Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 118:22
The stone [which] the builders refused is become the head [stone] of the corner.
22. The stone which the builders rejected
Is become the head of the corner.
A metaphor from building. The ‘corner-stone’ bonding the walls together was a most important part of the structure. A large and strong stone was needed for the purpose. It is mentioned along with the foundation (Jer 51:26; Job 38:6) of which it formed part (Isa 28:16); and so possibly the meaning here is ‘the chief cornerstone’ of the foundation. But ‘the head of the corner’ is more naturally explained to be the top-stone (Zec 4:7), not only bonding the walls together, but completing the building. Israel is the ‘head corner-stone.’ The powers of the world flung it aside as useless, but God destined it for the most honourable and important place in the building of His kingdom in the world. The words express Israel’s consciousness of its mission and destiny in the purpose of God. The perfect “is become” is a perfect of certainty. With the eye of faith the Psalmist sees the Divine purpose already realised.
Our Lord applies the passage to Himself in His solemn warning to the Pharisees of the consequences of rejecting Him (Mat 21:42; Mar 12:10-11; Luk 20:17). St Peter also quotes it (Act 4:11; 1Pe 2:7). Comp. also Eph 2:20. The principle underlying this use of the words originally spoken of Israel is that Christ was the true representative of Israel, Who undertook and fulfilled the mission in which Israel had failed.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The stone which the builders refused – See the notes at Mat 21:42-43. Compare Mar 12:10-11; Act 4:11; 1Pe 2:7. This is an allusion to a building, as if a stone should be cast away by workmen as unfit to be worked into the edifice. The figure would then be applicable to anyone who, for any purpose, was rejected. Thus it might have been applied many a time to David; so, doubtless, to others who urged claims to authority and power; and so, eminently, to the Lord Jesus Christ. We are not to suppose that this had original reference to the Messiah, but the language was applicable to him; and it is used in the passages above referred to, in addresses to the Jews, merely to show them how the principle was found in their own writings, that one who was rejected, like a stone regarded as unfit to be worked into any part of a building, might be in reality so important that it would be laid yet at the very corner, and become the most valuable stone in the edifice – that on which the whole superstructure would rest.
Is become the head stone of the corner – The principal stone placed at the corner of the edifice. This is usually one of the largest, the most solid, and the most carefully constructed of any in the edifice. Of course one would be needed at each corner of the building to constitute a firm support, but usually there is one placed at one corner of an edifice larger and more carefully made than the others, often laid with imposing ceremonies, and prepared to contain whatever it may be thought necessary to deposit in the foundation of the building to be transmitted to future times as preserving the names of the builders, or expressing the design of the edifice. Such a position he who had been rejected was to occupy in the civil polity of his country; such a position eminently the Lord Jesus occupies in relation to the church. Eph 2:20.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 118:22
The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.
Christ, the head stone of the corner
The ode seems to have been sung in a solemn procession to the temple; and by the Levitical band in responsive chorus. The stone, styled the head of the corner, was not placed on the top of the wall, but in some important and conspicuous position. Now, when the temple was built, a stone, intended by the original designers for this purpose, seems to have been rejected by the builders, and cast away as useless among the rubbish: but as no other stone could be found to supply its place, either from necessity, or from Divine warning, the despised stone was sought for, and built into that honourable station to which by the heavenly Architect it had been destined. And when the gates of the temple were opened, and the procession was arranged in its courts, its massive buildings and golden ornaments are left out of view,–though the most prominent beauties of the wonderful fabric ,–and by the Spirit of God this truly wonderful event is commemorated, as being the most notable in the history of the erection of the sanctuary, as proving the minute and surprising care which God exercised over His house, and as being typical of future erections no less strange and worthy of celebration. The verse may now be illustrated by a reference to Christ as Prophet, as Priest, as King.
I. As prophet. The important office of teacher or interpreter of the will of God has been exercised by the Son of God ever since revelations have been made to the world. As Logos, or Oracle, the Son bears such a relation to the Father as speech does to thought. This mysterious personage was the Jehovah of the Hebrew nation, who gave the law from Sinai, and was worshipped on Sion, and came at length to His temple, which He had consecrated and inhabited. But when Messiah appeared in human form, and began his prophetical career, proclaiming the spirituality and extent of the law of God,–affording evidence of His divine mission by miracles so decisive, so public, so frequent, so peculiar,–then was the indignation of the builders excited. And as the stone despised by the builders might be cast away among the rubbish, and be at length buried and out of sight, so was Jesus slain, and committed to the sepulchre, and hid from view in its depth and darkness; yet, though rejected, has He become the head of the corner. To prove Himself the faithful and true Witness He rose from the dead; if by His own power, then He was God, and as God could neither deceive nor betray His creatures; if by His Fathers power, then Jehovah would not accredit an impostor. Now Jesus is exalted as the great Prophet of the Church, though He was once despised; and now, what with the descent of His Spirit to guide into all truth; what with the commission, Go ye into all the world, and the varied qualifications for that lofty enterprise; and what with the living ministry which He has founded, and perpetuated, and blessed to preach the Word; may we not perceive the truth of the psalmists declaration, and may we not add in adoring wonder and gratitude, This is the doing of the Lord!
