Psalm 118 (27 of 31 notes)

26. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. The champion had done everything “in the name of the Lord”: in that name he had routed all his adversaries, and had risen to the throne, and in that name he had now entered the temple to pay his vows. We know who it is that cometh in the name of the Lord beyond all others. For his sake everybody is blessed to us who comes in the name of the Lord; we welcome all such to our hearts and our homes; but chiefly, and beyond all others, we welcome himself when he deigns to enter in and sup with us and we with him. Perhaps this sentence is intended to be the benediction of the priests upon the valiant servant of the Lord, and if so, it is appropriately added, We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord. The priests, whose business it was to bless the people, in a sevenfold degree blessed the people’s deliverer, the one chosen out of the people whom the Lord has exalted. All those whose high privilege it is to dwell in the house of the Lord forever, because they are made priests unto God in Christ Jesus, can truly say that they bless the Christ who has made them what they are, and placed them where they are. Whenever we feel ourselves at home with God, and feel the spirit of adoption, the first thought of our hearts should be to bless the elder Brother, through whom the privilege of sonship has descended to such unworthy ones.