The LORD Is on My Side
The psalm opens by summoning the whole covenant community to give thanks to the LORD because his steadfast love endures forever. Israel, the house of Aaron, and all who fear the LORD are each called to take up the same refrain, turning thanksgiving into a shared confession rather than a solitary mood.
G1ive thanks to the LORD, for He is good; 2Let Israel say, 3Let the house of Aaron say, 4Let those who fear the LORD say,
From personal distress the speaker cried to the LORD and was answered with spacious relief. Because the LORD stands with him, human threats lose their final power, and the section concludes by insisting that refuge in the LORD is better than trusting either ordinary people or princes.
5In my distress I called to the LORD, 6The LORD is on my side; I will not be afraid. 7The LORD is on my side; He is my helper. 8It is better to take refuge in the LORD 9It is better to take refuge in the LORD
The speaker recalls being surrounded and violently pressed by hostile nations, yet cutting them off in the name of the LORD. The LORD became his strength, song, and salvation; shouts of victory rise in the tents of the righteous; and though the LORD disciplined him severely, he was not handed over to death but preserved to declare the LORD's works.
10All the nations surrounded me, 11They surrounded me on every side, 12They swarmed around me like bees, 13I was pushed so hard I was falling, 14The LORD is my strength and my song, 15Shouts of joy and salvation resound in the tents of the righteous: 16The right hand of the LORD is exalted! 17I will not die, but I will live 18The LORD disciplined me severely,
The rescued worshiper asks for the gates of righteousness to be opened so he may enter and thank the LORD. The gate belongs to the LORD and the righteous enter through it; thanksgiving rises because the LORD answered and became salvation; and the great reversal reaches its height when the rejected stone becomes the cornerstone, a marvelous work that makes this day one for rejoicing.
19Open to me the gates of righteousness, 20This is the gate of the LORD; 21I will give You thanks, for You have answered me, 22The stone the builders rejected 23This is from the LORD, 24This is the day that the LORD has made;
The congregation cries for the LORD to save and grant success, then blesses the one who comes in the name of the LORD from the house of the LORD. The LORD has given light, the festival sacrifice is bound to the altar, the worshiper answers with personal thanksgiving, and the psalm closes where it began: the LORD is good, and his steadfast love endures forever.
25O LORD, save us, we pray. 26Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. 27The LORD is God; 28You are my God, and I will give You thanks. 29Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;