I am teaching Matthew this semester and my Psalms commentary appears this week. That is good enough justification to post on 2 related favorite subjects of mine - the Messiah and the NT Use of the OT.
Psalm 118 has played a major role in the festival observances of Israel. It is the last of the “Hallel” Psalms (113-118), due to the prominence of the command to “Praise the Lord” in those psalms. These psalms were sung or chanted by the Temple singers at both Passover and Tabernacles (Sukkot). Walter Kaiser has a good discussion of the outline and thought progression in this psalm and how it was appropriate for the experiences of “David in his capacity of being the earnest or down payment for the Messiah who is to come” (Messiah, 100-102).
While this psalm is cited or alluded to a number of times in Acts and the rest of the NT (v. 6: Rom. 8:31, Heb. 13:6; v 15: Luke 1:51; v. 16: Acts 5:31; v 17:2 Cor 6:9; v. 19: Rev 22:14; v. 20: John 10:9; v. 22: Acts 4:11; v. 22: 1Pet. 2:4, 7; v. 24: Rev. 19:70), the role of the psalm in the Synoptic Gospels is quite focused. Matthew particularly cites or alludes to the psalm at least four times in his account of the Passion Week.
1. The Triumphal Entry - Sunday, Matthew 21:9: “And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
Psalm 118:25 “Save us, we pray, O LORD” (Hoshiana in Hebrew; Hosanna in Greek)
Psalm 118:26 “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (Baruk habah b’shem Adonai)
2. The Parable of the Tenants – Tuesday, Matthew 21:42: “Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “’ The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
Psalm 118:22, 23: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.”
3. The Lament over Jerusalem – Tuesday afternoon, Matthew 23:39: “For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
Psalm 118:26 “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (Baruk habah b’shem Adonai)
4. The Conclusion of the Passover Meal - Thursday night, Matthew 26:30: “And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”
At the end of every Passover Seder, Jews from ancient times sing the last few of the Hallel Psalms, which end with the last words of Psalm 118. Thus Jesus would have sung about the rejected stone becoming the chief stone, the blessing on the coming one and the marvelous (Isa. 9:5, 6) way in which all this was the day the Lord has made!
Thus Matthew’s presentation of the word-acts of Jesus during Passion Week becomes a messianic midrash commentary on Psalm 118.