Psa 118:10-13 The LORD is my Strength and Song, and is Become my Salvation” – Part 2

Psa 118:10  All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD will I destroy them.
Psa 118:11  They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.
Psa 118:12  They compassed me about like bees; they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.
Psa 118:13  Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall: but the LORD helped me.

The last sentence of the verses we are looking at today states “but he hath not given me over unto death, and how that is made possible is explained in the preceding verses which discuss how the LORD is become “my salvation” through the struggles that He allows to come up against His people. Those struggles are both within and without, reminding us that everything is at God’s disposal to accomplish His desire of becoming our salvation through this life which has us compassed about by the enemy called “death”.

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

The ultimate expression of “All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD will I destroy them” is revealed at the end of the age in Revelation 29:7-9 and has steadily been unfolding in the life of God’s people as we give no thought to what we are to say in that day and behold the salvation of the Lord whose mighty hand will direct our paths so that the last enemy, death, will be destroyed.

Rev 20:7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

1Co 15:31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Mat 10:19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
Mat 10:20 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.

1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

To not be given over to death is salvation from self, from the carnal mind, which is enmity against God and always in need of being ruled over by Christ. The way that seems right to man leads to death, and it is very few with whom God is working in this age who come to see the complete need to have the valiant hand of the LORD directing every step in overcoming the man of perdition within us all.

Gal 5:17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

Pro 14:12  There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Pro 16:25  There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Psa 37:5  Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

Php 4:6  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Pro 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Pro 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Pro 3:7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

2Co 10:5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought [1Co 4:6] to the obedience of Christ;

“In the name of the LORD will I destroy them” is mentioned three times (the process of spiritual completion through judgment (3) in this Psalm to admonish us that in order to “lean not unto thine own understanding” and “in all thy ways acknowledge him” so He can direct our paths of Proverbs 3:5-7, our lives must be judged. It is that judgment which takes us away from being wise in our own eyes and teaches us to fear the LORD and depart from evil. Only when we depart from evil can spiritual fruit be produced in the lives of those with whom God is working, and it is “the nations that compass me about” and who “thrust sore against me that I may fall” who represent that evil which we must overcome and will overcome because “the LORD helped me”.

1Co 2:5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

1Co 1:25  Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Tit 2:12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Tit 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

Pro 3:7  Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

2Ti 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

Pro 24:16  For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.

Psa 118:13  Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall: but the LORD helped me.

Psa 118:10  All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD will I destroy them.

“All nations” is another way of saying 1John 2:16, and it is only when these nations within us pass away or when we get dominion over them that we can be about our Father’s business, fulfilling His will and no longer being controlled by those nations within.

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

It is only “in the name of the LORD will I destroy them” telling us that boasting is excluded by the law of faith as the LORD both tears down the old man and builds the new man within the body of Christ.

Rom 3:27  Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
Rom 3:28  Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

Joh 2:19  Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

Psa 127:1 A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

Psa 118:11  They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.
Psa 118:12  They compassed me about like bees; they are quenched as the fire^H784 of thorns^H6975: for in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.

God causes us to be compassed about by the enemy so that we no longer trust in our flesh for deliverance. The “sentence of death in ourselves” about which Paul speaks is common to each and every Christian who must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God as we put off the flesh.

2Co 1:9  But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:

Act 14:22  Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

No one likes the thought of being compassed about by bees, but when we are troubled on every side as the body of Christ, we become more productive as a result of the trials and the ensuing persecution of the enemy. In fact Christ says in that day that we ought to, “be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven.” Those enemies are promised to be “quench[ed] as the fire of thorns” by the Lord’s strength which makes this possible.

Mat 5:11  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Mat 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

To “quench as the fire^H784 of thorns^H6975” is another way of saying these verses below, and it is through judgment that the sting of death is destroyed, and that judgment is upon our lands if Christ is abiding within us (1Pe 4:17, Isa 26:9, Col 1:27).

