Psalm 117 is often regarded as a preface to Psalm 118 and it is possible that they were sung together at Passover time since they are the two final songs of the group of Hallel psalms.
Although it is a short psalm, it contains a very large vision that includes the whole world. As Geoffrey Grogan wrote, ‘No psalm is shorter in length or larger in its theme.’ It anticipates the incoming of the Gentiles into the church.
It might initially seem a surprising song to sing at Passover since the feast recalled God’s judgement on a nation that had persecuted his people. Yet the judgement on Egypt was sent because they had refused to let Israel leave and go to their own country where they could be a light to the rest of the world by showing to them who the true God is.
The history of Israel served to reveal the grace of God. He had fulfilled promises he made to them, he had restored them on numerous occasions after they had departed from him, he had enabled them to have great victories over powerful enemies, and he had provided them with a system of worship that highlighted both his holiness and his mercy.
The Gentiles are assured in this psalm that if they join the people of God they will experience his love and faithfulness. We could say that this psalm is like an Old Testament tract for distribution among the peoples of the world.
Paul quotes this psalm in Romans 15:11 among a cluster of verses taken from the Old Testament that describes what Jesus is doing today among the Gentiles. It is a psalm that is based on the covenant made with Abraham that through his seed the nations would be blest. And we can remind ourselves as well that Paul tells us in Romans 11 that there will yet be a great global blessing to the Gentiles through the conversion of the Jews.
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