The DAY That The LORD Has Made
"This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24
This is a particularly well-known verse, and it is usually taken to refer to the present day. That is, it is taken to mean, Whatever day it is, let us rejoice and be glad in it. If the day is especially pleasant and sunny then the congregation is more enthusiastic about reading this verse together!
But is this really what it means? That whatever the day is like, God has made it and given us life in it, so we should show our thanks by rejoicing and being glad? There is truth to this interpretation, but if we look closer at the verse and its context we can see that God is really telling us something much, much more profound.
Let us notice first that this verse follows immediately upon the passage about the stone the builders rejected. Jesus, after telling the parable of the tenants of the vineyard, in which they kill the lord's son in order to take the vineyard for themselves, concludes with this saying: "He [the lord of the vineyard] shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others." The people hearing Him said, God forbid, and so Jesus looked at them and said, "What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner?"
He is identifying Himself as the rejected stone, the son who was cast out of the vineyard by the tenants and killed, but who is nonetheless chosen by God to become the cornerstone of a new building. The "builders" and "husbandmen" are identified as the chief priests and scribes, who shall be destroyed and have their work come to nought, the occasion of which being given to others--although ultimately the builder and husbandman of this new work is GOD (1 COR 3:9!) and it is all men who rejected Christ. This rejection by men has to do with how no man can come unto Jesus unless he is drawn by God. We see this in passages such as John 1:11-12, 3:32-33, 6:34, 12:32, and 1 Peter 2:4.
And it is here in 1 Peter 2 that Jesus is spoken of as the rejected stone, the verse from Psalms being explicitly quoted in verse 7: "Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,".
Now that we know the stone which the builders disallowed is Jesus Christ, we see that Psalm 118:24 begins with the word "This" which refers to that stone and, by extension, the building of God that shall be built upon this chosen and precious cornerstone!
Therefore Jesus Christ is the Day which the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in Him!
"Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice." Phil 4:4
Now let us consider the building of God, which is also meant here because it is that which is built upon that Cornerstone. The building of God is the Church (1 Cor 3:9), which is the Heavenly Jerusalem, the mother of us all and the Bride of Christ (Gal 4:26, Rev 21:9-10). So let us look at the Wife of the Lamb in the Book of Revelation and see what it tells us concerning "day".
"And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there." Rev 21:25
"And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever." Rev 22:5
"And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." Rev 21:23
So there shall be no night there and the brightness of the glory of God (Heb 1:3) shall be its light, which is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Day which the Lord has made, and we shall rejoice and be glad in Him!
Is this not the fulfillment of Gen 1:4-5?
"And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day."
This is a particularly well-known verse, and it is usually taken to refer to the present day. That is, it is taken to mean, Whatever day it is, let us rejoice and be glad in it. If the day is especially pleasant and sunny then the congregation is more enthusiastic about reading this verse together!
But is this really what it means? That whatever the day is like, God has made it and given us life in it, so we should show our thanks by rejoicing and being glad? There is truth to this interpretation, but if we look closer at the verse and its context we can see that God is really telling us something much, much more profound.
Let us notice first that this verse follows immediately upon the passage about the stone the builders rejected. Jesus, after telling the parable of the tenants of the vineyard, in which they kill the lord's son in order to take the vineyard for themselves, concludes with this saying: "He [the lord of the vineyard] shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others." The people hearing Him said, God forbid, and so Jesus looked at them and said, "What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner?"
He is identifying Himself as the rejected stone, the son who was cast out of the vineyard by the tenants and killed, but who is nonetheless chosen by God to become the cornerstone of a new building. The "builders" and "husbandmen" are identified as the chief priests and scribes, who shall be destroyed and have their work come to nought, the occasion of which being given to others--although ultimately the builder and husbandman of this new work is GOD (1 COR 3:9!) and it is all men who rejected Christ. This rejection by men has to do with how no man can come unto Jesus unless he is drawn by God. We see this in passages such as John 1:11-12, 3:32-33, 6:34, 12:32, and 1 Peter 2:4.
And it is here in 1 Peter 2 that Jesus is spoken of as the rejected stone, the verse from Psalms being explicitly quoted in verse 7: "Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,".
Now that we know the stone which the builders disallowed is Jesus Christ, we see that Psalm 118:24 begins with the word "This" which refers to that stone and, by extension, the building of God that shall be built upon this chosen and precious cornerstone!
Therefore Jesus Christ is the Day which the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in Him!
"Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice." Phil 4:4
Now let us consider the building of God, which is also meant here because it is that which is built upon that Cornerstone. The building of God is the Church (1 Cor 3:9), which is the Heavenly Jerusalem, the mother of us all and the Bride of Christ (Gal 4:26, Rev 21:9-10). So let us look at the Wife of the Lamb in the Book of Revelation and see what it tells us concerning "day".
"And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there." Rev 21:25
"And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever." Rev 22:5
"And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." Rev 21:23
So there shall be no night there and the brightness of the glory of God (Heb 1:3) shall be its light, which is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Day which the Lord has made, and we shall rejoice and be glad in Him!
Is this not the fulfillment of Gen 1:4-5?
"And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day."
