Psalm 118:24 Devotional: This Is the Day the Lord Has Made
A devotional on Psalm 118:24 — what it means that this is the day the Lord has made, and how to rejoice and be glad in it, even on hard days.
Psalm 118:1-10Psalm 118:21-29Psalm 118:24Psalm 118:22-23Psalm 100:1-5Psalm 115:17-18Matthew 21:9Matthew 21:42
Psalm 118:24 is one line most of us know by heart: “This is the day that the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” It sounds like a bright morning verse, the kind you put on a coffee mug. But read the verses just before it and the line changes shape.
This is the day that the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. — Psalm 118:24 (BSB)
The psalm has just said that the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, and that this is from the LORD, marvelous in our eyes (Psalm 118:22-23). The day being celebrated is not simply a nice day. It is the day God turned rejection into the foundation of everything. That is the day the psalmist means — and it is why he can say “we will,” a decision, not a mood.
What does “this is the day the LORD has made” actually mean?
The Hebrew word for “made” here is the ordinary word for making or doing. The psalmist is not saying the sun came up — everyone knows that. He is saying God is the one who made this day, this particular day with its particular events, including the ones that looked like defeat.
Read the psalm from the start and you see the road that led there. The writer was surrounded: “All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off” (Psalm 118:10, BSB). He was pushed hard, nearly falling (verse 13). He had been disciplined severely but not handed over to death (verse 18). And then, at the gate of the temple, the song turns. The rejected stone becomes the cornerstone. The day of distress becomes the day of salvation.
So “this is the day” is a confession of faith about a day that did not feel good at the time. God made it. God was in it. God used it.
Why does the psalmist say “we will rejoice” instead of “I feel happy”?
Notice the verb. It is a choice, a settled intention, and it is plural — “we will rejoice and be glad in it.” The psalmist is not reporting a feeling. He is leading a congregation in a decision.
That matters for anyone reading this on a morning that feels heavy. If rejoicing were a feeling, you could not command it, and neither could the psalmist. But he can say “we will,” because rejoicing in Scripture is often an act of obedience that comes before the feeling. You give thanks because the LORD is good; the feeling follows or it does not, and either way the thanks is real.
Psalm 100 says something similar: “Serve the LORD with gladness; come into His presence with joyful songs” (Psalm 100:2, BSB). The gladness is commanded, which means it is possible even when it is not automatic.
One honest note: this is not a command to pretend. The psalms are full of complaint and grief, and God does not scold the mourner. “We will rejoice” sits alongside tears in the same book. The choice is not to deny the sorrow but to refuse to let the sorrow have the last word about who God is.
What day is Psalm 118:24 really pointing to?
Christians have long read this psalm as pointing beyond itself. Jesus quoted Psalm 118:22 about Himself: “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (Matthew 21:42, BSB). The crowds shouted Psalm 118:26 — “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD” — as He entered Jerusalem (Matthew 21:9).
So when the psalmist says “this is the day the LORD has made,” there is a deeper day in view: the day God raised His Son, the day the rejected stone was set in place as the foundation of a new building, the church. That is the day worth rejoicing in on any date on the calendar.
This is why the early Christians could gather on the first day of the week and sing this psalm with joy. Every Lord’s Day is a small echo of that day.
How do you rejoice in a day you did not want?
Here is where the verse becomes practical. Most of us do not get to choose our days. We get the diagnosis, the empty chair, the difficult email, the ordinary Tuesday. So what does it look like to say “this is the day the LORD has made” about a day like that?
A few honest steps:
Name the day as God’s. Not because it is pleasant, but because He is not absent from it. The psalmist’s hard day was still a day the LORD had made. Nothing in your day is outside His knowledge or His care.
Say it out loud. The psalmist does not keep his thanksgiving silent. He speaks it, and Scripture regularly ties thanksgiving to words spoken aloud — “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His loving devotion endures forever” (Psalm 118:29, BSB). Say it before you feel it.
Look for the cornerstone. Ask where God has already been faithful — the prayer answered, the friend who stayed, the strength you did not have. The psalm remembers the rescue before it celebrates.
Let the day be small. You do not have to fix everything today. You have to receive today as a gift and walk in it with God.
Where does this leave you today?
The psalm ends where it began: “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His loving devotion endures forever” (Psalm 118:29, BSB). That is the ground under the whole song. Not that every day is easy, but that the LORD’s steadfast love does not run out, and the day He made — including the day of the empty tomb — belongs to Him.
If this devotion finds you on a hard morning, tell God the truth about it. Then, slowly, say the verse anyway. You are not pretending. You are joining a very old song sung by people who also had bad days and found that God was good in them.
If you are carrying something heavy, do not carry it alone. Speak with a pastor or a trusted believer in person this week, and see a doctor or licensed counselor if the weight is more than you can hold. If you are having thoughts of suicide or self-harm, please reach out right now: in the United States and Canada call or text 988; in the United Kingdom and Ireland call Samaritans on 116 123; in Australia call Lifeline on 13 11 14; anywhere else visit findahelpline.com or call your local emergency number.
A question to sit with: What would change if you received today — this actual day, not the one you planned — as something God made and gave?
A prayer you can pray in your own voice: Lord, this is the day You have made. I receive it from Your hand, not just the parts I like. Thank You that Your loving devotion endures forever. Help me to rejoice in You today, even before I feel like it, and to see Your faithfulness in it. Amen.
Common questions
What is the context of Psalm 118:24?
It sits in a psalm of thanksgiving sung at the temple gates. Just before it, the psalmist says the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone (Psalm 118:22-23), and just before that he describes being surrounded by enemies and rescued by the LORD. The “day” he celebrates is a day of deliverance, not just a pleasant morning.
Does Psalm 118:24 mean I have to be happy all day?
No. The psalm says “we will rejoice and be glad,” which is a decision of faith, not a demand to feel cheerful. Scripture makes room for grief and complaint alongside thanksgiving. The point is to anchor your day in who God is, not to deny what you are feeling.
How is Psalm 118:24 connected to Jesus?
Jesus applied the psalm’s cornerstone line to Himself (Matthew 21:42), and the crowd shouted its “blessed is he who comes” line at His entry into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:9). Christians read the psalm as pointing to Christ’s rejection and resurrection — the day the LORD made above all days.
How can I use Psalm 118:24 in my quiet time?
Read verses 1 through 24 slowly, not just verse 24. Notice the distress that comes before the thanksgiving, then say verse 24 out loud as your own response. Close by giving thanks for one specific way God has shown His enduring love to you.