II. As priest. The priesthood of Jesus is of eternal ordination. In virtue of His priesthood did He act with men as a prophet. It was necessary that He should assume our nature, that He might have somewhat to offer; yet, alas! how few recognized His sacerdotal dignity. Nor were they without warning from the typical language of their priesthood and sacrifices; yet, through prejudice, they would not recognize a priest in Jesus, for He wore not the sacred vestments, and was not sprung from Aaron,–nor an atonement in the death of Him who died on Calvary amidst the scorn and execrations of the multitude. This His noblest office was unseen, unvalued; and, in His decease, men saw nothing but the merited end of treason and blasphemy. Hoping to effect the extinction of His pretensions by His death, they assisted only in unfolding His designs. Immortal life to a dying world has flown from His blood,–yet, though the manner of His death combined the stigma of slavery with the degradation of crime, that death was a true and proper sacrifice, vicarious, perfect, accepted, successful. And now in heaven the great High Priest in the heavenly temple has become the head of the corner. Now does He pursue the great work of intercession in the realms of repose and glory; by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
III. As king. The incarnate Jesus had been often depicted by the prophets as a monarch, on the throne of His father David,–yet when He came to His own, His own received Him not. Was not He who died on Calvary condemned for His treasonable aspirations to the throne of Judea? And who could fancy Him a king who wore no diadem and waved no banner, lived in obscurity and privation, and died in desertion and ignominy? But the stone, though disallowed of men, is chosen of God and precious. God hath raised Him from the dead, and placed Him at His own right hand, and endowed Him with universal government. The sceptre of all worlds is swayed by a human arm. So that if you consider what contempt was poured upon Jesus as a King,–how they crowned Him with thorns, and put a reed in His hand, and arrayed Him in garments of mock royalty, and bowed the knee before Him in contemptuous obeisance, and placed a tablet over His cross, and inscribed on it as His accusation, This is Jesus, the King of the Jews; and then again consider His present exaltation to the throne of the universe, angels obeying His word, and the countless armies of heaven rejoicing to execute His mandates, and the work of the last judgment committed to His hand; you cannot fail to perceive how truly the symbol has been verified: The stone which the builders despised is become the head of the corner. (John Eadie, D.D.)
The stone rejected by the builders exalted as the head atone of the corner
I. View the Church as a house or building (Isa 2:2-3; 1Co 3:9).
II. The character given to Christ with relation to this building. He is the Stone in a way of eminence and excellency. He is the matchless and incomparable Stone, for He is the chief Stone of the corner; the brightness of His Fathers glory is in Him, and the express image of His Person.
III. The workmen employed in rearing this spiritual building or fabric of the Church here called builders.
IV. The fatal errors of these builders spoken of in my text. They reject the Stone, without which their whole building was nothing but a medley of confusion, however glorious it might appear in their own eyes.
1. This fatal error of theirs proceeded from their ignorance of Christ, in the excellency of His person, and of the glorious mystery of redemption and salvation through Him (Act 3:17; 1Co 2:7-8).
2. Mistaken notions of the nature of the Messiahs kingdom was another cause of their rejecting this precious stone. What a dangerous thing it is not to have right conceptions of the spiritual nature of Christs kingdom.
V. Inquire what may be implied in Christs being made the Head Stone of the corner, notwithstanding the attempts of the builders to jostle Him out of His place.
1. It implies Christs exaltation and victory over all His enemies and opposers.
2. It implies that God has a great regard for the glory of His Son, as the Head and King of His Church.
3. It implies that the whole spiritual fabric or building of the Church hangs upon Him, as the superstructure leans upon the foundation and chief corner stone.
4. It implies that He alone is the centre of unity in the Church.
5. It implies that Christ is the beauty and ornament of His Church, for much of the beauty and ornament of the building lies in the corner stone.
6. It implies that they who would build the Church of Christ must still have Him in their eye, and that the whole of their conduct and administration in the house of God must be regulated with a view to His glory and honour.
