Psalm 118:22,23 – “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes.”
These verses in today’s Old Testament One Year Bible reading are quoted five times in the New Testament: Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17: Acts 4:11: and 1 Peter 2:7. Jesus references Himself three times in the gospels, indicating that this psalm was prophetic concerning Him. In fact, there are several verses in today’s psalm that are Messianic.
The “builders” Jesus refers to are the Jewish leaders who rejected His claims of deity. Their rejection of Him did not erase His claims; it elevated Him to a higher position. Sometimes it is the very thing we reject that can help us the most. I’ve seen this over and over again in people’s lives.
The phrase that catches my attention today most is verse 23: “This was the Lord’s doing…” Did I read that right? This was the Lord’s doing? Typically we don’t ascribe such a thing to God. God wouldn’t do that, would He? Yet Isaiah 53:10 makes it very clear that He did…do that: “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief…” This was the Lord’s doing. When you get a minute flip over to Isaiah 53:10 and read the rest of the verse to see the outcome of the Lord’s doing.
Whatever you’re going through right now just might be the Lord’s doing. Rather than getting angry about it, why don’t you turn your faith to the future and believe that God can work something out that you will be able to look back one day and say exactly what the psalmist did in verse 23: “This was the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes.”