118:5-9 The writer gave personal testimony to God's delivering him in answer to prayer. Setting him in "a large place"(v. 5, NASB) pictures freedom to move about without constraint. Since God was with him he did not need to fear what other people might do to him (cf. Heb. 13:6). Furthermore the Lord would be his helper so he could expect to prevail over his adversaries. Therefore it is better to trust in Yahweh than to place one's confidence in men, even the most powerful of men.
118:10-13 Note how the Lord gave the psalmist confidence even when his enemies surrounded him. The Lord had cut off his enemies in the past, and he believed He would do so again. The repetition of the phrase in verses 10b, 11b, and 12c expresses his trust in the Lord.
The Hebrew word for "cut them off"(vv. 10, 11, 12) literally means "circumcized them."This may be a prophetic reference to Messiah circumcizing the hearts of the Gentiles. Circumcision was a physical procedure, but it came to symbolize a spiritual change, namely trust in God (Deut. 30:6; cf. Rom. 2:29).194
118:14-21 The psalmist had relied on the Lord as his strength and his source of joy, and He had saved him. Verse 14 repeats the first line of the Song of the Sea (Exod. 15:2), the song the Israelites sang just after they crossed the Red Sea successfully. The psalmist rejoiced in God's saving strength. Temporary discipline had led to recent deliverance and this provided hope for future salvation. The gates in view probably refer to the temple gates through which worshippers such as the writer entered to praise God.
What a comfort verses 15-18 would have been to the Lord Jesus as He sang them at His last Passover in the Upper Room. They assured Him that He would live again even though He would die.