7. It implies that God and corrupt builders are driving quite different measures and designs.
VI. Application.
1. Let us beware of the fatal errors before mentioned, whereby the Jewish builders ruined their once glorious fabric, and buried themselves in the ruins thereof.
2. Let us seek the builders word from the great Master-builder; for there is a word which Christ gives to His faithful ministers, whereby the art of building is much conveyed (Joh 17:14).
3. Let us take care that every stone of the building corresponds with the foundation and corner stone. In order to which, let us examine our own and others doctrines and conversation by the plumb-line and infallible rule of the word (Isa 8:20). (E. Erskine.)
The crone refused by the builders
I. Notice the views here given to the rejection of the messiah.
1. The ignominy with which they treated His Person.
2. The opposition with which they met His doctrine.
II. notice the subsequent exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ.
1. His Person has become highly exalted.
2. The victory gained by His doctrine, in rapidly subduing the hearts of men, and nations of men, to the faith.
III. Consider this change in the fortunes of the stone as the doing of the Lord, and not the doing of man; not the work of angels, not the achievement of angels, but the doing of the Lord.
1. It is the doing of all the persons in the Trinity.
2. It is the doing of all the attributes of the Godhead.
3. It is the doing of all the dispensations of Providence.
IV. The claim which this magnificent event–the exaltation of Christ–has upon the attention and admiration of men.
1. The exaltation of the Saviours mediatorial person is marvellous in our eyes.
2. The victory gained by the doctrines of Christ. It is marvellous in our eyes. There is a sevenfold marvel; whether you consider the doctrine which won the victory, the instruments employed, the weapons that were wielded by those instruments while they were propagating the doctrine, the opposition over which it triumphed, the number of those on whom it took hold, and over whom it prevailed, or the supernatural effects on all those of whom it took hold–whether you consider the one or the other, it is marvellous in our eyes. (J. Beaumont.)
The rejected stone
I. The fact. We have Christs authority for applying this spiritually to Him. The rejection of Christ foreknown. Rejection by man no proof of worthlessness: the rejected may be of God. Men reject the greater for the lesser; the moral for the sensual, all self-indulgent men risk their moral in gratifying their sensual; the spiritual for the natural, God has ordained us to life by faith, because that life is higher and nobler than the life of sense or appearance; the enduring for the sake of the temporal: all this in rejecting Christ. Hostility to Him worse than useless–ruinous.
II. The cause. This is the Lords doing. God works by man: through man as an agent: over man as the sovereign fjord. God works by the wrath of mum the childs rebellion and anger will not frustrate the fathers purpose. That may be the Lords doing which looks very unlike it. Evil a mystery, but Gods doing through it, clear in the Gospel, though nowhere else.
III. The result. It is marvellous in our eyes. The scheme of salvation, marvellous in conception, unlike and beyond all human thought. All that God does should be marvellous to us, would be if we were His little children. Wonder plays an important part m our history and religion. (Homilist.)
The head stone of the corner
I. Christ rejected.
1. He was clearly placed before the Jewish people as the stone which God would lay in Zion as the foundation of their hopes, but they persistently refused Him. Alas, for the blindness of mens hearts.
2. His rejection was rendered the more remarkable and the more sorrowful because He was rejected by the builders or leaders of the nation.
3. It was a violent and indignant rejection. They were not content to say, He is not the Messiah, but they turned their hottest malice against film; they were furious at the sight of Him.
4. This rejection was most unreasonable; they did violence to truth and justice by their evil deed.
II. Christ exalted.
1. At this moment Christ has the chief place of honour in the building of God.
2. Nor is He alone eminent for His position of honour, but for His surpassing usefulness. He is the head stone of the corner, that stone which joins two walls together, and is the bond of the building. Jew and Gentile are now one in Christ Jesus. Wondrous corner stone Thou dost bind all of us together who are in Thee, so that by love of Thee we are builded together for a temple of the Holy Ghost. Thou art the perfect bond, the eternal holdfast, the Divine cement which holds the universe in one. Is it not written, By Him all things consist?
3. Our Lord Jesus Christ then is brought up from all rejection and shame go which His enemies put Him to be by usefulness and by honour the grandest personage upon the face of the earth; and all this none the less, but all the more, because He was rejected. He lost nothing by His enemies. They scourged His back, but they did not rob Him of that imperial purple which now adorns Him; they crowned Him with thorns, but those thorns have increased the brilliance of His diadem of light; they pierced His hands, and thereby prepared them to sway an irresistible sceptic of love over mens hearts; they crucified Him, but His crucifixion led Him to His greater honour.
