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14 Yahweh is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.
15 There is a sound of exultation and victory in the tents of the righteous:
16 "The right hand of Yahweh has triumphed! the right hand of Yahweh is exalted! the right hand of Yahweh has triumphed!"
17 I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of Yahweh.
18 The Lord has punished me sorely, but he did not hand me over to death.
19 Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter them; I will offer thanks to Yahweh.
20 "This is the gate of Yahweh; he who is righteous may enter."
21 I will give thanks to you, for you answered me and have become my salvation.
22 The same stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
23 This is Yahweh doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 On this day Yahweh has acted; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Hosannah, Yahweh, hosannah! Yahweh, send us now success.
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of Yahweh; we bless you from the house of Yahweh.
27 el is Yahweh; he has shined upon us; form a procession with branches up to the horns of the altar.
28 "You are eli, and I will thank you; you are elohay, and I will exalt you."
29 Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good; his mercy endures forever.
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This is the Psalm selection that will be read aloud in unison or sung by a cantor on the second Sunday of Easter, Year C. It will follow the mandatory Acts reading, where Peter spoke to the high priest (Caiaphas), telling him: “The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree.” This will then be followed by a reading from Revelation, where John wrote, “Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen.” All will accompany a reading from John’s Gospel, where he wrote: “Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
Just one Sunday prior, on Easter Sunday, this Psalm was the mandatory song of praise sung. Those selected verses included one and two, but did not include the verses sung today, which are twenty-five through twenty-nine. Because both will be possible during this Easter season, when one’s own soul needs to find the resurrection of Jesus within as the importance, I will allow readers now to review what I wrote and posted last week. That commentary can be accessed through this link here. In that presentation, I included a link to a more expansive interpretation from the prior year’s Easter (2021), as those verses are sung every Easter (Years A, B, and C). Because that coverage still applies, I will now focus on addressing the ‘new verses,’ which are only possible to be sung during this second Sunday of Easter, in Year C.
I want to point out these additional five verses include six namings of “Yahweh,” where the NRSV has translated each as “the Lord” or (in verse twenty-five) simply “Lord.” I have restored the proper name that was written by David. In verses twenty-seven and twenty-eight are three forms of “el” written, including “eli” and “elohay,” both of which translate in the possessive (singular and plural), as “my god” and “my gods.” The NRSV has capitalized “God,” to make these references made by David become exclamations of an external entity that equated to “the Lord,” which is “Yahweh.” That is wrong, as one “el” is one of the collective “elohim” that are the angels of Yahweh, with the intent of possession being to show that the soul of David had become the hand of Yahweh, as His possession, making David be a “Yahweh elohim.” Therefore, “my god” or “my gods” are statements that David acted as Commanded by Yahweh, as one of His ‘right hand men.’
In the last verse sung on Easter Day, David sang, “On this day Yahweh has acted; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” That “day” refers to the marriage of Yahweh’s Spirit to the soul of David – when he was Anointed Spiritually and forever saved. At that time, the light of truth filled David’s soul; and, he communicated with Yahweh. That filling of the Spirit was the elation one knows from becoming a wife of Yahweh, a servant whose soul had been granted eternal life. Verse twenty-five is then shown by the NRSV as being what David sang out, while rejoicing, full of gladness. The problem is some liberties have been taken here, which need clarification.
The literal translation of the Hebrew written says this: “I beseech you Yahweh you save please ; I beseech you Yahweh you effect please .” The word “Hosanna” is Greek, taking two Hebrew words – “הושיעה נא” or “hosi ana” – which literally means “save now.” The Hebrew written by David has been translated by me as “save please,” from “hō·wō·šî·‘āh nā” This is rooted in “yasha na,” which says, “to deliver I pray.” The word “nā” is acceptably translated to be a request (as “please”), rather than a demand (“now”). The point is the rejoicing and gladness of David is not bursting out in a Greek song, but it is an “earnest prayer to Yahweh for deliverance,” as a thankful recognition of His presence within … answering all prayers for salvation.
When the NRSV translated verse twenty-six (famously) as saying, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of Yahweh” (rather than “the Lord”), one must understand that only Yahweh can “bless.” That “blessing” comes with divine marriage of a soul to His Spirit. Thus, the presence of His Spirit within is the “blessing” that is Yahweh's Anointment. Other words for that are “messiah” and “christ.” The paradox of the NRSV translation is they cannot even get it together enough to say “Yahweh,” which is the proper identifying “name” told to Moses, to tell any who asked, “Who sent you here?” Still, “the name of Yahweh” is not the “name” taken on by a soul in divine union. That “name” is “Israel,” where the “el” word is part of that “name.” "Israel" means, “Who Retains el,” which means one “Who retains Yahweh within, possessed by Him as one of His elohim” (an “el”). This is when a “blessing exists when He comes in,” as one who is “blessed” by that Spiritual entrance.
