This Day

This Day

October 14, 2019

Psalm 118:24  "This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."

There is a famous Bible verse written to music, that we call can quote, but we may use it at only one type of moment. It comes from Psalm 118 and is believed to be written by King David, and written in song-style to music even from the beginning. The verse reads, "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." When we hear that verse, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Is it the Lord's blessings on a sunshiny day or is it a phrase meant to uplift the soul of the singer, in the midst of adversity?  You can sing those words when this go well and you can sing those words when you are in the midst of trouble and you're trying to encourage your heart to keep on going. 

We know we are to give the Lord thanks in all things, but what was King David referring to when he said he would rejoice in this day? Did David mean this exact moment, the one for each immediate breath? If you read all of Psalm 118, you see that David is actually praising the Lord for the Lord's enduring faithfulness throughout David's lift, even when David himself was not perfect. David references a rescue from an enemy, he references having had blessings, he references being disciplined, and he references the future day of Salvation. The psalm starts out with David's life but then transitions into the life of Jesus, being the stone that the builders rejected now becoming the corner stone of Salvation. 

The progression in the psalm is about all of the Lord's participation in David's life with the culmination for the need of a Savior. It completes with the finality of Salvation for David, as if it has already taken place through Jesus. Jesus was still hundreds of years away from David's own physical death, but David rejoiced in the day of Salvation for himself as if it was now fully realized and complete.  The psalm is fully about the participation of the Lord in David's life, from beginning to end, not just about the experiences David was enduring. Every day is the day the Lord has made, that is a given, but the rejoicing comes with and from the Lord's participation of it. The gift for rejoicing is the Lord's presence and action in today, not the adversity or blessing that comes from today.  The gift for rejoicing comes knowing the Lord is working in and through and with you throughout all of it, with the full intent of bringing you to His side in the end, redeeming every situation and experience. 

When David was rejoicing about this day, he was rejoicing in the good, the bad, the ugly, and then the redemption and completion of it all. The end result of every Christian's life is eternity in Heaven with Him. All that happens in a life will eventually become irrelevant once Heaven is attained. Each day for rejoicing in the good or the bad or the ugly is one step closer to Heaven, one step closer to perfection and union with the Lord.  In all things the Lord is working and moving in your life, leading you with the intent to usher you into His full presence someday. But so often we fight or resist today, when it is the bad or the ugly. We want only the blessing and salvation, but the Lord would say it is not about what happens in the day at all, regardless of what happens. We aren't rejoicing in the actual day, but in how the Lord designed today for our lives and for our good. It does not matter what happens, it matters that the Lord is working in and through it; that is the reason for rejoicing. 

Don't take my word for it; look it up:  Ps 118, Rom 8:28