III. The exaltation of Christ is due to God alone (verse 23). Jesus Christs name and work were at length had in honour in the world, but this was due to no mans wisdom, eloquence, or power, but entirely to the Lord, who is wonderful in counsel and great in might. When I consider how hostile is human nature to the Gospel, the very existence of a true Church in the world is to me a miracle. Just think of it. Why, at this very day, we have all the wisdom, and power, and eloquence, and skill of the superstition of the world arrayed against the simple Gospel of Jesus. Though they are agreed in nothing else, they all unite against Christ.
IV. The exaltation of the rejected Christ commences a new era (verse 24). We date from our Lords resurrection even as the Jews of old counted from the night wherein they went out of Egypt. What is this day which the Lord hath made? I reply first, it is the day of the Gospel. Through our Lords exaltation pardon for the guilty is freely preached among all nations, and whosoever believeth in Him hath everlasting life. What day is this which the Lord hath made? Why, in the next place, it is a Sabbath day, the beginning of a long line of Sabbaths. The day in which our Lord Jesus rose from the dead is now sacred to rest and holy joy. Let us keep it with reverent love, and bless God for making it. Again, This is the day which the Lord hath made. The resurrection of Christ commences an era of triumph. We have spoken of the Gospel day, and the Sabbatic day, but it is also a day of victories. As Jesus Christ rose from the dead, so will His truth continually rise from the sepulchre into which men may east it. As he triumphed over the powers of death and darkness, so will His Gospel triumph over all opposition.
V. The exaltation of Christ suggests a prayer (verse 25).
1. A prayer for salvation. Put it in the present tense. Ask for a display of the present saving power of our exalted Head.
2. The other half of the prayer is for prosperity. O Lord, send now prosperity. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Christ the head stone of the corner
The corner is the place where two walls meet, and the corner stone is that by which they are connected or combined. Hence the idea suggested by a corner stone is mainly that of union; and it is as uniting what was separated or detached that Christ is specially presented to us under such an emblem. And verily He was the Corner Stone. In His Person were combined the Divine nature and the human; and it was this combination, His being the Corner Stone between God and man, which alone fitted Him for the vast office He had undertaken to discharge. Did He not, moreover, unite Jew and Gentile, making both one, by removing all ceremonial distinctions, and founding a Church which threw open its gates to every nation under heaven? Nay, did He not unite God and man in another sense by becoming, in His own person, a Corner Stone? He reconciled the world to its Maker–He restored harmony where sin had wrought a fearful separation. Yes, He was, and He is, the Corner Stone between earth and heaven. But it is evident from the manner in which St. Peter has quoted the prophecy in our text, that it had especial reference to the resurrection of Christ. It was by and through the Resurrection that the rejected Stone was exalted to the head of the corner; and forasmuch as the alleged marvel lies evidently in the transition from the rejection to the exaltation, we are bound to conclude that the process through which the transition took place had much to do with the wonder expressed by the psalmist. And never ought the Resurrection of the Redeemer to appear to us other than a fact as amazing as it is consolatory; for there is a respect in which the resurrection of Christ differs immeasurably from every other recorded case of the quickening of the dead. Others were raised by Christ, or by men acting in the name and with the authority of Christ; but Christ raised Himself. He rose from the grave–rose by His own act. Destroy this temple, said He, and in three days I will raise it up; the evangelist adding, as a comment, He spake of the temple of His body. Marvel of marvels! that which we believe will not cease to be marvellous when eternity has been given to its contemplation–is that the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us; but the marvel seems immeasurably heightened when the dead Christ, as well as the living, may be defined as actually a person of the Godhead. Divinity in the gravel–this is a stupendous thing. But Divinity was in the grave–Divinity was proved to have been in the grave, when the rejected Stone, by the exercise of its own power, came forth from the grave. Verily, we must exclaim with the psalmist–This is the Lords doing. The resurrection of Christ, effected through His own power, supersedes all necessity for any other miracle in evidence of the Divine origin of Christianity. How could that being be less than Deity itself, who, even when dead in human nature, was mighty enough to quicken that nature–who, by the strangest of all combinations, must have been dead and alive at once, and who was able, in that respect in which He was alive, to reanimate Himself in that respect in which He was dead? Need we ask whether this excites your amazement? Oh! which of you, when he thinks how, in rising from the dead, the Redeemer destroyed the curse and provided that the creature itself also should be delivered from the bondage of corruption–which of you can refuse to join in the