus.
Recognizing the righteous tent. How do you know if you are in one of the tents of the righteous (Psalm 118:15b)? There is one piece of furniture that you will always find there: the voice of loud rejoicing and salvation (verse 15a; the word for salvation here, is the word from which we get “Jesus”!). The word for “rejoicing” is ‘loud’ enough that it can well be translated “crying out.” The victory of the King in Psalm 118:10-14 spills over into the tents of the righteous, who are given a share in His victory. Can people tell if your house is a tent of the righteous? How about your heart? Is there jubilation over Jesus there?
What the righteous rejoice over. Three times (Psalm 118:15c, Psalm 118:16a, verse 16b) we hear what this jubilant voice is rejoicing over: “the right hand of YHWH.” This great King, Who destroys the swarm of enemies, is Himself the right hand of YHWH—the strength (Psalm 118:15, Psalm 118:16b) and glory (verse 16a) of God, which delivers His people.
Why the righteous are delivered. We deserve death. It is a turn of events when we do not die, but instead we live (Psalm 118:17a). For what purpose are we given this life? “To declare the works of YHWH” (verse 17b)! This is not miserly, on the Lord’s part, but generous. If we had desired all creation, instead of desiring to know Him and His glory, we would desire too little. And it is the great privilege and purpose of our creation and our redemption to declare His glory!
How the righteous are brought into their portion. Notice that being saved by YHWH’s almighty right hand does not mean that we experience nothing but comfort and ease. Psalm 118:188a might look like it doesn’t fit in this section, but it is the standard experience of all whom the Lord saves, all who are true children (cf. Hebrews 12:8). They partake in chastening, in discipline, sometimes quite painfully (the word is intensified by a doubling in the original, cf. Hebrews 12:11). But this is not because the Lord is against them, but rather because He is saving them from the death that they deserve (Psalm 118:18b), the death to which they would plunge themselves without His deliverance and His chastening.
So, with our thoughts resting upon the victory of the King, let us rejoice over His salvation, and even His faithfulness and wisdom and goodness in chastening us!
Who is your King? Whom has He defeated, and whom/what will He have finished defeating at the last? What painful thing does He do in your life to bring you into the full enjoyment of what He has gained for you? What is an example of His chastening that you have experienced? How often/much do you find your heart full of the affection of rejoicing at all of this? How often/much do you find your home full of the sound of rejoicing at all of this?
Sample prayer: Lord, grant that loud shouts of joy would be filling our houses throughout the week, and grant that loud shouts of joy would fill the assembly of Your household on the Lord’s Day. You have saved us by Your Son, Jesus Christ. He has been for us Your valiant and exalted right hand. Even when You have severely chastened us, it has been to deliver us from death so that we may live and declare Your works. So, grant unto us the ministry of Your Spirit, that He would apply Christ to us, and give us to declare Your works in praise, we ask in His Name, AMEN!
Suggested songs: ARP118C “Loud Shouts of Joy” or TPH118A “O Thank the LORD for All His Goodness”
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