Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1420
Delivered on Lord’s-Day Morning, June 23, 1878
“The stone which the builders refused is become the headstone of the corner. This is the Lord’s doing; itis marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lordhas made; we willrejoice and be glad in it, Save now, I beseech You, O Lord: O Lord, I beseech You, send now prosperity.” Psalm 118:22-25.
It would be difficult, if not impossible, to fix with certainty the occasion which first suggested this Psalm. It has even been thought to be purely prophetic and rather foretelling history than narrating it. I rather incline to the opinion that some Israelite hero, chosen of God to high office in the midst of his people, had been rejected by the rulers, had passed through many struggles—some of them of the most violent kind—and at last, notwithstanding the rejection of his people and their leaders, had attained to a prominent position, no, to a chief place in the midst of the nation!
The Psalm is applicable to Christ and to Him it is referred in the New Testament several times, but probably from the human point of view it was at first intended to celebrate the victory of some chosen man of God who, despite his Divine election, had been rejected by his countrymen. Providence conducted him to a crowning success and he magnified the Lord for it. In some way or other, a stone has come to be connected with several persons whose history was of this character.
Remember Jacob. He flees from his father’s house because Esau threatens to kill him. He appears to be the rejected member of Isaac’s family by whom the house would never be built. At the end of a day’s journey he lies down with a stone for his pillow and, as he sweetly slumbers, he sees Heaven open. He beholds the mystic ladder and rises, assured of the love of the Almighty God! By faith thus infused into his soul, he becomes strong for his future life and so lives that now the house of Abraham and Isaac stands represented in the seed of Jacob, alone. And Esau, with all his dukes, has utterly passed away.
The next occurrence of the stone happens in reference to Joseph, of whom the dying Jacob said, “From thence is the shepherd the stone of Israel.” He was separated from his brothers by their envy and grievously wounded by their malice. They said, “Behold, this dreamer comes,” and they sold him for a slave into the stranger’s land. From the dungeons of Egypt he climbed to the throne and became the cornerstone of Israel’s house! On his bosom his aged father could lay his head and dream as he did at Bethel! And by his power and wisdom, the shepherd family was happily built up. Then came David, whom his elder brothers despised and even his father passed him over, until the Prophet of God asked for him, that he might be anointed with oil!
Out of his hand went that stone of Israel which laid low the pride of Philistia! Goliath must bite the ground when the stone of Israel flies from the hand of Israel’s shepherd who was destined to be her king! He was rejected and hated by Saul so that he wandered about in the wilderness, hiding in caves and rocks until the hour came when he was called to the throne. Then the stone which the builders refused became the headstone of the corner and he and his people confessed that it was the Lord’s doing and it was marvelous in their eyes! Be not afraid, O you persecuted ones, for you shall fulfill your destiny!
It has happened again and again in history that those who have been destined to do great things for the Lord have, first of all, been compelled to pass through a trying ordeal of misunderstanding and rejection! Such history repeats itself and it may do so in your instance. The speckled bird of the family, the one least beloved, often rises to take the most prominent place. Jephthah was driven out from his father’s family and yet in their distress his brethren were glad enough to make him their champion and accept him as their head. Bow your head in patience, young man, and bear whatever God or His enemies may lay upon you, for assuredly as the Lord is in you and with you, He will bring you forth and of
you, too, it shall be true in your own little way, “The stone which the builders refused, the same is become the headstone of the corner.”
In his first Epistle, Peter refers again to this Psalm in the well-remembered words, “Why also it is contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious: and he that believes on Him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe He is precious: but unto them which are disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner.” Of our own exalted Lord we are going to speak at this time and may the Spirit bear witness in our hearts to His honor!
I. First, I invite your thoughts to CHRIST REJECTED—“The Stone which the builders refused.” The Lord Jesus came into this world at the fullness of time when the Messiah was expected by those devout men who waited for salvation in Israel. He came born of parents descended from that royal house from which Messiah was prophesied as coming and He was born in the very city which had been pointed out by Seers of old! All details of His life in His early days corresponded with prophetic intimations and answered to the signs which the Lord had appointed. There was nothing in which He did that did not exactly fit the symbols of the sanctuary and the personal types of history! Everything which could speak cried with one voice, “Behold the Lamb of God!”