PSALM 118:24: “This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
OBSERVATION: Have you ever had a “crummy day”? The kind of day when everything goes wrong? The kind of day when you would have rather just pulled the covers up over your head and stayed in bed? We have all had these days. And we will all have them again. They are a part of life. When we have one of these days, if you are like me, one of the last things I want to hear is someone with a loud and happy voice cry out – “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” My thoughts are – “You rejoice, you don’t know my day!”
This Scripture has always troubled me in the way it has been used. We have sung it, quoted it, and used it as an exhortation, as if this one verse alone would magically change someone’s day. Yet, as in all of Scripture, anything taken out of context, and anything proclaimed without love and sensitivity, can bring death rather than life. The letter of the law brings death, but the Spirit brings life. Proverbs warns us about this type of insensitivity.
“Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, will be counted as cursing.” (Proverbs 27:14 ESV)
So what is the deal with this verse anyway? How can this verse bring hope and comfort in the midst of a “crummy day”? Once again the answer is found in the context of the verse. It is not talking about a random day. It is not an exhortation to skip through life with a happy face pretending that every day is just peachy. It is a proclamation about a SPECIFIC DAY, a day that puts everything in perspective, a day that we can always run to, a day that eternally brings hope and strength!
“I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” (Psalm 118:21-23 ESV)
This is the Day of Salvation, the Day of Redemption, the Day of Resurrection. This is the Day that Jesus was proclaimed the Chief Cornerstone. This is the Day that Jesus was declared to be King of Kings and Lord of Lords! This is the Day that puts all of my “crummy days” in perspective. Because of this Day – I can live! Because of this Day – I know that He will sustain me through every “crummy day” that I face. Because He lives – I truly can face both today and tomorrow! This is the Day that the Lord has made. It is not my day – it is HIS DAY! I can enter into the full benefit of this Day by grace through faith in Christ Jesus! It is this Day that reveals the truth:
“…If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32 ESV)
The God of Creation is on my side! If God is for me, if the Chief Cornerstone is my hope and strength, I know that I can rejoice and have hope – even when I am having a “crummy day”. I do not rejoice in my circumstances (“crummy day”) – I rejoice in the One who holds my circumstances (“crummy day”) in His Almighty, All Loving, All Powerful hands! So “crummy day” take note!
“This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
In Jesus Name!
