Psalms 118:24 Meaning and Explanation
“This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Each day is a gift from God's hand, and that is reason enough for gladness.
The Context of Psalms 118:24
This line sits just after one of Scripture's great turning points: "The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner" (verse 22). "This is the day" is first the day of that astonishing reversal, when the rejected one is lifted to the place of honor, and the people respond with joy.
What Does Psalms 118:24 Mean?
The words come right on the heels of a rescue. The psalm has just celebrated a stone the builders threw aside, now set as the cornerstone, and "this is the day" is the day God did it. The day is described as something God "hath made," shaped and given like any other work of His hands. The response is not worked up by effort; it rises naturally because of who made the day and what He has done in it. Gladness here is the fitting answer to a gift already given.
The first Christians saw Jesus as that rejected stone, and they read this whole psalm as His. The crowds sang its next line, "Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD," as He entered Jerusalem (Matthew 21:9). So "this is the day" became, for them, the day of His victory over death, the morning everything turned. Every ordinary day we are given now carries an echo of that one. Each sunrise is handed to us by the same God, and is reason enough to be glad.
The gladness commanded here is not a mood summoned out of nothing; it is fastened to a deed. "This is the day which the LORD hath made" points back to the rejected stone just set as the head of the corner, the very verse Jesus took onto His own lips before the men who would reject Him (Matthew 21:42). So the day the LORD made is a day of reversal, when the discarded becomes the cornerstone and the shut-out becomes the way in. "We will rejoice" is resolve more than feeling, a choice to answer God's work with the response it deserves. Because the resurrection made one such day the hinge of all days, every dawn we are handed now carries its light forward and asks the same glad reply.
Psalms 118:24 in the Original Language
gil (גִּיל), 'rejoice' -- to spin or leap for joy; gladness that moves the whole body.
Bible Verses Related to Psalms 118:24
“Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?”
- Matthew 21:42
“The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.”
- Psalm 118:22
“Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.”
- Psalm 118:26
“It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.”
- Lamentations 3:22
How to Apply Psalms 118:24 Today
On the good days and the heavy ones alike, this verse hands us a quiet starting point: the day itself is made by God and given to us. We are invited to receive it as a gift and let gladness be our honest response to the One who made it.
Frequently Asked Questions About Psalms 118:24
What does Psalms 118:24 mean?
Each day is a gift from God's hand, and that is reason enough for gladness.
What is the context of Psalms 118:24?
This line sits just after one of Scripture's great turning points: "The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner" (verse 22). "This is the day" is first the day of that astonishing reversal, when the rejected one is lifted to the place of honor, and the people respond with joy.
How can I apply Psalms 118:24 today?
On the good days and the heavy ones alike, this verse hands us a quiet starting point: the day itself is made by God and given to us. We are invited to receive it as a gift and let gladness be our honest response to the One who made it.