exclamation–This is the Lords doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? But amazement or admiration is not only the feeling which the fact before us should excite. The battle, the narrative of which is so surprising, was fought in our behalf, and the landscape, which awakens such lofty emotions, includes within its sweep whatever is most precious to ourselves. A Redeemer detained in the grave, would have necessarily been a Redeemer unable to redeem; a stone not exalted to the head of the corner, would have been one which failed to combine earth and heaven. We, then, who can rejoice, because there has arisen a Mediator between us and God, must therefore rejoice in the exaltation of the rejected Stone. It was in the rising to the head of the corner that this Stone swept down the obstacles to the forgiveness of man, and opened to him the pathway to heaven and immortality. And there is more to be said than this. The resurrection of our own bodies is intimately connected with the resurrection of Christ–connected, as an effect with a cause; for since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection from the dead: for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Therefore, if it be any cause for joy that our bodies are to rise, it is cause for joy that the Stone rejected by the builders was exalted of God to the head of the corner. And the resurrection of the body is a cause for joy. The body, indeed, is to be a spiritual body, and therefore will renovated materialism assume a more spiritual character, congenial to that of the celestial inhabitants; but a material system there surely shall be–a material world, with material loveliness, and an over-arching sky, in which, when the present constellations shall be quenched, their places shall be filled with others, more beautifully, more eloquently bright. If such, then, be the resurrection, and such our personal interest in the rising of the rejected Stone to be the head of the corner, it is not amazement only with which you will hear the record or look upon the landscape. The record is that of a stupendous victory, but a victory which secured you the means of grace and the hope of glory. Oh! then, delight must be added to amazement. If you have already exclaimed with a tongue of wonder, This is the Lords doing; it is marvellous in our eyes, will you not now add with a tongue of exultation, This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it? (H. Melvill, B.D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 22. – 23. The stone which the builders refused] See a full elucidation of these two verses in Clarke’s notes on “Mt 21:42“.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The commonwealth of Israel and the church of God are here and elsewhere in Scripture compared to a building, wherein as the people are the stones and the matter, so the princes and rulers are the builders, whose office it was to erect, and support, and improve the building, and to use their wisdom and power in choosing fit materials for the several parts and purposes of the building, and in the rejection of what was unprofitable and inconvenient. And these master-builders rejected David as an obscure, and treacherous, and rebellious person, fit to be not only laid aside and thrown away, but also to be crushed to pieces. And so their successors rejected Christ as an enemy to Moses, a friend to sinners, and a blasphemer against God, and therefore deserving death and damnation.
The head stone of the corner; the chief stone in the whole building, by which the several parts of the building are upheld and firmly united and kept together. Thus David united all the tribes and families of Israel, who had been miserably distracted and divided by the civil wars between the houses of Saul and David. And thus Christ united Jews and Gentiles together, as is observed, Eph 2:14, &c. And although David alludeth to himself and his own condition, yet it is not to be doubted but that having the prophetical Spirit, by which he foresaw the coming of Christ, and his ill usage from the Jews, of which he speaks very particularly Psa 22, and elsewhere; and having his thoughts much taken up with Christ and the event of his kingdom, of which he speaks in divers of his Psalms, he had his eye principally fixed upon him in these and the following expressions. And therefore this place is justly expounded of Christ in the New Testament, as Mar 12:10; Act 4:11; Rom 9:32; Eph 2:20; 1Pe 2:6, compared with Isa 28:16. And to him indeed the words agree much more properly and fully than to David.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
22, 23. These words are appliedby Christ (Mt 21:42) toHimself, as the foundation of the Church (compare Act 4:11;Eph 2:20; 1Pe 2:4;1Pe 2:7). It may here denoteGod’s wondrous exaltation to power and influence of him whom therulers of the nation despised. Whether (see on Ps118:1) David or Zerubbabel (compare Hag 2:2;Zec 4:7-10) be primarilymeant, there is here typically represented God’s more wonderfuldoings in exalting Christ, crucified as an impostor, to be the Princeand Saviour and Head of His Church.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The stone [which] the builders refused,…. This is not Zerubabel, according to the sense of some Jews, as Theodoret suggests; nor the people of Israel, as Jarchi and Kimchi; nor David, as the Targum, which paraphrases the words,
“the child the builders despised was among the sons of Jesse, and deserved to be appointed a king and a governor.”
