Dear Christian friends:

Easter is a day of singing. More songs are written about Jesus' glorious resurrection than of any other event in His life and our most beautiful Christian hymns are praises and alleluias to our Savior who on Easter morning arose from death and grave:

Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!
Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!
Hymn - Christ The Lord Is Risen Today

All over the city in every church and auditorium people gathered in small and large choirs to sing unto the Lord.

Our text today is also an Easter song although it was written 1,000 years before Jesus rose. It is perhaps the oldest Easter song and without a doubt the finest, because God Himself wrote it. It is Psalm 118:14-24 a psalm which the Holy Spirit gave us through the pen of King David. It is God's own Easter Hymn.

Today our hearts are full and flowing over with joy and thanks to God for His great salvation in the crucified risen Christ. We want to sing and praise our wonderful God and Savior. So let us attend to


and learn from God's Holy writer, David how to sing on Easter.

Of whom does David sing? From verses 14 and 15 we see that He sings of the "Lord who doeth valiantly" 14 The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation. 15 The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.

When we use that word valiant we think of a soldier or champion; someone who has fought a hard battle and won a great victory. The Lord who does valiantly is Jesus Christ who was crucified and rose again on Easter morning.

David speaks of His great fight and victory in verse 22. "The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner." The "stone" is Jesus. The "builders" are the Jews and all who reject Jesus, who refuse to accept Him as the Son of God and Savior for sinners. We know how the Jews rejected Jesus and falsely blamed and condemned Him and crucified Him. They thought He was a liar and false prophet. They expected a great soldier to free them from Roman slavery.

When Jesus came to save them from sin slavery, they were not interested in that. So they refused Him and crucified Him. They thought on Good Friday that they had won their argument with Him. While He was dying on the cross they said, "If you are the Son of God save yourself.

The devil also thought he had won against Jesus. While He lay in the grave forty hours from Friday evening to Sunday morning all His enemies thought they had won. But God let Him rise from the dead with glory and great power.

They did not understand God's wise plan for saving the world, that His own Son must become a Man get rejected by both people and God, suffer such rejection to pay for man's sin. Although they didn't know it God used them to do His wise plan of saving the world from sin.

So this Stone which people despised is now become the chief cornerstone. Because Jesus suffered such shame, got rejected and crucified God raised Him from the dead and let Him become Head and Lord over all His church. Paul says, "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:9-11)

By His death and resurrection Jesus proves against all arguments that He is the Son of God from heaven as He said before; that His Kingdom is not like the proud worldly kingdoms that use money and swords, but a spiritual Kingdom where He offers forgiveness and peace to broken hearted and poor sinners and gives unto them life now and forever in heavenly glory. That's why David sings here in verses 17&18, "I shall not die, but live, and declare (show) the works of the LORD. The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death." David means that although we suffer much here on earth and although we must get sick and die and suffer through many troubles; although it appears that death and evil win, yet we shall live after death and rise again in new life and glory just as Jesus did that first Easter.

So David and we sing the Great Easter Song of our wonderful Savior's victory and also our victory. And this Great Easter Song has a beautiful closing of praise, reverence and joy to God.

David says in verse 19, "Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD:" and in verses 23 & 24, "This is the LORD'S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

This Great Easter Song closes with beautiful praise, reverence and joy before the Lord. And if you believe what David sings in this Psalm, you too will today and everyday praise, revere and joy before the Lord, your crucified and risen Savior.

Too, often we become very excited on Easter Sunday because it marks the beginning of Spring, we put-on our new spring clothes and hats and decorate with beautiful flowers and have a fine dinner. Then next Sunday almost everyone forgets about Jesus' great victory and a small group gathers in Church. Too, emotional not true Easter faith. If we have a big crowd today we should have a big crowd next Sunday, too, if we have true faith and not emotional.

Then when troubles strike us or our family, we cry and complain and act like there is no risen and living Jesus to help us in every trouble.

Oh let us attend to this great Easter song of David and sing it everyday of our life, especially in trouble and in the hour of our death.

Amen.