June 7, Today is the Day

This is the day which the Lord has made;
Let’s rejoice and be glad in it.
Please, O Lord, do save us;
Please, O Lord, do send prosperity!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord;
We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.

Psalm 118:24-26

This is the day the Lord has made.  This should be our anthem of life every day.  Yet, the simplicity and familiarity of this verse may cause one to miss the amazing depths of this truth.   Let’s enter the context.

In this passage, the Psalmist recognized a time of favor distinguished from all others – this is the day.  This could reference a particular festival, or a time in which Jehovah brought great success and deliverance.  Yet, upon closer look at the context, one will notice a foreshadowing of the day Christ entered Jerusalem to be delivered up as our salvation:

 “Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord”.  (Psalm 118:26)  

Also, looking to the fuller context, the Psalmist offers the imagery of our salvation in Christ alone (as quoted in the great salvation message by Peter to the Jewish leadership of his day, Acts 4:11-12):

I will give thanks to You, for You have answered me.  And You have become my salvation.  A stone which the builders rejected. Has become the chief cornerstone. (Psalm 118:21-22)

So, the meaning of Psalm 118:24 points to salvation in Jesus Christ- “This is the day!”  Therefore, the announcement rings out: This is the day of salvation.  

Do you remember the moment of your salvation?  Some remember the time, date, event, and the exact words expressed to God.  Others are not as necessarily confident of the details as they are of the change that Christ Jesus brought to their repentant heart.  But regardless of the details of the day of your salvation, if you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin, and thereby acknowledged through His death and resurrection that He indeed is the only way to the Father, then you have been saved (Romans 10:9-10), and have you become a child of God (John 1:12).  

Therefore, one can see Jesus and the Gospel in Psalm 118, for Jesus is the only entrance through which one is saved (Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10-11 Luke 21:17), and He is the cornerstone, or the capstone, which designates Him as the foundation of the church (Acts 4:11, Ephesians 2:20, I Peter 2:6-7).  

With evidence of the Gospel in Psalm 118, there is the accompanying context of human struggle.  Significant adversity was referenced by the Psalmist, for he cried out in anguish under the pressure of enemies on every side.  But immediately God’s deliverance was manifested (Psalm 118:5-14).  

In verses 15-18, the Psalmist referenced the personal discipline that the Lord brought through such fierce trials. Yet, from verses 19 through to the end of the Psalm, the Gospel is announced, and salvation is celebrated.  And, the pinnacle truth of this Psalm rings out in verse 24, wherein the Psalmist proclaimed the day of salvation – this is the day.  

So today, at this very moment, do you proclaim with joyful attitude the day of your salvation.  Do you live today as if your salvation is just as real right now as it was when you first believed.  This is the exact message of the Psalm, and the expected posture of the soul that belongs to God through Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Today, as you sing out “this is the day,” make certain that you are not attempting mere optimism in the midst of adversity.  Go much higher than that in your faith.  Sing out “this is the day,” because each day is an opportunity for you to live in the reality of your salvation.  

Do not forget the great work God has done in you, and live out of this reality every day, not just on Sunday.  

Peter Marshall suggests, 

If God does not enter your kitchen, there is something wrong with your kitchen. If you can't take God into your recreation, there is something wrong with your play. We all believe in the God of the heroic. What we need most these days is the God of the commonplace, the everyday.[1]

Let’s make every day a glorious day of personal worship wherever we find ourselves.  Let’s make every day a day to celebrate our salvation.  “This is the day” indeed!

Blessings.

READ - Read Psalm 118:1-29 and celebrate what God through Jesus Christ has done for you. 

[1] Peter Marshall, Sr., Leadership, Vol. 17, no. 2.