When verse twenty-six switches to the plural pronoun “we,” in the translation “we bless you from the house of Yahweh,” that plural pronoun says two are one. As “we,” Yahweh makes the soul in a body of flesh become His wife, so His “house” is one’s body of flesh – a newly made temple unto Yahweh. For Yahweh to enter that temple, the soul there previously (a “lord” of self) must be “blessed,” thereby washed clean of sin and made Yahweh’s obedient wife-servant (a temple priest who maintains the house of Yahweh).
Remembering that this Psalm 118 is a mandatory Easter Day song of praise, with Easter being when oneself needs to find Jesus resurrected within one’s soul, verse twenty-seven then used the word “el” to indicate that divine possession. Since Yahweh made His Son as a “Yahweh elohim” (written eleven times in Genesis 2, when Adam was made, on the Seventh Day), to have an “el” be placed by Yahweh is His “blessing.” Here, the NRSV has David singing (my corrections), “el is Yahweh; he has shined upon us; form a procession with branches up to the horns of the altar.” This says one’s soul has resurrected the Yahweh elohim that is the Son (Adam-Jesus), who is one’s new Lord (as the “el that exists from Yahweh”).
When David sang, “form a procession with branches up to the horns of the altar,” this sings about many souls seeing the need to become sacrificial lambs (souls surrendering to Yahweh), where the High Priest (Jesus) stands at the altar of sacrifice. The “horns” of self-ego, self-will, and self-value will be burned, so the pleasing ‘smoke’ of one’s soul lifts up to Yahweh. For Jesus to be “raised from the dead,” oneself has to first die, so there is then a cleaned room made for Jesus to come into. The "horns of the altar" symbolize how the rams have forfeited their signs of self-strength, submitting them unto Yahweh's use.
When the NRSV then places quotation marks around verse twenty-eight, so it is shown as oneself (or David) singing, "You are eli, and I will thank you; you are elohay, and I will exalt you,” this is actually Jesus the High Priest speaking to the one sacrificed. To say, “You are my el,” this says one’s body of flesh (along with one’s soul) is possessed by Jesus. You have become a soul-body that he is “Lord” over. Jesus thanks the soul for welcoming him in, through submission to Yahweh, made in divine marriage with His spirit. Jesus then repeats, “You are my elohim,” where the plural number says one’s soul is bow brothers with many other souls who have Jesus as their “Lord.” When the promise is then to be “exalted,” the Hebrew word “rum” implies “being raised up.” This means the “Spirit” comes first, followed by the possession of Jesus; and that divine possession makes one “exalted” as “Holy.” This is why “Spirit” and “Holy” must be read separately (when reading the Greek texts).
In verse twenty-nine, David then sang as Jesus telling his new subject (as the new King in that spiritual realm), “Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good; his mercy endures forever.” To see this element of “goodness” (from “towb”), this must be realized as how Jesus said, “only God is good.” This means holiness is not something manmade or self-willed. In order to be “good,” one must be married to Yahweh’s Spirit. That marriage brings about the rebirth of His Son, who does not act on his own behalf. Jesus always says, “I speak for the Father, for the Father is in me.” So, when Jesus was called “good Teacher,” Jesus said only Yahweh is “good.” Not even Jesus (a divine soul in a body of human flesh) can pretend to be God. Thus, all thanks be to Yahweh for His presence; so, His Son’s possession has granted a soul a return to the Promised Land that is Yahweh’s Spiritual kingdom. That is eternal salvation, which lasts “forever.”
As additional verses added to an Easter standard, it is vital to see the Easter season as being about one’s own soul being “raised from dead,” which means one must become a new Jesus. Psalm 118 sings praise to Yahweh, because a soul has been saved through His presence. When one sees how “Yahweh Saves” is the meaning of the name “Jesus,” then one realizes the only way to be saved is to be Jesus reborn. Jesus explained this rebirth to Nicodemus, but those who have no connection to the Spirit find it impossible to understand such spiritual matters. One must die of self, in order to be the resurrection of Jesus in the flesh. One must sacrifice one’s soul to Yahweh in divine marriage and be reborn as His Son.