Psalms 118:24 · kjv
Psalm 118:24 - This Is the Day Which the Lord Hath Made
“Este é o dia que o Senhor fez; regozijemo-nos e alegremo-nos nele.”
Psalm 118:24 proclaims, "This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." The Hebrew reads "Zeh hayom asah YHWH, nagilah venismechah bo." "Yom" (יוֹם) means "day" but also an appointed season; "asah" (עָשָׂה) means "to make, appoint, or fashion"; and "gil" (גִּיל) plus "samach" (שָׂמַח) pair exultant joy with inner gladness. Psalm 118 is the final hymn of the Egyptian Hallel (Psalms 113-118), sung at Passover and the major feasts. Jesus and His disciples likely chanted this very psalm after the Last Supper (Matthew 26:30). Verse 24 is tightly linked to verses 22-23, "The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner," which the New Testament repeatedly applies to Christ (Matthew 21:42; Acts 4:11; 1 Peter 2:7). Thus "the day" originally refers to the day God exalted the rejected stone, a messianic victory-day. The crowds quoted Psalm 118:25-26, "Hosanna... Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the LORD," on Palm Sunday (Matthew 21:9). Ancient Christian tradition applied verse 24 to the resurrection, making it a cornerstone of Sunday worship. The verse invites every believer to read each ordinary day as divinely appointed.
Chapter Context
Psalm 118 concludes the Hallel, a cluster of psalms sung at Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles, and Hanukkah. The psalm alternates voices, moving from thanksgiving for deliverance (vv. 5-18) to a temple procession (vv. 19-21), to the cornerstone declaration (vv. 22-23), and climaxing in the communal shout of verse 24. Rabbinic tradition classed this psalm as intensely messianic, and Jesus applied it to Himself directly. The immediate context is victory after distress: a rejected figure vindicated, gates of righteousness opened, and the congregation summoned to rejoice. Verse 24 is therefore both a liturgical refrain for festal worship and a theological statement about God's sovereign appointment of redemptive time.
How to Apply This Verse
- Begin each morning confessing that the day ahead is divinely appointed. Whether the calendar promises joy or difficulty, receiving the day as made by the Lord transforms gratitude from a mood into a discipline.
- Let Psalm 118:24 shape corporate worship, especially on the Lord's Day. Because the cornerstone was raised on the first day of the week, Christians rightly celebrate Sunday as the day the Lord has made in a unique resurrection sense.
- Resist the modern habit of postponing gladness for better circumstances. The psalmist rejoices in the day God has given, not the day he has imagined; spiritual maturity means choosing gladness within the actual providence of today.