Psalm 118:22-24 is about a stone that builders threw away becoming the most important stone in the building, and about how God alone accomplishes that reversal. The psalmist sees it as the Lord’s own work, something that calls for wonder and joy on the very day it happens. The lines sit in the middle of a psalm of thanksgiving, sung as worshipers approach the temple gates in Jerusalem.
22 The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 23 This is the LORD’s doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day that the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it!
Psalm 118:22-24 (WEB)
Psalm 118:22-24 Summary
The passage moves in three quick steps. First comes a picture: a stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, the stone that anchors and aligns the whole structure. Second comes the interpretation: this turn of events is the Lord’s doing, and it is astonishing to the people who witness it. Third comes the response: this is a day the Lord has made, so the people will rejoice and be glad in it.
Read together, the verses turn an overlooked or despised object into the foundation of everything else. The writer does not praise the stone for its own quality. He credits the one who reverses the verdict of the builders, and he invites the community to respond with joy rather than analysis.
Context of Psalm 118:22-24
Psalm 118 is one of the Hallel psalms, a set of songs of praise traditionally sung at Passover and at other festivals. The psalm is anonymous, and its setting is worship in the temple courts, where a procession approaches the gates and a leader or priest responds to the crowd. Many readers hear a king’s voice in parts of it, and some ancient Jewish and Christian interpreters connected the psalm with the people’s deliverance from enemies.
The verses just before this passage describe a gate of righteousness being opened so that the thankful can enter, and the verses just after it call for salvation, bless the one who comes in the Lord’s name, and bring sacrifice to the altar. The rejected-stone image therefore sits at the hinge of the liturgy, where thanks for past rescue meets the present request for more.
Psalm 118:22-24 Verse by Verse
Ephesians 2:20
Being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone…
(WEB)
Paul describes believers as built on the foundation of apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. The image connects directly to Psalm 118, showing how the stone language shaped early Christian reflection on who holds the whole structure together.
Psalm 46:10
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.”
(WEB)
This verse calls the reader to stillness and to knowing that God is exalted among the nations. It complements Psalm 118’s focus on God’s action, reminding us that stillness can be a way of rejoicing in what the Lord is doing.
A Prayer Based on Psalm 118:22-24
Lord, you are the one who takes what people have thrown away and makes it the foundation of your work. I confess that I often measure myself by the verdicts of others, and I forget that you see the stone and know its place. Help me to trust your building plan even when I cannot see how the pieces fit. Turn my disappointment into a deeper dependence on you. Let me receive this day as the one you have made, and fill me with a gladness that rests on your faithfulness rather than on my circumstances. Amen.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the rejected stone in Psalm 118 represent?
The image pictures something people dismissed as unusable that God makes central to the structure. Christians have long applied it to Jesus, and the New Testament uses the same stone imagery, though the psalm first speaks of God’s rescue of his people.
Why does the psalmist say the day is one the Lord has made?
The phrase attributes the day itself to God, so that its events are received as his gift rather than as chance. This framing invites the worshiper to rejoice in the day as it is, trusting that God is at work within it.
Is Psalm 118 connected to a particular festival?
Psalm 118 belongs to the Hallel psalms, which were traditionally sung at Passover and other festivals in Israel. Its procession imagery fits worship in the temple courts, though the psalm itself does not name a single occasion.
