Psalm 118:14-29 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 118:14-29 on biblegateway.com
Verse 14The Lord is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.
Verse 15There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous: "The right hand of the Lord does valiantly;
Verse 16the right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly."
Verse 17I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord.
Verse 18The Lord has punished me severely, but he did not give me over to death.
Verse 19Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.
Verse 20This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it.
Verse 21I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.
Verse 22The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
Verse 23This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
Verse 24This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Verse 25Save us, we beseech you, O Lord! O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!
Verse 26Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord.
Verse 27The Lord is God, and he has given us light. Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar.
Verse 28You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, I will extol you.
Verse 29O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.
Devotion
Do you have a favorite Bible verse? Perhaps John 3:16 or Romans 8:38-39? The only Bible in the early church was the Hebrew Scriptures, often referred to by Christians as the "Old Testament." Among the leaders of the early church, the favorite verse seems to have been Psalm 118:22 (it's quoted at least five times in the New Testament). Jesus Christ, the "stone" rejected by the Jewish authorities, was specifically chosen by God to become the cornerstone of and entirely new enterprise: the Kingdom of God.
To the "rejects" of this world -- to a small and often despised early Christian community -- this was genuinely good news, a cause for laughter and rejoicing.
Prayer
Master Builder of the Church and the World, we sometimes question your choice of materials. What the world considers a "reject," you value as precious. Include us in your master plan, and bind us firmly to your cornerstone, Jesus. May we rejoice to be "living stones" in the body of Christ. Amen.