1Co 15:55  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
1Co 15:56  The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
1Co 15:57  But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Rom 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Joh 8:24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. [Joh 6:29, Luk 2:49]

Here is a passage of scripture that describes how the Lord will “quench as the fire^H784 of thorns^H6975” the enemy in Psalm 21:7-13. Verse thirteen confirms that “The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation” throughout this process of judgment upon our entire life, until our last breath (2Sa 12:7, 1Co 15:31).

Psa 21:7 For the king trusteth in the LORD, and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved. [Rom 11:30-32]
Psa 21:8  Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies: thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee.
Psa 21:9  Thou shalt make them as a fiery^H784 oven in the time of thine anger: the LORD shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire^H784 shall devour them. [Joh 3:36, Rom 1:18]

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

Joh 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Rom 1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

Psa 21:10  Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men.
Psa 21:11  For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform. [Mat 24:24]
Psa 21:12  Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back, when thou shalt make ready thine arrows upon thy strings against the face of them.
Psa 21:13 Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power.

The word thorns^H6975 in the verse we’re examining (Psa 118:12) also directs us to the natural mindset of Adam who wants to trust in man or “in the multitude of thy mighty men” (Hos 10:13) and how it is only through His chastening grace that this spirit will be driven out of us (Heb 12:6).

Hos 10:8  The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn^H6975 and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.
Hos 10:9  O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them.
Hos 10:10 It is in my desire that I should chastise them; and the people shall be gathered against them, when they shall bind themselves in their two furrows.
Hos 10:11  And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods.
Hos 10:12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.
Hos 10:13  Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way [Pro 14:12, Pro 16:25], in the multitude of thy mighty men.

These next verses that we’ll read after Ezekiel 28:24 demonstrate that there is an order to the burning up of the thorns and briars in all of humanity, and that this judgment begins on the house of God (1Pe 4:17).

Eze 28:24  And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn^H6975 of all that are round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord GOD. [Isa 33:12, Isa 27:4, Joh 15:6, Heb 6:8-12]

Isa 33:12  And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire.
Isa 33:13  Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might.
Isa 33:14  The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?(1Pe 4:17) [those who are judged in this age and have those thorns burned in the fire]

Isa 27:4  Fury is not in me: who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together.

Joh 15:6 If a man abide not in me [who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?], he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

Heb 6:8  But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
Heb 6:9  But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.
Heb 6:10  For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
Heb 6:11  And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
Heb 6:12  That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

When we initially “kick against the pricks” as Saul did thinking himself to be righteous, we find as Saul did that he was actually kicking against and persecuting Christ who is the end of the law “for righteousness to every one that believeth” (Rom 10:4, Act 7:58, Act 9:5-6). The kicking against the pricks, the “grieving thorn”^H6975 “the thorn^H6975 and the thistle” that “shall come up on their altars” is one and the same spirit of rebellion against the word of God or the commandments of God, and to kick against the pricks is also to kick against Christ. Negatively, we have the same word showing up in Revelation 9:10 to represent false doctrine.

Rom 10:4  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

Act 7:58  And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.

Act 9:5  And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.^G2759
Act 9:6  And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

Rev 9:10  And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings^G2759 in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.

G2759
Total KJV Occurrences: 5
pricks, 2
Act_9:5, Act_26:14
sting, 2
1Co_15:55-56 (2)
stings, 1
Rev_9:10

Psa 118:13  Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall: but the LORD helped me.

In the following verses we will look at a couple of examples of being “thrust sore”, and in both cases it is speaking of Christ’s body, which is the church (Col 1:24). The purpose revealed behind those painful experiences that the LORD promises to help us through “but the LORD helped me” (1Co 10:13), will help us understand how the foundation of the church needs to be laid as we fill up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ in our flesh for His body’s sake, which is the church (Joh 19:34-36, Luk 2:35-37, Col 1:24).

