Psalm 118

A Prayer of Thanks for Victory

118^*Give thanks to the Lord,

because he is good,

and his love is eternal.

²Let the people of Israel say,

“His love is eternal.”

³Let the priests of God say,

“His love is eternal.”

⁴Let all who worship him say,

“His love is eternal.”

⁵In my distress I called to the Lord;

he answered me and set me free.

^6*The Lord is with me, I will not be afraid;

what can anyone do to me?

⁷It is the Lord who helps me,

and I will see my enemies defeated.

⁸It is better to trust in the Lord

than to depend on human beings.

⁹It is better to trust in the Lord

than to depend on human leaders.

¹⁰Many enemies were round me;

but I destroyed them by the power of the Lord!

¹¹They were round me on every side;

but I destroyed them by the power of the Lord!

¹²They swarmed round me like bees,

but they burnt out as quickly as a fire among thorns;

by the power of the Lord I destroyed them.

¹³I was fiercely attacked and was being defeated,

but the Lord helped me.

^14*The Lord makes me powerful and strong;

he has saved me.

¹⁵Listen to the glad shouts of victory in the tents of God’s people:

“The Lord’s mighty power has done it!

¹⁶His power has brought us victory—

his mighty power in battle!”

¹⁷I will not die; instead, I will live

and proclaim what the Lord has done.

¹⁸He has punished me severely,

but he has not let me die.

¹⁹Open to me the gates of the Temple;

I will go in and give thanks to the Lord!

²⁰This is the gate of the Lord;

only the righteous can come in.

²¹I praise you, Lord,

because you heard me, because you have given me victory.

^22*The stone which the builders rejected as worthless

turned out to be the most important of all.

^23*This was done by the Lord;

what a wonderful sight it is!

²⁴This is the day of the Lord’s victory;

let us be happy, let us celebrate!

^25*Save us, Lord, save us!

Give us success, O Lord!

^26*May God bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord!

From the Temple of the Lord we bless you.

²⁷The Lord is God; he has been good to us.

With branches in your hands, start the festival

and march round the altar.

²⁸You are my God, and I give you thanks;

I will proclaim your greatness.

²⁹Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good,

and his love is eternal.