“This is the day the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24
For a number of years now, I have woken up on a Friday morning, realized that it is my day off, and stretched with pleasure. The words of this psalm then run through my head: This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. I would then get into my hiking gear and stuff my pack with what I might need for the day. Into it I would also put my little bible and maybe some paper to journal on. It is my personal sabbath day—since Sundays are never a day of rest for a pastor.
For the last year for various reasons this routine has been irregular and I miss it. So I announced to my husband that I was going hiking this Friday if it doesn’t rain. His astute response: I thought backpackers hike in the rain. Touche. So I just checked the weather: Friday is now scheduled for 80% chance of thunderstorms. Okay. Thunderstorms while walking on the ridge. A little anxiety, but this is the day the Lord has given me, so I will rejoice and be glad in it, and glad that I will have my rain gear with me. That’s the real challenge, isn’t it? Not the challenge of wearing the rain gear, but doing the rejoicing on a day that looks uncomfortably dreary. But if Paul and companions could sing after being whipped and thrown into a dirty jail (Acts 16), what’s a little rain?
A matter of rejoicing should be that I am actually honoring a day off as a sabbath.
Suggestions:
1. Take this verse with you and ponder its meaning for you throughout the day. What do you notice? What do you wonder? Do you have “sabbath time” with God? When does it happen?
2. Or read the whole psalm to find out how this verse fits into the whole.
3. Or comment with a photo of your own that is a window of this psalm’s meaning for you.
The next post will be on Psalm 119:54-55.
Starting January 1, 2016, for 150 days I am posting a daily psalm verse with a photo that is a visual meditation on the text for me. Each day a verse from the next psalm is chosen until all 150 psalms have been featured. To participate you may subscribe to my blog at https://elainedent.net or “friend” me on Facebook and watch for the daily links to blog posts. Disclaimer: I am not a photographer and most of the photos are from a cell phone or small camera while hiking the Appalachian Trail or the C&O Canal/Great Allegheny Passage Trail.
Marti Bert says
Love this post.
Karen Durbin says
This is a day for rest and rejoicing!
Gwenn Trout says
I rejoiced this morning when I saw the sun! Amazing how that lightened my mood.
Elaine Dent says
amen to that!