1Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good,
for his loving kindness endures forever.
2Let Israel now say
that his loving kindness endures forever.
3Let the house of Aaron now say
that his loving kindness endures forever.
4Now let those who fear Yahweh say
that his loving kindness endures forever.
5Out of my distress, I called on Yah.
Yah answered me with freedom.
6Yahweh is on my side. I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
7Yahweh is on my side among those who help me.
Therefore I will look in triumph at those who hate me.
8It is better to take refuge in Yahweh,
than to put confidence in man.
9It is better to take refuge in Yahweh,
than to put confidence in princes.
10All the nations surrounded me,
but in Yahweh’s name I cut them off.
11They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me.
In Yahweh’s name I indeed cut them off.
12They surrounded me like bees.
They are quenched like the burning thorns.
In Yahweh’s name I cut them off.
13You pushed me back hard, to make me fall,
but Yahweh helped me.
14Yah is my strength and song.
He has become my salvation.
15The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous.
“The right hand of Yahweh does valiantly.
16The right hand of Yahweh is exalted!
The right hand of Yahweh does valiantly!”
17I will not die, but live,
and declare Yah’s works.
18Yah has punished me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.
19Open to me the gates of righteousness.
I will enter into them.
I will give thanks to Yah.
20This is the gate of Yahweh;
the righteous will enter into it.
21I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me,
and have become my salvation.
22The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
23This is Yahweh’s doing.
It is marvelous in our eyes.
24This is the day that Yahweh has made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it!
25Save us now, we beg you, Yahweh!
Yahweh, we beg you, send prosperity now.
26Blessed is he who comes in Yahweh’s name!
We have blessed you out of Yahweh’s house.
27Yahweh is God, and he has given us light.
Bind the sacrifice with cords, even to the horns of the altar.
28You are my God, and I will give thanks to you.
You are my God, I will exalt you.
29Oh give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good,
for his loving kindness endures forever.
As the Lord instructed His disciples on the coming of the Kingdom, He predicted an order of necessary events. Before the Son of Man's visible return "in His day" (Luke 17:24), He must first suffer many things and be rejected (17:25). Certainty of sequential activities in the future is possible because God has fixed (or decreed) all that occurs for the accomplishment of His eternal purpose. Predictive prophecy is future history. Jesus' fulfillment of messianic prophecies demonstrated the veracity of His claims, and the literal fulfillment of some prophecies in the past gives us reason to expect the literal fulfillment of other prophecies in the future. After His resurrection, when Jesus opened the minds of His disciples to understand the Scriptures, He first related the events of the immediate past to the prophecies of the distant past. He said "...'Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day...'" (24:46, italics added for emphasis). Old Testament texts that predict these events include Psalms 16:10; 22; 118:22; and Isaiah 53. Next, he relates the events of the immediate future to the unfolding of the same divine will: "...'and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem'" (v. 47). Verse 47 practically outlines the events later recorded in the book of Acts (see Acts 1:8). As Luke tracks the march of Christ's ministry geographically, from Galilee to Jerusalem (in his Gospel), and from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria and Rome (in the Acts), there is also a sense of progress toward the fulfillment of prophecy. It is a great comfort to know that history is destined to fulfill the plan of God for the good of the believer and the glory of God.