He doubtless was a type of Christ, and there was some shadow of what is here said in him: he was refused by all the tribes but Judah; Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, was set upon the throne, though afterwards all Israel and Judah united in making David king, 2Sa 2:8. But the Messiah is intended, as some ancient Jewish writers e own, and Jarchi himself elsewhere f confesses; and which is certain from the quotation and application of this passage to Christ, in Mt 21:42 Ac 4:11; who is compared to a stone for his strength and duration; and because of his usefulness in the spiritual building of the church, as a foundation and corner stone; [See comments on Mt 21:42]. Him the Jewish builders refused; their political ones, their rulers, that believed not on him; the princes of this world, that rose up against him and crucified him; even those who were the support of their civil state, and the maintainers of it: but more especially their ecclesiastical builders, the chief priests, Scribes, and Pharisees, who built the people, or directed them to build on their carnal privileges, the traditions of the elders, and their own legal righteousness. These refused to receive Jesus as the Messiah, and to believe in him; they refused to own and honour him as King of Zion; they refused his doctrines and ordinances; they refused to hear him preach, or suffer others to hear him; they refused to make use of him in the spiritual building, either to preach him themselves, or allow others to do it; they rejected him with contempt; they set him at nought, and preferred a thief and a robber to him;
is become the head [stone] of the corner; Christ is the corner stone, that unites elect angels and elect men together, Jews and Gentiles, Old and New Testament saints, saints above and below, saints in all ages and places; and he is the head stone, or chief corner stone, for strength and beauty, and the head of the corner; or of persons most eminent, who are sometimes called the corner, Jud 20:2. Christ is exalted above all; he is the head of principalities and powers, the angels; he is made higher than the kings of the earth; and is the head of the body, the church, an head both of eminence and influence.
e Zohar in Exod. fol. 93. 3. Vid. Tikkune Zohar, Correct. 5. fol. 15. 2. f Comment. in Mic. v. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
22 The stone which the builders rejected In these words David boldly pours contempt on the calumnies with which he was unjustly and undeservedly assailed. As there was something ominous in his being condemned by the entire assemblage of the nobles, and all those who were invested with authority, and as the opinion was prevalent, that he was a wicked and rejected man; this error he deliberately refutes, and vindicates his innocence in the face of the principal men among them. “It is of little importance to me that I am abandoned by the chief men, seeing I have been visibly chosen by the judgment of God to be king over Israel.” The similitude which he employs is appropriate, comparing himself to a stone, and the principal rulers of the Church to master-builders It might, indeed, appear most irrational on his part to assert that the heads of the realm, to whom the government of the Church was intrusted, should be deprived of the Spirit of God, and divested of a sound judgment. Hence, in opposition to their perverse and erroneous judgment, he places the grace of God, declaring that he was placed by the purpose and power of God to sustain the whole building. In a word, he shows that splendid titles and high rank, in which his enemies glory, are no obstruction to him, because, relying upon the call of God, he possesses a glory superior to the verdict of the whole world. It being a difficult matter to persuade them of the truth of this, he magnifies and enlarges upon the grace of God, in order that its authority might suppress all evil speaking and clamorous surmises.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(22) The stone.Better, a stone. There is no article. Israel is, of course, this stone, rejected as of no account in the political plans of those who were trying to shape the destinies of the Eastern nations at their own pleasure, but in the purpose of God destined to a chief place in the building up of history. The image is developed by Isa. 28:16-17, and prepared, by the Messianic hope poured into it, for the use of Christ Himself and the repeated applications of it to Him by the apostles (Mat. 21:42-44; Act. 4:11; 1Pe. 2:7; Eph. 2:20; see New Testament Commentary).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
This is a most remarkable passage; and as such the former verse is again and again quoted by the sacred writers. Our Lord himself becomes the authority, and hence his servants follow him. See Mat 21:42 . Hence the Evangelists Mark and Luke, the Apostles Peter and Paul, refer to the same. See Mar 12:10 ; Luk 20:17 ; Act 4:11 ; 1Pe 2:4 ; Eph 2:20 . But what I would chiefly desire the Reader to remark is, the doctrine which our Lord founds upon it. Christ is the stone which Jehovah laid in Zion; and which the prophet Daniel described, (Dan 2:34 ) as a stone cut out without hands. The Jewish builders refused this stone; and now this same rejected stone is become the head of the corner; for salvation is in no other. See Isa 28:16 ; Dan 2:34 ; Act 4:10-12 . Reader! pause over this most momentous scripture, and while beholding all these grand witnesses to the truth of it; behold Christ most completely answering to this character. Christ is the foundation stone of his church; the fist stone laid in point of order; for every believer is built upon him. Col 2:7 ; 1Co 3:11 ; 1Pe 2:4-5 . Christ also is the foundation stone in point of strength; help is here laid upon one that is mighty, Psa 89:19 ; Eph 2:20 . And Christ is the foundation-stone to knit together, and to keep compact, the whole building. He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit, 1Co 6:17 . My soul! what sayest thou to these blessed truths? Art thou founded on this rock? Art thou united personally to Jesus? Art thou growing to a holy temple in the Lord? Bless then the Lord for these distinguishing mercies, and cry out with the Psalmist, This is the Lord’s doing; for it is all of Jehovah’s ordering, and truly marvellous it is in our eyes!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 118:22 The stone [which] the builders refused is become the head [stone] of the corner.
