Psalm 118
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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!”
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.
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!
Psalm 118 reminds me of Elizabeth I of England. A Princess and then a pauper, declared bastard by her royal father. Elizabeth learned at a early age fate and people are fickle. Twice imprisoned by her elder half-sister and near being put to death as a traitor. Her real crime was in being next in line for the crown, not plotting to take the crown. Her elder sister had similar history with Elizabeth. It doesn't matter if you were raised a Catholic or Protestant, both of these women had been cruelly mistreated. The elder sister chose to preserve the status quo and put people to death, by fire, for failing to love Jesus Christ in a way the sister understood. It ruined Mary's life. Wrapped up in her own pain, she sought to find the way forward by burning people to death.
Elizabeth, was declared a heretic, but she spend hours reading the bible in several languages & thinking about a way to bring people together to worship God and encompass different beliefs about the Eucharist, the meaning of Christian thought & who should be reading a bible. Elizabeth declared she would not regulate the way men worshiped in their heart. Elizabeth's reign had far more thinking about the nature of God.
As Elizabeth aged, she did not bitterly reflect upon the attempts to put her down at different levels, she did not curse the trouble she had seen in her life, she blessed the trouble in her life by saying it prepared her to understand the nature of mankind, to be able to deal with people compassionately.
When Elizabeth was greeted by the news of her new status, from exile to sovereign, she greeted it as she spoke of the trouble she had seen in her life: this is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
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