"This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it." — Psalm 118:24 (NKJV)
The Word doesn’t say this is the day that circumstances made, and it doesn’t say this is the day that your bank account made, and it certainly doesn’t say this is the day your enemies signed off on. The Word says this is the day the LORD has made, and if the Lord made it, then it belongs to Him, and if it belongs to Him, then He gets the final say over what happens in it, over what happens to you in it, and over how you’re going to walk through it.
Somebody is feeling defeated. Somebody has the weight of last week still sitting heavy on their shoulders. Somebody is looking at a situation that looks rejected, passed over, or like it will never work out. I want to remind you what the same psalm says just one verse before today’s text. Psalm 118:22 tells us the stone the builders refused became the chief cornerstone, and verse 23 says it was the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. So before the psalmist ever got to rejoicing, he had to testify about rejection first. He had to testify about being counted out first. What looks rejected in your life right now, what looks thrown away, what looks like it doesn’t fit anywhere, God is working to make it the cornerstone of your testimony.
That's why the very next breath is rejoicing. Not rejoicing because the trouble left or because the diagnosis changed or the check cleared or the phone finally rang with good news. Rejoicing because the day itself already belongs to God, and He doesn’t need your circumstances to line up before He releases His gladness over you. Nehemiah told the people the joy of the Lord is your strength. Joy isn’t the absence of a fight, it’s the strength you fight with.
Lamentations tells us His mercies are new every morning and great is His faithfulness, which means yesterday's failure doesn’t get a vote in today's blessing, and yesterday's tears don’t get to determine today's shout. The psalmist already settled it in Psalm 30, weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. This is your morning; your day. Not a day like it, not a day similar to it, this day, the one you are sitting in right now, the one you almost let discouragement talk you out of showing up for.
Paul told the Romans that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose. It didn’t say all things feel good, it said all things work together for good, which means God is still working even when you can’t see the seams coming together. So when the psalmist declares he will rejoice and be glad in it, he isn’t ignoring the battle, he’s announcing a decision in the middle of the battle. Rejoicing isn’t a feeling you wait on, it’s a declaration you stand on.
So, I challenge you today to open your mouth and say it like you mean it. This is the day. Not maybe, not almost, not if things get better. This is the day the Lord has made, and I will rejoice, and I will be glad in it, because my help didn’t come from the situation, my help came from the Lord who made heaven and earth, and He isn’t finished with this day yet.
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