Psalm 118 is often called a Psalm of David, and it certainly is a psalm of one whose outcry was of being greatly tormented by enemies. The psalmist speaks of distress, of nations compassing him about like bees and with fire and thorns. But what is so comforting and instructive to us is what he wrote in verses 19-21, namely, "Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord: This gate of the Lord, into which the righteous shall enter. I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation."
Gates are movable sections of a wall which allow entrance into a city. Here the psalmist is referring to the new Jerusalem. Entrance into that city is through the gate of righteousness. Actually that gate is Christ. It is through Him that all the believing children of God enter into the kingdom of heaven. They do this already in this life, with their hearts and minds; and in the day of Christ's return they will do so with their bodies as well. So this can be our prayer as well as the psalmist's.
That they are gates of righteousness means that only righteousness opens the door for us to enter that kingdom of Christ. Our sins must be blotted out so that we are righteous. Otherwise that gate will be shut, and entrance is impossible. Christ is that gate, because He, through His cross, made us righteous.
What reveals to us that we may and will enter through that gate is that we are those who praise God and who want to get through the gate in order that we may more fully praise Him than we can in this life.
Do you desire and find joy in praising God? That reveals that Christ is the gate for your blessedness in the new Jerusalem. Christ's righteousness is that gate. And if you want to be righteous, you have the sure sign that He has opened the way for you to praise God in the coming kingdom.
Read: Psalm 118:1-20 .
Through the Bible in One Year
Read today: |
Ecclesiastes 4 ; Ecclesiastes 5 ; Ecclesiastes 6:1-12
2 Corinthians 6:14-18 ; 2 Corinthians 7:1-7
Psalm 47:1-9
Proverbs 22:16
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Quote for Reflection:
The Power of Sin: “…the sun shining into a neglected room does not create the dust and cobwebs, but simply reveals them. Thus it is with the Christian. The more the light of the Spirit is turned upon him inwardly, the more he discovers the horrible plague of his heart (1 Kings 8:38), and the more he realizes what a wretched failure he is. The fact is, dear discouraged soul, that the more you are growing out of love with yourself, the more you are being saved from the power of sin. Wherein lies its fearful potency? Why, in its power to deceive us. It lies to us. It did so to Adam and Eve. It gives us false estimates of values so that we mistake the tinsel for real gold. To be saved from the power of sin, is to have our eyes opened so that we see things in God’s light: it is to know the truth about things all around us, and the truth about ourselves. Satan has blinded the minds of them that believe not, but the Holy Spirit hath shined in our hearts "unto the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 4:4, 6).” -A. Pink
