This is the Day that the Lord Has Made, We Will Rejoice and Be Glad in It?

Last updated on: April 3, 2020 at 6:11 am by John Mark N. Reynolds

This is the Day that the Lord Has Made, We Will Rejoice and Be Glad in It? 2020-04-03T00:23:28-04:00 John Mark N. Reynolds

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

As a boy we sang, “This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it. . .” That seemed impossible to sing today, as so many of us are struggling, hurting. I thought especially of our folk in our hospitals giving medical care to the suffering. They are weary already, though in places like Houston the problems are just beginning. If we are to mourn with those who mourn, then today does not seem like a rejoicing sort of day.

There is a temptation to think that even though this day seems dreadful, we should just change our confession and wish the world into a different state. If we sing very loudly, with sincerity, that today is God’s day, then won’t God hear us and make everything great?

Avoid Magical Thinking

This may be a great way to end Peter Pan: if we all believe and clap our hands Tinkerbell will not die. Magical thinking is bad theology. God is God. He loves His children too much to let us manipulate Him. God is not sitting in His holy heaven waiting for us to give just the right amount to a ministry or some other trick. We must avoid magical thinking. God is a person, not a force that can be used with the right spells .

He is not waiting for us to ask using some Christian incantation. Words count, but the good God is waiting for any sign that the prodigal is coming home. He will see us from a long way off and come running to us. He is not moved by our “right words,” but by a heart turned toward Him, giving us more than we deserve, because He loves us. God gives us what we need to live happily for eternity, our heart’s true needs, not necessarily what we would ask. In the story of the lost son, Jesus tells of a young man who squandered everything his dad gave him. When the son headed home, he merely wished to be a servant. He did not get his wish, but something much greater!

God is all-powerful, so we cannot force Him to do anything. He is sovereign and good and He will give us our heart’s desire if it is best. In our broken world, where so many events trigger other events, we cannot possibly know what is best. God does. Prayer is good for us and He delights to let us participate in His divine plan, but there is no magical formula, no set of right words, that can force God to do as we demand.

He does not need anything, so he cannot be bought off. Scripture and history show God answering all kinds of prayer. Told he need only “believe,” one man said that he believed and then asked Jesus to help his unbelief!

Magical thinking is out: suffering is real and we cannot speak it out of existence. How can this be the day the Lord has made?

Physical and Metaphysical Reality

Context helps us understand. Psalm 118 begins with the Psalmist admitting he is in trouble, but when he cried to the Lord, the Lord heard him and delivered him. Sometimes such a deliverance is literal: God defeats some physical enemy. What if this does not happen? The poet points to a deeper, a metaphysical reality. The Day of the Lord is coming when:

22The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.

23This is the LORD’S doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.

24This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

25Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.

26Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.

27God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.

28Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee.

29O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Physical reality is not yet in tune with metaphysical reality, yet God exists. He can bring us to a greater place than this present moment in the merely physical cosmos. There is another, higher world where perfect justice is the rule. God will bring the physical and the metaphysical into alignment. We can acknowledge the pains and sorrows of today, even mourn, but also rejoice that there is a Temple. The house of the Lord runs on God-time where the resolution of all human suffering is done. The only day there is an eternal Day of the Lord: paradisaical, joyful, reality.

The person who knows both worlds can take joy even in hard times without denying the times are hard! We are in the world, but not of it!

In the person of Jesus the “stone which the builders refuse is become the head stone of the corner.” He is the temple if torn down on a bloody Good Friday will be rebuilt on Easter Day. Jesus is alive and the promise of a total resolution of the tensions between what is and what ought to be. He returned to the eternal Day where He prepares to make all things new.

Spiritual Reflections

Previous Post

April 2, 2020

On Misreading Winning and the Mandate of Heaven (St. John of Damascus)

Next Post

April 4, 2020 American Madness (Frank Capra Relevant Today)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Apologetics Art Culture Education On Books On Education Philosophy Politics Pop Culture Spiritual Reflections Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 July 2025 June 2025 September 2024 July 2024 June 2024 December 2023 June 2023 September 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did the high priest wear on his chest as a symbol of the twelve tribes?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Cloak Breastplate Headband Ring

Books by This Author John Mark Reynolds

See All Titles »