Ver. 22. The stone which the builders refused ] David, and the Son of David were by those, who seemed to be somewhat laid aside, and slighted as abjects and refuse ones; but wisdom was ever justified of her children.
Is become the head stone of the corner
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 118:22-29
22The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief corner stone.
23This is the Lord’s doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
24This is the day which the Lord has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25O Lord, do save, we beseech You;
O Lord, we beseech You, do send prosperity!
26Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord;
We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.
27The Lord is God, and He has given us light;
Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
28You are my God, and I give thanks to You;
You are my God, I extol You.
29Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Psa 118:22 The stone which the builders rejected This is obviously used in the sense of paradox. It seems here to refer to national rejection. But we understand from the life of Christ that it was individually fulfilled in Him. See SPECIAL TOPIC: CORNERSTONE .
Has become the chief corner stone This seems to be a reference to the Messiah (see SPECIAL TOPIC: MESSIAH ), used in Isa 28:16. It also speaks of the rejection of the Messiah and the seeming defeat of God’s purpose (i.e., Calvary).
Psa 118:23 This is the Lord’s doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes God’s ways are so different from our ways (cf. Isa 55:9-11). No one expected the Messiah to be God Incarnate. No one expected His substitutionary atonement (cf. Isaiah 53; Mar 10:45; 2Co 5:21). But this was the pre-determined plan of God (cf. Act 2:23; Act 3:18; Act 4:28). See Special Topic: YHWH’s Eternal Redemptive Plan.
Psa 118:24 This is the day which the Lord has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it God is in control of history (both corporate and individual)! That which seems to be a spiritual disaster is often turned into a tremendous spiritual victory!
I recommend the book by Hannah Whithall Smith, The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life.
For day see Special Topic: DAY (yom) .
Psa 118:25 O Lord, do save This is the term Hosanna, which was spoken about Jesus at the triumphant entry into Jerusalem during the last week of His earthly life (cf. Mat 21:42; Mat 21:45). Whatever the original historical setting of this Psalm, it had come to be used in first century rabbinical Judaism as a welcoming ceremony for the pilgrims entering the city for Passover. However, when Jesus appeared, they took that which was an annual greeting and made it very personal to Him.
This verse begins with two imperatives.
1. save – BDB 446, KB 448, Hiphil
2. send prosperity – BDB 852 II, KB 1026, Hiphil
In OT theology (i.e., the two ways, cf. Deu 30:15; Deu 30:19; Psalms 1), God’s forgiveness and acceptance were demonstrated visibly by prosperity. However, this proved not always to be the case (cf. Job, Psalms 73).
Psa 118:26 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord The use of this phrase in the NT puts a Messianic aspect to this Hallel Psalm (cf. Mat 21:9; Mat 23:39; Mar 11:9; Luk 13:35; Luk 19:38; Joh 12:13). See SPECIAL TOPIC: MESSIAH .
Psa 118:27
NASB, NRSV,
TEV, JPSOAThe Lord is God
NKJVGod is the Lord
There is no verb, just El (BDB 42) and YHWH (BDB 217). This same form occurs in Psa 85:9. The same combination without a verb is also in Psa 118:28, El (lit. My El) and pronoun (BDB 61).
The Deity of Israel goes by several names.
1. some have developed through history
2. some were titles of pagan deities applied to Israel’s God
3. some denote different aspects of His being
4. some are poetic parallels for literary purposes
He has given us light There have seen several interpretations.
1. God’s personal presence – Psa 89:15; Psa 90:8
2. God’s revelation
a. Scripture – Psa 19:8; Psa 36:9; Psa 119:105; Isa 51:4
b. Messiah – Isa 49:6; Mic 7:8; Joh 1:9; Joh 3:19-21; Joh 12:35-36; 1Jn 2:8
3. God’s blessing – Num 6:25
4. the Shekinah cloud of the exodus – Exo 13:21-22; Exo 14:20
5. God’s portable throne chariot – Eze 1:4; Eze 1:27
Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar This is a very difficult Hebrew phrase and has been understood in several different ways.
1. link together the pilgrims – This involves an emendation of the text based on the Dead Sea Scrolls.
