Everyone builds a life around something. A career, a family, a reputation, a cause. Most of us are happy to include Jesus somewhere in the plans, as long as He stays in the role we assign Him: comfort in a crisis, a blessing at weddings, a name on a form. What we resist is letting Him set the lines of the whole structure. That would mean our ambitions and plans must line up with Him, rather than the other way around.
The psalmist sang about a stone the builders threw out that became the cornerstone. Jesus applied that song to Himself while the religious leaders were rejecting Him. Peter later wrote that God has laid this stone in Zion, chosen and precious, and whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame. The cornerstone is not decoration. It is the stone every other stone is measured against. And here is the grace in it: God laid it. We do not have to construct our own foundation or earn our place in the building. Christ was rejected so that rejected people could be built into God’s house. Ask where you have treated Jesus as an accessory, and let Him take His place at the center.
Associated Scripture
Psalm 118:22 (ESV): "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone."
1 Peter 2:6 (ESV): "For it stands in Scripture: ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’"
[Verse 1]
The builders draw their perfect plans
They lay the lines with careful hands
They look for glory, they look for gold
For a kingdom bought and a kingdom sold
They ignore the Stone that doesn't fit
And build their houses over it.
[Chorus]
But the Stone that the builders rejected
Has become the Cornerstone!
The King that the world has neglected
Is seated on the throne!
He’s the Rock! He’s the Foundation!
The Hope of every nation!
The Stone that the builders rejected
Has become the Cornerstone!
[Verse 2]
They think they’ve cast the Truth away
To crumble in the dust and clay
But every wall that we try to raise
Without His light, without His praise
Is bound to buckle, is bound to break
With every tremor that the shadows make.
[Chorus]
But the Stone that the builders rejected
Has become the Cornerstone!
The King that the world has neglected
Is seated on the throne!
He’s the Rock! He’s the Foundation!
The Hope of every nation!
The Stone that the builders rejected
Has become the Cornerstone!
[Bridge]
On this Rock I’ll build my life!
Through the storm and through the strife!
HE WON’T SHAKE! HE WON’T MOVE!
HE’S THE STRENGTH WE’RE GONNA PROVE!
[Chorus]
But the Stone that the builders rejected
Has become the Cornerstone!
The King that the world has neglected
Is seated on the throne!
He’s the Rock! He’s the Foundation!
The Hope of every nation!
The Stone that the builders rejected
Has become the Cornerstone!
[Outro]
The Foundation is set...
The Stone is in place...
He is my cornerstone!
