Psalm 118 Overview
Tight place to thanksgiving
Psalm 118
Welcome to the Overview of Psalm 118
This page will introduce and provide orientation to Psalm 118 as a whole. It includes the following sections:
Introduction to Psalm 118
Author:
Purpose:
- To joyfully give thanks to YHWH for his loyalty.
Content:
- Give thanks to YHWH for he is good, for his loyalty is forever! From a tight place I cried out to YHWH, and YHWH answered me with spaciousness.
Message:
- YHWH is good and his loyalty is forever. Rejoice and give thanks!
Psalm 118 At-a-Glance
These sections divide the content of the psalm into digestible pieces , and are determined based on information from many of our layers, including Semantics, Poetics, and Discourse. The columns, left to right, contain: the verse numbers; the main title of the section; a brief summary of the content of that section (quote marks indicate the text is taken directly from the English text of the psalm (as per our Close-but-Clear translation); and an icon to visually represent and remember the content.
Background Orientation for Psalm 118
Following are the common-ground assumptionsCommon-ground assumptions include information shared by the speaker and hearers. In our analysis, we mainly use this category for Biblical/Ancient Near Eastern background. which are the most helpful for making sense of the psalm.
- In ancient Israel there was a specific temple sacrifice called the thanksgiving (toda) sacrifice which would be performed to give thanks to YHWH for his loyalty (hesed) to Israel and all of his blessings (Jer. 17:26; 33:11, 2 Chron. 29:31; 33:16).
- After victory in military conflicts, ancient Israelites would go up to Jerusalem to give thanks to YHWH for his salvation. For example, in 2 Chron. 20 King Jehoshaphat is surrounded by enemies, cries out to YHWH, and YHWH answers and grants victory. Jehoshaphat and the people then "came to Jerusalem with harps and lyres and trumpets, to the house of the LORD" (2 Chron. 20:28) to give thanks to YHWH and probably offer thanksgiving sacrifices in the temple.
- A temple ritual gave structure to this thanksgiving ceremony, beginning with the thanksgiving-refrain, "Give thanks to YHWH because he is good, because his loyalty is forever!" This refrain was often used as declaration accompanying a thanksgiving sacrifice (cf. Jer. 33:11).
Background Situation for Psalm 118
The background situation is the series of events leading up to the time in which the psalm is spoken. These are taken from the story triangle – whatever lies to the left of the star icon.
Participants in Psalm 118
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