Psalm 118:24 (NASB):
This is the day which the LORD has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
If you are a Christian then you’ve likely heard this verse many many times. But in my humble opinion it is under applied. Not in frequency of application, but in actual application.
I do not disagree that the Bible has a lot to say about having joy in life. Having life and having it more abundantly. That each day is a gift from God. Yes, let us rejoice and be glad every day! Great idea! But if you stop there with this verse you are missing a wonderful blessing.
Let’s back up a few verses and reexamine what the Psalmist is getting at here. Let’s start in verse 20:
20This is the gate of the LORD;
The righteous will enter through it.
21I shall give thanks to You, for You have answered me,
And You have become my salvation.
22The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief corner stone.
23This is the LORD’S doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
24This is the day which the LORD has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25O LORD, do save, we beseech You;
O LORD, we beseech You, do send prosperity!
26Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD;
We have blessed you from the house of the LORD.
27The LORD is God, and He has given us light;
Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
28You are my God, and I give thanks to You;
You are my God, I extol You.
29Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
There is a lot there, so I’ll just get to the heart of it. In verse 21 the Psalmist says, “you have become my salvation.” In verse 22 “the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone.” Corner stone? That sounds familiar.
Ephesians 2:19-21 explains it very well:
19So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,
20having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,
21in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,
In the Gospels, Jesus also quotes from Psalm 118 when he tells the parable of the landowner. Here in Ephesians Paul spells it out. Jesus is the cornerstone! We (if you believe in Christ) are the living stones that are being built up on the foundation of the prophets and the apostles, with Jesus as the very cornerstone!
So. Back to Psalm 118:24. What is the day we rejoice and be glad in? The day that Jesus Christ became the sacrifice for our sins and became the cornerstone for us! It is the gate of the Lord that the righteous will enter. (verse 20) Not because of our righteousness, but the very righteousness of God that He gives us when we trust Jesus.
He has become our salvation! (verse 21) It’s the Lord’s doing. (verse 23) It is a gift we receive from Him. It is not deserved, but the benefit is HUGE! We become sons and daughters of God! We become co-heirs with Christ! We who come in the name of the Lord are blessed! (verse 26) God has given us the light of the world which is Jesus (verse 27) We give thanks to God because of His lovingkindness that will last forever! (verse 28 & 29)
So, yeah. I say rejoice in every day. It is a gift from God. But next time you hear someone say, “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it,” think about what that really means. God’s only son who was God made flesh died for you so that you could enter into His presence and live there forever! The day that He did that for the whole world is worthy of our praise EVERY DAY indeed!!!
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