These verses in John 19 remind us that “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (Joh 12:24). Christ was the first of the first fruits who was abiding alone in that sense, and it was this seed (Gal 3:16) which was the preeminent seed (Col 1:18, Rev 3:14) that had to “fall into the ground and die” in order to ‘bring forth much fruit’.

The imagery of blood and water coming forth from Christ’s body symbolizes the baptism through which we must go into His death (Rom 6:3). The order of events is important to notice, and in 1 John 5:6 and John 3:5, we read that both Christ and all mankind must be born “by water and blood” referring to Christ (1Jn 5:6) and “of water and of the Spirit” referring to mankind (Joh 3:5). Christ is the “only begotten Son” (Joh 3:16) and the emphasis in 1 John 5:6 is on His being the only one begotten from birth, having come into this world by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.

To be born by “water and blood” is the same as saying we are born of “water and of the Spirit” the only difference being we must eat Christ’s flesh and drink Christ’s blood in order to be born again and become those begotten children of God to whom these promises have been written.

Joh 6:54  Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Joh 6:55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

With those scriptures in mind about Christ and His Christ, we can now see how this piercing which Christ went through, being “thrust sore” that brought forth “blood and water” from Christ, was a preeminent event which was going to be identified with by God’s people through eating His flesh and drinking His blood (1Co 10:16). The foundation of the church is laid by that which is natural first, Christ’s flesh, but then later we don’t know Christ or any man after the flesh (2Co 5:16) but rather in the spirit, and that spirit relationship is obtained by being sanctified by God’s word, which is the same as saying drinking His blood (Joh 17:17, Joh 6:55). God assures us that the foundation of the church will be built upon the communion of his suffering (1Co 10:16) and we are told in the following verse that “A bone of him shall not be broken” as a witness that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church (Mat 16:18), and that Christ’s body and the structure which holds it together will be a healthy foundation for the rest of His creation to be built upon (Eph 2:20).

Joh 19:34  But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.
Joh 19:35  And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.
Joh 19:36  For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.

The second verse we can look at that represents the body of Christ and the being “thrust sore” events through which we will all go in this life is found in Luke 2:35-37. The message is identical in many ways to John 19:34-36 as it discusses how “the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” as a result of Mary, who typifies the body of Christ, being pierced. That piercing of her heart was symbolic of the sword not departing from the house of David (2Sa 12:10) and the suffering that we must endure in our lives if we are going to rule with Christ (2Ti 2:12). Without the suffering we endure together as a body, without the piercing which we endure together as one body and one bread (1Co 10:17), we would not be equipped to rule and reign under Christ. That seed which is Christ in us, our hope of glory, must die daily (1Co 15:31, Col 1:27) and be granted the increase which comes from God alone so that we can endure unto the end and be saved through Him (1Co 3:6, Mat 24:14).

The verses that follow “a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Luk 2:35) are symbolic of the foundation upon which the church is built. Notice, “there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity”.  That great age and seven years from her virginity are symbols of the bride of Christ [“great age” (Eph 1:4); “seven years from her virginity” (2Co 11:2); “seven” has made herself ready-or complete 7″ (Rev 19:7)].

The church is being represented by this widow, and her actions are symbolic of the real spiritual worship and relationship that God’s children have with Him in the temple of God which we are today (Joh 4:23). Our prayer and fasting and praying continually are a sweet incense in the nose of God (Psa 141:2, 2Co 2:15), and Anna the prophetess “a widow of about fourscore and four years” departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. Four score and twenty is 84 years, and those numbers added together 8 + 4 = 12, which represents foundation.

Luk 2:35 (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
Luk 2:36 And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;
Luk 2:37  And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.

Next week, Lord willing, we will look at the next few verses of Psalm 118 that have their focus on the praise which we offer to God, the sacrifice of thanksgiving on our lips for the privilege and honour of knowing that, “The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.“

Psa 118:14  The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.
Psa 118:15  The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.
Psa 118:16  The right hand of the LORD is exalted: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.
Psa 118:17  I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.
Psa 118:18  The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.