2. with branches in your hand draw up in procession – This is the translation of the Jerusalem Bible (JB) and the NIV; it seems to reference the OT allusion of branches used in the Festival of Tabernacles (cf. Lev 23:40). The term cords can be used for branches (cf. Eze 19:11; Eze 31:3; Eze 31:10; Eze 31:14).
3. bring the sacrifice down to the horns of the altar – This seems to fit the context best, and the term bound can be found in this connotation in Jdg 15:13; Jdg 16:11; Eze 3:25.
4. The concept of sacrifice seems to be caught up with the substitutionary atonement of Christ (i.e., Isa 52:13 to Isa 53:12), which is alluded to in the Masoretic Text of Mal 2:3. The horns of the altar would have been the holiest part of the altar on which the sacrificial blood was smeared (cf. Exo 27:2; Exo 30:10; Lev 4:7; Lev 4:18; Lev 4:25; Lev 4:30; Lev 4:34; Lev 8:15; Lev 9:9; Lev 16:18).
Psa 118:28-29 This Psalm ends as it began, with a festival of thanks (i.e., BDB 392, KB 389, Hiphil imperatives) to God for who He is, what He has done, and what He is going to do on behalf of His faithful followers.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought provoking, not definitive.
1. List all of the blessings that God has given us in this Psalm.
2. Why do many scholars think this Psalm is antiphonal?
3. How is the nation personified in the king and later in the Messiah?
4. Explain the Messianic elements of Psa 118:22; Psa 118:26, how they fit into ancient Israel and how they fit into the life of Christ.
5. What is a preferred translation of Psa 118:27? What are its implications to the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth?
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
The stone: i.e. the Messiah. See Gen 49:24. A stone of stumbling, Isa 8:14 (compare Rom 9:33. 1Pe 2:8); a “tried stone”, “precious”, “sure”, Isa 28:16; the rejected stone (compare Mat 21:42. Mar 12:10, Mar 12:11. Luk 20:17. Act 4:11. 1Pe 2:4). The true foundation, Isa 28:16 (compare Mat 16:18. 1Co 3:11. Eph 2:20).
refused. See note above, and compare Structure, 22-24 with 26-28, above. Here the present Dispensation comes in. See App-72.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
The stone which the builders refused
See “Christ (as Stone),” See Scofield “Exo 17:6”. See Scofield “1Pe 2:8”.
Psalms 118 looks beyond the rejection of the Stone (Christ) to His final exaltation in the kingdom (Psa 118:22).
See Psalms 2, first of the Messianic Psalms.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
The stone: Mat 21:42, Mar 12:10, Mar 12:11, Luk 20:17, Act 4:11, Eph 2:20-22, 1Pe 2:4-8
the head: Zec 4:7
Reciprocal: Gen 37:8 – reign over us Gen 49:24 – the stone Jdg 11:5 – to fetch Job 38:6 – fastened Psa 118:20 – This gate Isa 28:16 – Behold Dan 2:34 – a stone Zec 3:9 – the stone Mar 8:31 – rejected Luk 19:38 – Blessed Luk 24:44 – in the psalms Act 2:33 – by Act 7:35 – the same Rom 9:33 – Behold 1Co 3:9 – ye are God’s building 1Pe 2:7 – the stone Rev 15:3 – Great
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
118:22 The stone [which] the builders {k} refused is become the head [stone] of the corner.
(k) Though Saul and the chief powers refused me to be king, yet God has preferred me above them all.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
3. Praise for Yahweh’s triumph 118:22-29
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The psalmist seems to have been comparing himself to the stone that the builders (his adversaries) had rejected, in view of the preceding context (cf. Psa 118:18). The imagery is common. Whenever builders construct a stone building they discard some stones because they do not fit. The writer had felt discarded like one of these stones, but God had restored him to usefulness and given him a position of prominence in God’s work. "Corner stone" (NASB) is more accurate than "capstone" (NIV). The cornerstone of a large building was the largest and or most important stone in the foundation. All the other foundation stones were laid and aligned in reference to this key stone. Only God could have done this (Psa 118:23). The day of his restoration was obviously one God had brought to pass. Consequently the writer called on everyone to rejoice with him in it.
There are many New Testament references to the stone of Psa 118:22. The Lord Jesus applied it to Himself (Mat 21:42; Mar 12:10-11; Luk 20:17). Peter and Paul also applied it to Jesus (Act 4:11; Eph 2:20; 1Pe 2:6-8). God’s amazing resurrection of His rejected Son to the place of supreme universal authority is marvelous to say the least. The day of His resurrection is the greatest day the Lord ever made. It is indeed the basis for the Christian’s joy and rejoicing. [Note: See Allen, Lord of . . ., pp. 95-101.]