When something has been dismissed or written off by the critics, that doesn’t mean that it will be completely rejected. Oftentimes the movies that the critics have given bad reports end up being a box-office hit. Literary critics denounce a new book, but that same book becomes a bestseller. In our psalm for this week we read a prophecy of a specific thing that some authorities rejected, but ended up being most important.
The psalm for this week after Easter is a brief portion from a moderately longer psalm. The verse where we pick up the psalm speaks of the Lord opening up to us the gates of righteousness (vs. 19-20). The gates of righteousness are not literal gates, such as what was found at various points in the walls that surrounded the city of Jerusalem and other cities in Biblical times. The gates of righteousness are spiritual gates through which the righteous pass. This is the entryway which leads to the presence of the Lord.
Due to our sinful nature, we cannot enter through these gates on our own. Our sins keep us out. However, when someone accepts the Lord Jesus as their Savior, they receive His righteousness, the righteousness of the sinless Son of God. We become clothed in a robe of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10). Because believers now have the righteousness of Jesus, the gates of righteousness which were once closed, are now opened for them. This is the “narrow gate” that Jesus told us to enter in by (Matthew 7:13-14), the gate which leads to life, rather than the broad way which leads to destruction.
Now we come to our key verses of our Scripture, verses 22 and 23. A cornerstone is the most important stone in the building. It is the first stone laid when constructing a building, and all other stones are set in reference to it. It will determine the position of the whole structure. In the past, builders were very careful where the cornerstone was laid, as everything else had to be lined up with it. In the New Testament we read a lot of how Jesus is the Cornerstone, and how the Church is built up upon Him (Ephesians 2:19-22).
Jesus, Himself, emphasized these verses when He told the Pharisees a parable of the vineyard (Matthew 21:33-46). In that parable, Jesus told how the owner of the vineyard sent many servants to the workers to receive the produce, but the workers beat and killed them. Then the owner sent his son, who they immediately took and killed. Jesus then made reference to our psalm and the verses about the cornerstone. These verses in Psalm 118 were a prophecy of Jesus, and the Pharisees who heard this parable knew that it was a reference to Him. Jesus was that rejected cornerstone. The Jews rejected Jesus who came to deliver the nation.
Just because some who seem to be in authority have rejected something or someone doesn’t mean that it is actually truly rejected. The Pharisees rejected Jesus. They rejected Him as the Messiah, and actually turned Him over to be killed. However, as the Apostle Peter preached, God made Jesus, whom they crucified, both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36). On another occasion, when the Jewish religious leaders arrested Peter and John for healing a crippled man, they preached how he was healed by the Name of Jesus, who God made the chief cornerstone (Acts 4:8-12). Although Jesus was rejected, He is now the Cornerstone, the most important part of the building, the Church. The Church is built upon Him, and our lives are to be lined up with the Savior.
As our Scripture passage from our psalm this week closes, we read a familiar verse in verse 24, one that calls upon us to rejoice and be glad in the day the Lord gives us. This is one verse that I often say upon waking up. God has given us a new day, filled with opportunities to serve Him. If we get run down in spirit, we can repeat this verse. It is effective in driving off depression and discouragement. Even when we don’t feel like it, we need to realize that God has given us the day to live and serve Him, so rejoice!
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