Psalm 118: The Art Of Repetition And Redundancy

Did you see what I did there?  One of the literary techniques employed by many of the psalms is the use of repetition to drive a point home.  Psalm 118 may be one of the best examples of this.  In addition to housing a number of classic, pithy, prophetic sayings, it also sounds like a psalm that Dr. Seuss could have written!

For instance, the beginning and ending verses of this psalm are identical.  "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever" (vs. 1 and 29, NIV)  In this way, the theme of the Psalm bookends the entire work.

In verses 2-4, three different groups are called upon to make the very same exclamation.  Israel, the house of Aaron, and all those who fear the Lord are enjoined to repeatedly proclaim, "His steadfast love endures forever."

Other phrases are repeated in this psalm, too.  "The Lord is on my side" (vs. 6 and 7), "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence..." (vs. 8 and 9), the word "surrounded" appears four times in verses 10-12, and "the right hand of the Lord" is mentioned three times in verses 15 and 16.  The redundant phrasing helps to both amplify the message of the psalm and make it stick in one's memory.

Along with the repetition are profound statements that are so important they appear elsewhere in the Bible and church liturgy:

• "The stone the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.  This is the Lord's doing; and it is marvelous in our eyes" (vs. 22-23).  This is a prophecy that will be applied to Jesus and the rejection He faced from the religious establishment in His day.  In spite of the leaders' obstinacy, Jesus was destined to become the chief cornerstone.

• Many worship services have begun with the proclamation, "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (vs. 24).  Tucked away in this psalm, it serves as a great call to worship.

• "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord" (vs. 26).  Jesus Himself would use this verse when referring to His own future return to the city of Jerusalem.  It is usually interpreted to mean that only when the residents of Jerusalem were prepared to offer this confession would they witness Jesus' second coming.

The next time you read a psalm, look for the occurences of repetition.  There is a purpose to the redundancy!