This is the day the Lord has made

22 The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
23 This was the LORD's doing'
It is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day the LORD has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
Ps 118:22-24 NKJV

Have you ever read verse 24 (above) in the context in which it was written? I've heard people rejoice that "today" is the day the Lord has made. "Today," to them, could perhaps mean this very day, a new day, a fresh start that the Lord has provided. Or it could mean the Sabbath. Or it could mean Sunday.

But I guess I'm not so sure that's what the Psalmist was talking about. Nor Jesus, when He quoted the preceding verses, 22-23, after telling the parable of the wicked vinedressers to the chief priests and scribes (Matt 21:33-46, Mark 12:1-12, Luke 20:9-19). The parable tells of a man who planted a vineyard and leased it to vinedressers. Long story short, the vinedressers beat up and killed the servants who were sent to collect the fruit. At last, the man sent his beloved son, and they killed the son too. Jesus ends the parable, "Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others" (Luke 20:15-16).

And when they heard it they said, "Certainly not!"

Then He looked at them and said, "What then is this that is written:

'The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone'?

Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."
And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people — for they knew He had spoken this parable against them (Luke 20:17-19).

This parable was spoken against the "whitewashed tombs," the religious, the finger-pointers, the hypocrites, the unbelievers.

They, as we now know, would reject this Stone and He would become the Chief Cornerstone.

I don't believe that David was talking about waking up on any given day and singing a song and thanking God for that particular day. NOT that we shouldn't be thankful for today! But... This is the day the Lord has made: the day the vinedressers beat up and killed the beloved son, and the master came and made him the chief cornerstone and gave the vineyard to others (us)! This was the Lord's doing, because He so loved the world. Let us rejoice and be glad in that!