Psalms 118:27 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

God is the Lord God hath proved himself to be the Lord Jehovah, by the accomplishment of his promises: see the notes on Exodus 6:2-3. Or, as it is in the margin, the Lord, or Jehovah, is God, as was said upon another solemn occasion, 1 Kings 18:39. Or, is the mighty God, as this name of God, אל, eel, signifies, and as he showed himself to be, by this his mighty and wonderful work. Which hath showed us light Who hath scattered our dark clouds, and put us into a state of peace, safety, and happiness, which things are frequently signified by light in the Holy Scriptures. Or, who hath discovered, and will in due time send the Messiah, to be the light of the world, by whom he will more clearly and fully reveal his whole mind and will to us. Bind the sacrifice with cords unto the horns of the altar Which horns are supposed, by divers learned men, to have been made for this very use, that the beasts should be bound to them, and killed there; and this seems probable, from Exodus 29:11-12, and Leviticus 47., where we read, that the beasts were to be killed at the door of the tabernacle, which was very near the altar of burnt-offerings, and then immediately part of their blood was to be put upon the horns of the altar, and the rest poured out at the bottom of it. The words, however, may be interpreted thus: “Bind the sacrifice with cords, and bring it, so bound, unto the horns of the altar; which, after it is killed, are to be sprinkled with the blood of it.” “Perhaps,” says Henry, “the expression may have a peculiar significancy here; the sacrifice we are to offer to God, in gratitude for redeeming love, is ourselves; not to be slain upon the altar, but a living sacrifice to be bound to the altar. Our sacrifices are also to be those of prayer and praise, in which our hearts must be engaged and fixed, as the sacrifice was bound with cords to the horns of the altar, not to start back.”