Click here for more messages from the book of Psalms.
Click here to return to the Sermons page.

Psalm 118:24

INTRODUCTION: Please take your Bibles and open with me to Psalm 118. Although the text for our message this morning is just verse 24, we will be reading verses 19-24 to help set the verse in its wider context. This is a great psalm; in fact, this was Martin Luther’s favorite psalm from the whole Bible. We don’t have time to look at the whole psalm this morning, but I encourage you to sit down sometime later today or this week to read through the whole psalm from beginning to end. (Read Psalm 118:19-24 and pray.)

————————————————–

Some people live stuck in the past. Others live dreaming about a better tomorrow. But God tells us to live in the present. And I can’t think of any better verse in the Bible that speaks to this than Psalm 118:24: “This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!” The past is gone. That future you’re either worrying or dreaming about may never actually arrive. But we have today, we have right now, and we should receive every day joyfully as a gift from God.

You have probably heard the following prayer before:

Dear Lord, so far today I am doing alright. I have not gossiped, lost my temper, been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish or overindulgent. However, in a few minutes I will be getting out of bed, and I will need a lot more help after that. Amen.

That’s a cute prayer to start your day with, but here’s a better one. Just think how much better your day would be if you started it with Psalm 118:24 on your lips: “This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.” Now that’s the way to start your day!

I have divided today’s message into three sections. First, we will look at an encouraging fact. Then, we will look at our appropriate response. And then thirdly, we will look at the context that ties it all together.

I. An encouraging fact: This is the day the Lord has made.

So, let’s begin with an encouraging fact. And that fact is: “This is the day that the Lord has made.” (Psalm 118:24) I grew up singing this verse as a song. Some of you probably know it: “This is the day (this is the day) that the Lord has made (that the Lord has made)” – and I’ve got to tell you, what an encouraging song! There is no way you can sing that song without being lifted up and encouraged. Why? Because it is such an encouraging fact. Today – this day – was made by God. And that should be an amazing encouragement to you and to me.

   A. God created all things
      – Genesis 1:1; Psalm 104:10, 13-14, 19-20, 24

You might wonder, how do we know God made this day? Well, first of all the Bible teaches us that God created all things. Now we know that God created all things in the beginning. Genesis 1:1, the first verse in the Bible says: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) And we know that on the seventh day God finished his work of creating the world and rested. But that doesn’t mean that God is not still actively involved in his creation. Listen to how Psalm 104 describes God’s relation to his world:

He makes springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the mountains…. He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work. He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate — bringing forth food from the earth…. The moon marks off the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down. You bring darkness, it becomes night, and all the beasts of the forest prowl…. How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you made them all. (Psalm 104:10-24)

Do you see how involved God is in his creation? When we try to reduce all that happens in creation simply to science and natural processes, we lose sight of the fact that God is constantly at work in his creation. “How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you made them all!” (Psalm 104:24) God created all things, and that means he made today.

   B. God sustains all things
      – Colossians 1:15-17

But God not only created all things. God also sustains all things. Colossians 1 says:

“He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God … all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:15-17)

All things were created by Christ, and in him all things hold together. And that is why we can confidently proclaim that God not only created the world a long time ago, but that God is directly involved in the world today. God didn’t just create the world, wind it up, set things in motion, and then leave it to operate on its own. No, he sustains his creation every day.

God is a God of wisdom and order, and so God created a world that runs according to natural laws that we can discover and explore, but he also sustains the world he created by the power of his own being and word. Know this: should God choose to withdraw his sustaining power from the world, the whole universe would come grinding to a halt. Colossians says: “In him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:17)

   C. God reigns over all things
      – Psalm 93:1

So, God created all things. God sustains all things. And thirdly, God reigns over all things. Psalm 93:1 says: “The LORD reigns, he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed in majesty and is armed with strength.” (Psalm 93:1) The Lord reigns; he is ruler over all that he has made. And that is an encouraging fact. You and I can sometimes lose control over the things we make. Things get away from us, and we can make a real mess of it. But not God. God reigns over all things, and he is ruler over all that he has made.

So that’s our encouraging fact. This is the day that the Lord has made! And how do we know that? Because God created all things, God sustains all things, and God reigns over all things.

II. Our appropriate response: Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

What, then, should our response to this be? Well, that brings us to the second part of our message this morning. There is only one appropriate response to the fact that God is the one who made this day, and that is: “Let us rejoice and be glad in it!” (Psalm 118:24) What other response could you possibly have? This is the day that the Lord has made! Let us be sorrowful and sad? Let us be anxious and fearful? Let us grumble and complain? No, let us rejoice, and let us be glad in the day that God has made!

