*This* is the day!

“I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.”
Psalm 118:21-26, English Standard Version (ESV)

Reading these verses together today kind of shocked me. I don’t know if any of you grew up singing the chorus “This is the Day”. It’s basically verse 24 sung over and over again with little echoes for each phrase. I’ve sung it all my life and knew it was a verse of scripture but never looked up the context. I used to think that it just meant, “This is the day that God created and I’m going to be happy in it because….well….God made it.” It seemed a little trite and almost meaningless. It’s been quoted perhaps millions of times on little embroidered pillows and framed art, so many times that I think people (at least me) have no idea to what the verse is really referring. Now, I look at it through this “lens”:

First of all, you should know that the Hebrew word for “save us” here is “Hosanna”. Remember Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem before His crucifixion? (See Matthew 21) What did the crowds shout as He rode his donkey through the streets? Hosanna! Save us!

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.”
Ephesians 2: 19-21 (ESV)

When we see Jesus in these verses in the Psalm as the cornerstone, this all starts to make sense. “This day” referred to here is none other than… Easter! It follows that the “this” in, “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes,” refers to the redemption of mankind through Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection. Don’t even get me started on how people use this particular verse on wedding invitations and such! The “this” is much greater than any human love story: It’s God’s ultimate “love story”-- that He loved us so much that He sent His Son to die in our place.