A messianic psalm
Psalm 118: The Stone the Builders Rejected
Psalm 118 is a thanksgiving song for God's steadfast love and deliverance. The worshipper is pressed hard but not given over to death, and enters the gates of the righteous with praise. At its heart the stone the builders rejected becomes the chief cornerstone, and the crowd cries out to save now, blessing the one who comes in the name of the LORD.
“The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.”Psalm 118:22
The psalm itself
Psalm 118 is a festival thanksgiving, likely sung as pilgrims approached the temple. It opens and closes with the refrain that God's mercy endures forever, and in between a delivered worshipper, perhaps a king, recounts being surrounded by enemies and hard pressed, yet rescued by the LORD who became his strength and salvation. He approaches the gates of righteousness to give thanks. At the climax he draws on a builder's image. A stone the builders discarded as useless has become the cornerstone, the most important stone of the structure, and this reversal is the LORD's marvelous doing. The people cry hosanna, save now we beseech thee, and bless the one who comes in the name of the LORD, welcoming him with branches to the altar. In its setting the psalm celebrates rescue and God's covenant faithfulness with communal joy.
How the New Testament reads it of Christ
The New Testament applies Psalm 118 to Jesus directly and often. He quotes the rejected stone becoming the cornerstone in Matthew 21:42 after the parable of the wicked tenants, identifying Himself as that stone. Peter repeats it before the council in Acts 4:11 and in 1 Peter 2:7, naming the builders who rejected him as the leaders and Christ as the cornerstone God chose. The crowds at the triumphal entry shout the psalm's blessing on the one who comes in the name of the Lord and its hosanna, in Matthew 21:9. These are explicit and central quotations. The rejection and reversal fit Christ's crucifixion and resurrection with precision, making Psalm 118 one of the most quoted passages in the passion narratives.
Christ in this psalm
Christ is the rejected stone made cornerstone. The builders, the leaders entrusted with God's house, cast Him aside and crucified Him, yet God raised Him and made Him the foundation of a new people. His rejection was not the end but the very means of God's marvelous work, exactly the reversal the psalm celebrates. The pilgrims' cry of hosanna, save now, greeted Him at the triumphal entry, and it became true as He accomplished the salvation the word begs for. The psalm's gates of righteousness open through Him, and its enduring mercy is proved at the cross and empty tomb. So a song of communal rescue becomes a portrait of the crucified and risen Lord who is both the salvation cried for and the cornerstone the builders refused.
Questions people ask
Who is the rejected stone in Psalm 118?
In its setting the image of a stone rejected then made cornerstone celebrated a surprising deliverance, perhaps of a king or the nation. Jesus applies it to Himself in Matthew 21:42, and Peter repeats it in Acts 4:11 and 1 Peter 2:7. The leaders rejected Christ, yet God raised Him to be the cornerstone of His new people.
What does hosanna in Psalm 118 mean?
Hosanna translates the psalm's cry save now, we beseech thee, a plea for God's deliverance. At the triumphal entry in Matthew 21:9 the crowds shout it to Jesus along with the psalm's blessing on the one who comes in the name of the Lord. What began as a prayer for rescue is answered in Christ, who accomplishes the salvation the word begs for.