Let me share with you three reasons why rejoicing is the only appropriate response to the fact that God is the one who made this day.

   A. God is good
      – Psalm 118:1, 29

First of all, God is good. In fact, if you go back to the beginning of Psalm 118, you see that’s how the whole psalm starts out: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” (Psalm 118:1) And if you go to the end of the psalm, you see that’s how it finishes out, too! “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” (Psalm 118:29) The whole psalm and everything in it is framed by the awesome truth that God is good and his love endures forever.

God is good, and therefore all that God makes is good. We see this in the opening chapters of Genesis. What does Genesis say? God created the light, and he saw that it was good. God created the sky and the dry land, and he saw that it was good. God created the birds, the fish, the land animals and human beings, and he saw that it was good.

When you go out to buy something, you put a lot of trust in the quality of the manufacturer. For example, in the electronics world, companies like Sony and Bose and Denon put a lot of time and money into having people associate their names with good, quality workmanship. Sony wants consumers to look at a Sony product, recognize the Sony name behind it, and say, “Oh, it’s a Sony. I know it will be good.”

Well, when it comes to name-brand recognition, you can’t do any better than God! When God makes something, you can trust the quality of the workmanship. If you don’t believe me, then go outside: take a walk along the ocean or watch the sun rise; get away from the city lights and look up into the night sky or hold a brand-new baby in your arms, and then tell me that God doesn’t do good, quality work.

So, if God is good, and all that God makes is good, then this day that God made is good, and that’s the first reason why we should rejoice in it.

   B. God is in control
      – Psalm 139:16

And then a second reason why we should rejoice in this day is because God is in control. This goes back to what we were saying earlier when we said that God reigns over all things. God is in control. God made this day, God planned this day, and nothing can interfere with his plans.
David understood this when he wrote in Psalm 139: “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:16) There are no surprises with God. You don’t have to worry about what is going to happen today, because God already knows what is going to happen today. Instead, you can rejoice in today Why? Because God is in control.

One of the hardest seasons of my life was when we moved from Massachusetts back to Florida back in 2009. We hadn’t sold our home in Massachusetts yet, but we needed to get the kids down to Florida before the start of the school year. So that August I drove Rosi and the boys down to Florida, helped them get all set up here in Plantation, and then flew back to Massachusetts to try and finish selling our house. One of the hardest days of my life was saying goodbye to Rosi at the airport and not knowing when I was going to see her and the boys again. I flew back to Massachusetts and entered that big empty house all alone, and I howled like a dog. I was pretty pathetic.

Now we only had the one car, which I left down in Florida with Rosi and the boys, but I had a couple backup vehicles waiting for me in Massachusetts for when I got back. So, I went to get the first one, and it turns out it was in the garage for repairs. It wouldn’t be ready for a couple weeks. No problem, I had a second vehicle waiting. So, I went to get that one, and it turns out that it had been loaned to someone else who needed a vehicle, and they weren’t sure when they would be getting it back.

Okay, no problem, the church office was only four miles from the house. I can walk that in an hour. So now I am walking back and forth to the church office each day with briefcase in hand, and four miles turns out to be a lot longer than I thought. One night I am talking to Rosi and the boys about it over the phone, and Sam – you know, kids can be so encouraging – and Sam says, “Wow, Dad, you must feel like you’re poor again!” Thanks a lot, Sam!

But you know what? As I was walking back and forth to work, I talked to God about it. And I said, “Lord, you are humbling me right now, and I know your word says that you humble the proud, so that means I must have gotten proud. And I am so sorry. I don’t understand all that’s going on right now, but I know that you are in control, and so I accept this as from your hand, and I ask that you teach me what you need to teach me through this.”

And you know what? God did teach me. He provided for us in amazing ways. He proved himself faithful. And we saw so many answers to prayer, he made it clear beyond any doubt that he was in control every step of the way.

Why can we rejoice in this day that God has made, even when today may not be going as we had hoped or planned? Because God is good, and because God is in control.

   C. God cares for you
      – 1 Peter 5:7; Lamentation 3:22-23

And then a third reason why you should rejoice in this day that God has made is because God cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7 says: “Cast all your cares on him, because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7) God is not only in control of the whole universe, but he also cares for you as an individual. He knows you; he loves you; he watches over you. His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23).

