July Psalms, Part 1: “In The Stone”

Introduction- I Like Songs With Depth such as “In The Stone”

“In The Stone” 1st song track and 3rd single off Earth, Wind, & Fire’s 1979 album “I Am”

Verse 1

I found that love provides the key

Unlocks the heart and souls of you and me

Love will learn to sing your song, yeah

Love is written in the stone

Every man I meet is walking time

Free to wander past his conscious mind

Love will come and take you home, yeah

Love is written in the stone

Do you believe, my friend, in what you claim?

People of the world all doubt the same

Bringing questions of their own, yeah

Truth is, truth is written in the stone

Chorus:

(Look in the stone)

In the stone, you'll find the meaning

You're not standing tall

('Cause in the stone)

In the stone, the light is shining

Ever touching all

Jennifer Bell says: The song “In The Stone” encourages us to embrace our true selves and to grow and change for the better. They lyrics encourage us to look within ourselves for strength and courage and to trust in our ability to overcome obstacles and challenges. It also holds a message of hope and encouragement, which resonates with people of all ages.

Maurice white sings about an abiding love that is written in stone.

1 John 4:4 ESV

4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

Transition To Body- The Egyptian Hallel Psalms (113-118)

The Psalm seems to have composed for a service of thanksgiving. The service has its center or focus or worship leader as a person who has survived a dangerous crisis. This celebrant stands at the gates of the temple courts accompanied by a congregation of worshipers. There he gives testimony of his escape!

Psalm 118:26 ESV

26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.

Who the person was who “comes in the name of the LORD” and from what particular crisis he had escaped is left as open and indefinite. What happened to the celebrant is the work of the LORD

Psalm 118 is situated at the end of a collection of Psalms labeled- The Egyptian Hallel

The Egyptian Hallel (Praise) of the Lord songs were sung during the annual feast of Passover.

Psalm 113-114 sung before passover- describe how the praise looks

Psalm 115- Communal Confidence

Psalm 116- Individual Thanksgiving

Psalm 117- Cosmic applicability of praising the LORD

Uniqueness of Psalm 118

Communal Thanksgiving (vv1-4)

Individual Thanksgiving (vv5-19, 21, & 28)

Body- The LORD’S Lovingkindness

Response Of The Recipients

Psalm 118:1–4 ESV

1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! 2 Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” 3 Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” 4 Let those who fear the Lord say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”

Whom The LORD Worked Wonders On Their Behalf

Psalm 114:2 ESV

2 Judah became his sanctuary, Israel his dominion.

Psalm 114:5 ESV

5 What ails you, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn back?

Psalm 114:8 ESV

8 who turns the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of water.

The LORD Remembers & Blesses His People

Psalm 115:9–13 ESV

9 O Israel, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield. 10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield. 11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield. 12 The Lord has remembered us; he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron; 13 he will bless those who fear the Lord, both the small and the great.

LORD’S Graciousness, Righteousness, & Mercifulness Towards His People

Psalm 116:5 ESV

5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful.

All Peoples Out Praise The LORD!

Psalm 117:1 ESV

1 Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples!

The LORD’S Stiff-Necked (Difficult) People

Exodus 34:9–10 ESV

9 And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.” 10 And he said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.

Witness Of The Worshiper

The LORD Helped Me

Psalm 118:5–7 ESV

5 Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free. 6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? 7 The Lord is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.

The LORD Protected Me

Psalm 118:8–9 ESV

8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. 9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.

The LORD Empowered Me

Psalm 118:10–13 ESV

10 All nations surrounded me; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! 11 They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! 12 They surrounded me like bees; they went out like a fire among thorns; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! 13 I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me.

The LORD Saved Me

Psalm 118:14–16 ESV

14 The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. 15 Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the Lord does valiantly, 16 the right hand of the Lord exalts, the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!”

Some things I could not do for myself so the LORD intervened on my behalf and gave me victory

The right hand of the LORD is a figure for the intervening action of God in human affairs.

The LORD Disciplined Me

Psalm 118:17–18 ESV

17 I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord. 18 The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death.

Recovery & Reclamation Of The Rejected

Psalm 118:19–29 ESV

19 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. 20 This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. 21 I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. 22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 23 This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25 Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success! 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord. 27 The Lord is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar! 28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you. 29 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

Recovery the action or process of regaining possession or control of something stolen or lost.

Reclamation is the process of changing land that is unsuitable for farming or building into land that can be used.

The cornerstone bears the weight of a building and serves as the standard for orienting and leveling the rest of the structure. The rejected king has been restored to a place of prominence.

118:22. stone rejected by builders. Israelite Iron Age architectural design made increasing use of cut-stone masonry over the rough boulders and rubble construction of earlier periods. In order to provide stability and to bind two adjoining walls together, a finely shaped block of stone was inserted that became the cornerstone. It would have been a larger stone than those normally used, and its insertion often required special effort or rituals. Its large, smooth surface was a natural place for inscribing religious slogans, the name of the architect or king responsible and the date of construction. It is possible that the cornerstone could also serve as the foundation stone. For information on the latter see the next entry and comments on Ezra 3:3 and 3:10.

118:22. capstone. The cornerstone or, better, the foundation brick is always significant in temple building and restoration. One of the most detailed temple-building accounts in ancient Near Eastern literature describes Gudea’s construction of a temple for Ningirsu around 2000 b.c. The ceremony concerning the premier brick shows its centrality to the building procedure.

Victor Harold Matthews, Mark W. Chavalas, and John H. Walton, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament, electronic ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), Ps 118:22.

The cornerstone represents the character of the LORD- Zechariah 4:7

Zechariah 4:7 ESV

7 Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’ ”

This is the first hint that in the ring of foes were the builders themselves, the men of power in Israel.

God’s marvelous vindication of him was by the resurrection, as Peter implies in Acts 4:10

Acts 4:10 ESV

10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well.

Personal relationship with the LORD God- Psalm 118:27-29

Psalm 118:27–29 ESV

27 The Lord is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar! 28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you. 29 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

As You Come To A Living Stone

1 Peter 2:4–10 ESV

4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” 7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 8 and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Psalm 100:1–5 ESV

1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! 2 Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! 3 Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! 5 For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

Transition To Close- Good Man

2nd Verse of “Good Man” by Angie Stone’s New Album Love Language released in May of this year

From thе hills to the valley

If you lost it all, you'll still have mе

I'll be your eyes when you're not seeing clear

I'd remind you that you, God is here

I know who you are (Know who you are), safe in your arms (Safe in your arms)

I trust you to lead (Trust you to lead)

And when I'm spoilin' you and I pamper you

That's my answer to how you love me

Close

Psalm 118:1 ESV

1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

Psalm 118:29 ESV

29 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

Romans 8:31 ESV

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

1 Corinthians 2:6–10 ESV

6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.

He Came To His Own

John 1:11–13 ESV

11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.