“This is the day the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24, NKJV). That line is far more than a pleasant thought. It is a bold statement of faith and intention. The psalmist was not denying hardship; he was choosing his attitude before the day could choose it for him.
Many people go to sleep weighed down by unresolved trouble and wake up letting that weight set their mood.
Without realising it, they hand the direction of their day, and often the atmosphere of their homes and relationships, over to their circumstances. The effect ripples out to everyone they meet.
King David lived with the same resolve. In another psalm he wrote, “I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Psalm 34:1, NKJV). It is no surprise that, for all his human failings, God called him “a man after My own heart” (Acts 13:22, NKJV; see 1 Samuel 13:14). At his core, David was anchored in a deep love for God and a reverent desire to please Him. That shaped his responses, drove his repentance and fuelled his determination to grow a little more each day (Psalm 51:10).
These psalms teach us that how a day unfolds often begins with a conscious decision. Choosing gratitude and joy is not pretending; it is spiritual discipline. It means waking up and deciding to bless the LORD whatever the day may bring.
That is an example worth following: to live with intention, to decide our response before circumstances test us, and to begin each day grounded in gratitude and joy, because God is worthy and because our hearts, like David’s, are meant to grow closer to His. Tomorrow morning, before you check your phone, say these words aloud: this is the day the LORD has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it.
