In Psa. 118 there is the thanksgiving of God’s elect for God’s bountiful goodness and everlasting lovingkindness (vv. 1-21, 27-29), leading to Christ as the cornerstone for God’s building (vv. 22-26).
Heb. Jah; a shortened form of Jehovah. So frequently throughout this psalm.
Following some ancient versions; the Hebrew text reads, You (i.e., the enemy) have pushed me hard.
See note Isa. 12:21.
cf. 2 Cor. 6:9
Or, chief cornerstone. See note Matt. 21:422c, note Eph. 2:203d, note 1 Pet. 2:41 and note 1 Pet. 2:71. Christ as the cornerstone is for the building up of the church in the New Testament age. In God’s New Testament economy Christ as the cornerstone, in His saving us (Acts 4:11-12), first makes us living stones for the building up of God’s spiritual house (Matt. 16:16-18; John 1:42; 1 Pet. 2:2-6), and then, in the process of His transforming us (Rom. 12:2a; 2 Cor. 3:18), builds us up into a dwelling place of God (Eph. 2:19-22), that He may carry out God’s eternal economy for God’s good pleasure (Eph. 1:9; 3:9-11).
This day is the day of Christ’s resurrection. On the day of His resurrection the Lord Jesus was made the cornerstone by God. Christ was chosen by God in eternity past to be the cornerstone for God’s spiritual building (1 Pet. 1:20; 2:4). Then, the Jewish leaders as the builders rejected Him to the uttermost, to such an extent that they put Him on the cross (Matt. 21:38-42a). God chose Christ as the cornerstone a second time in Christ’s resurrection (Acts 4:10-11), thereby confirming His initial choosing of Christ in eternity past. After God resurrected Christ, He uplifted Him to the heavens (Luke 24:51; Acts 1:9). Christ’s ascension to Zion in the heavens (Rev. 14:1) was a further confirmation that God had chosen Him to be the cornerstone (Isa. 28:16; 1 Pet. 2:6). Both Christ’s resurrection and His ascension prove and confirm that He is the One whom God has chosen to be the head of the corner for God’s building.
As the all-inclusive stone Christ is the centrality of God’s move for the building up of His eternal habitation (Matt. 21:42, 44; Zech. 3:9, cf. Rev. 5:5-6; Acts 4:10-12; Isa. 28:16; Eph. 2:19-22; 1 Pet. 2:4-8; Dan. 2:34-35; Zech. 4:7; Rev. 21:11, cf. Psa. 4:3). Everything Christ is, everything He has done, and everything He is doing is due to the fact that He is the cornerstone. It is by His being the cornerstone that He could die for us, that we could be crucified with Him, made alive with Him, resurrected with Him, and seated with Him in the heavenlies, and that He could save us, transform us into precious stones, and build us together to be God’s habitation, God’s unique temple in the universe.
Heb. hoshiah-na, the source for hosanna in the New Testament (Matt. 21:9; Mark 11:9-10; John 12:13).
Typifying not material prosperity but the heavenly, spiritual, and divine blessings given to us by the Triune God, as described in Eph. 1:3-14 (see notes there), which come to us by Christ’s being the cornerstone (v. 22).
Christ’s coming in the name of Jehovah occurs twice. The first time is mentioned in Matt. 21:5-11. After that, He was rejected by the Jews. When He comes the second time, the Jews will again welcome Him warmly with these words (Matt. 23:39).