The card I posted yesterday featured the scripture from Psalm 118:24 "This is the day that the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it." I've heard this scripture all of my life both in word and song. Sometimes, when a song or scripture is so ingrained in your being, you tend to take its meaning for granted.
I took a harder look today while considering this scripture in the context of thankfulness. What hit me more than anything was the absence of modifiers in the scripture. What I mean is, it doesn't clarify what type of day God made. It doesn't say "This is a good day that the Lord has made" or "Rejoice because God made this day to be a happy day". No, it simply states this is "THE day". We can conclude the author of the
Psalm purposely left out what type of day God made because it did not matter.
What? Are we to rejoice and be glad about any type of day? Does that mean the good days? Yes. Does it mean the bad days? Yes. Even the "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad" days? Yes. But why? Ah, that is always our question when we don't understand. My belief is you have to find your answer to the why. For some, rejoicing and being glad in a bad situation will eventually bring them joy and happiness despite the circumstance. Others may need to make their joy and gladness a sacrifice to learn who God is in their life.
What I know without a doubt is, despite the circumstances, any day that God grants me breath is a day for rejoicing and being glad. So I say with the Psalmist, today is the day that God gave me life and breath and allowed me to wake up and rejoice in Him; I will be filled with thankfulness and gladness for His great gift!
I took a harder look today while considering this scripture in the context of thankfulness. What hit me more than anything was the absence of modifiers in the scripture. What I mean is, it doesn't clarify what type of day God made. It doesn't say "This is a good day that the Lord has made" or "Rejoice because God made this day to be a happy day". No, it simply states this is "THE day". We can conclude the author of the
Psalm purposely left out what type of day God made because it did not matter.
What? Are we to rejoice and be glad about any type of day? Does that mean the good days? Yes. Does it mean the bad days? Yes. Even the "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad" days? Yes. But why? Ah, that is always our question when we don't understand. My belief is you have to find your answer to the why. For some, rejoicing and being glad in a bad situation will eventually bring them joy and happiness despite the circumstance. Others may need to make their joy and gladness a sacrifice to learn who God is in their life.
What I know without a doubt is, despite the circumstances, any day that God grants me breath is a day for rejoicing and being glad. So I say with the Psalmist, today is the day that God gave me life and breath and allowed me to wake up and rejoice in Him; I will be filled with thankfulness and gladness for His great gift!
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