This is the day that the Lord has made. Why should you rejoice and be glad in it? Because God is good, because God is in control, and because God cares for you.

III. The context that ties it all together: Jesus!

So, we have looked at an encouraging fact from this verse: “This is the day that the Lord has made.” We have looked at our appropriate response: “Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” And now finally I would like us to look at the context that ties it all together.

We have been looking at a general application of this verse, but the question arises – could this verse have a more specific meaning? When God inspired the psalmist to write these words, was he only talking about “this day” as in today, or did he also have a specific day in mind?

If you read the commentaries on this verse, you will find a variety of interpretations on it. Some say it refers to the Sabbath day – that is, the Sabbath is the specific day God made in which we should rejoice. Others say it refers to the day of Christ’s exaltation. And still others say it refers to the whole gospel age, the new day that arrived with Christ and the gospel.

Well, what does the context tell us about this? If we had time to look at the whole psalm together, we would see that Psalm 118 is the victory song of a warrior-king who was almost defeated in battle, but the Lord delivered him from death and gave him victory over his enemies. The Jews of Jesus’ day recognized this psalm as a Messianic Psalm, that is, a psalm which was prophetic of the Messiah who was to come.

The New Testament applies this psalm directly to Jesus. It is quoted in all four of the gospels (Matthew 19:9; Mark 11:9-10; Luke 19:38; John 12:13), where Jesus is revealed as the true fulfillment of this psalm. He is the cornerstone who was rejected by men but exalted by God (Mark 12:10-11; Acts 4:11; Ephesians 2:20-21; 1 Peter 2:4-8).

This is also the psalm that Jesus and his disciples would have sung together at the end of the Lord’s Supper before they went out to the Garden of Gethsemane. When you come to those words in the gospels – “When they had sung a hymn, they went out” (Matthew 26:30; Mark 14:26) – understand, they were not singing “Blest Be the Tie” like we usually do after communion, but they were singing, “This is the Day!”

So, what does “this day” refer to in the full context of the psalm? Up to this point we have been looking at a very general application of this verse – that God is the author of every day, and therefore we should receive every day joyfully as a gift from God. And that is a valid application. But there is a more specific interpretation of these words as well.

Jesus Christ is the true warrior-King who looked like he was going down in defeat at the cross, but then God delivered him. God raised him from the dead, and God exalted him to the highest place in heaven. And it is because of what God did on that day that we may have confidence in this day.

Christ is risen; Christ is exalted; Christ is victorious. And that is the real reason why we may rejoice in every day that God has made. The true context is found in Jesus! No wonder this was Martin Luther’s favorite psalm!

CONCLUSION: And so here is my challenge to you. We are just at the start of a new year. Will you commit to starting each day of this new year with Psalm 118:24 on your lips? Will you wake up each morning and choose to say: “This is the day the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it?”

Now, before you say yes, let me warn you up front: you are going to have some tough days this year. Some of you will face sickness. Some of you will have financial troubles. Some of you may lose a loved one. And for most of you, on the day the crisis hits you will have no idea when you wake up in the morning what God has in store for you that day. And so, you might wonder: “How am I supposed to start my morning rejoicing in this day that God has made, when this day may hold tragedy for me?”

But that only makes it even more important that you begin each day with this verse in mind. God is for you, not against you, and he has a purpose in all that happens in your life. As the old Puritan writer Thomas Watson once wrote: “If it is good for us, we shall have it; if it is not good for us, then the withholding of it is good.” (Thomas Watson, All Things for Good, p. 16)

I don’t know what God has written in the book of your life for this new year, but I do know this. What is uncertain for us is not uncertain for God. And so, it all comes down to a matter of trust. Do you trust the character of God who created all things, who sustains all things, who reigns over all things? Do you believe that God is good, that God is in control, and that God cares for you? And most importantly of all, do you believe that God raised Jesus from the dead and has exalted him as Lord over all?

If so, then this verse, Psalm 118:24, belongs to you. And you can wake up every morning and start your day with these precious words upon your lips: “This is the day that the Lord has made! I will rejoice and be glad in it!”

Prayer:

   This is the day the Lord has made,
   He calls the hours his own;
   Let heaven rejoice, let earth be glad,
   And praise surround the throne.

© Ray Fowler

You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this message provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and that you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For any web postings, please link to the sermon directly at this website.

Please include the following statement on any distributed copies:
By Ray Fowler. © Ray Fowler. Website: https://www.rayfowler.org

Click here for more messages from the book of Psalms.
Click here to return to the Sermons page.