This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalms 118:24, ESV)
Many winter days in the Phoenix metro area are really nice, weather wise. I tried to keep that to myself, but somehow the secret got out and now Maricopa County is gaining about 200 residents every day. They have come to my home county from every direction, but especially from the north. Some of them brought along golf clubs.
Recently I had the opportunity to play golf with three fairly new members at my club, and we all walked. Walking is a great incentive to keep the ball closer to the middle of the fairway, and we all managed to do that pretty well.
But the quality of the day far outpaced the quality of our play. It was at least four under, if I had to guess, and while all of us had our moments, none of us were as good as the weather. Even being a little spoiled here we kept saying, “What a great day,” and things like that.
As we were walking down the eighteenth fairway one of my new friends was going on about the weather and he said, “Today was absolutely gorgeous. It would have been a perfect day to play golf.”
Enemies abound, but God never fails.I don’t know what the weather was like when David wrote Psalm 118, though I seem to hear verse 24 used more often on beautiful days. But I do know that this psalm starts with words that truly set the tone: “O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!” David could speak that from his heart, because this song is about God’s comfort in distress, God’s presence even when no one else is there, and God’s trustworthiness, which is far greater than that of any man or any earthly leader. Enemies abound, but God never fails.
In verse 22 David says of himself, and prophetically of Jesus, that the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This, he says, is the Lord’s doing and “it is marvelous in our eyes.” And then he says, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood of Israel when David ascended to the throne as king, and it was a beautiful day for all mankind when Jesus ascended to heaven, the King of Kings.
On this day, David wrote, God’s purpose has been accomplished. And that, whether it is sunny and warm or cold and snowing, is why we rejoice.
—
Lewis Greer
January 13, 2020
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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