The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone. (Psalm 118:22)

One would naturally think that if the story were invented by human creativity, the rejected stone would roll back over the building and the builder and destroy them all. That would be the natural storyline, one of rightful vengeance and justice. That is what makes this description of God so amazing. No attempts at eliminating God from the story (or the building in the metaphor)—or even recasting the plot line, as many today try to do with their various religions, sects or deviant theologies—none of these changes God’s plan or His character. Reject Him all you like, distort His picture with idols or skewed theologies, reduce Him through human philosophies and academic elitism or religious ritualism and legalism—but God remains God. He, and He alone, defines and describes for us who He is.

Rejection comes in many forms. The apostle John in the prologue to his gospels put it this way: “He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him” (John 1:11). Upon Jesus’ so-called “triumphal entry” into Jerusalem the week before He died, the crowds lined the street as He rode on a donkey. Psalm 118 was very much on their minds, but not the part about the rejected cornerstone. Rather, they called out essentially a quotation from later in Psalm 118.

Psalms 113-118 form what is called the Hallel psalms, or Songs of Praise, which were traditionally sung at the three great festivals of Israel, including the Passover. According to Jewish historians, the last of these, Psalm 118, was intended to be sung as Jewish pilgrims ascended to the temple. In this context one can imagine the irony soon to be upon them of the “stone which the builders rejected” (Ps 118:22). In the mouths of those laying palm branches before the Lord, we hear Psalm 118:25-26 echoed: “Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!” (Matt 21:9). “Hosanna” is a rough Greek transliteration of the Hebrew, “O Lord, do save …” (Psalm 118:25). This cry for help morphed over time into a word of praise to God, as the crowds then used it. “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (Matt 21:9b) is a direct quote from Psalm 118:26.

The very One whom they praised became the One whom they rejected. The Chief Cornerstone. “Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe … ‘A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.’” (1 Peter 2:7-8).

Lord, You are my precious Cornerstone. I stand firm, for I am aligned with You.