"THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HATH MADE"
"This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it" (Ps. 118.24)
INTRO.: A hymn which identifies the first day of the week as a special day which the Lord has made for us to rejoice and be glad is "This Is The Day The Lord Hath Made." The text, based on Ps. 118.24-26, was written by Isaac Watts (1674-1748). The last of four common meter sections taken from that Psalm, it was first published in his 1719 work The Psalms of David. Several melodies have been used with the song, but the tune (Grafenberg, Eversley, Kazbeel, Saint Mary Magdalene, or Nun Danket All) that I prefer is usually attributed to Johann Cruger, who was born the son of an innkeeper on Apr. 9, 1598, at Grosse Bressen in Brandenburg, Prussia, near Guben an der Niesse on the present Polish border. After being educated in the schools at Guben, Saurau, and Breslau, the Jesuit College at Olmutz, and the Poet's School at Regensburg, where he pursued the study of music under Paul Homberger, a former pupil of the great composer Giovanni Gabrielli of Venice, Italy, he toured Austria and in 1615 settled at Berlin, Germany.
Except for a short residence at the University of Wittenberg in 1620 where he studied theology and music, Cruger was employed as a private tutor until 1622 when he became song director of St. Nicholas's Church in Berlin, where he was an ardent promoter of congregational singing, and also a master of the Greyfriars Gymnasium. A friend of Paul Gerhardt, he produced chorale melodies for many hymns by Gerhardt and others, along with sacred works for chorus and instrumental pieces. These melodies total 122 in all, and some twenty of them are still in common use, such as those sung with "Now Thank We All Our God" and "Jesus Lives, And So Shall I." Also, he was a musicologist and wrote about the theory and practice of music. Beginning in 1640, he edited a series of hymnbooks which were titled Praxis Pietatis Melica from 1647 onward. This particular melody comes from the 1647 edition, where it was used with a hymn "Nun Danket All" (some sources give the date as 1653, when it was first ascribed to Cruger, though others claim that it bears resemblance to psalm tunes in the Geneva Psalter of 1562).
Though Cruger died at Berlin on Feb. 23, 1662, publication of Praxis Pietatis Melica was continued for nearly 100 years after his death. The modern harmonization is from The English Hymnal of 1906. Among hymnbooks published by members of the Lord's church during the twentieth century for use in churches of Christ, the song appeared in the 1963 Christian Hymnal edited by J. Nelson Slater (the same tune was also used with another hymn, "I Say to All Men Everywhere" by Georg von Hardenberg). Today, the text is found with another tune (Twenty-Fourth attributed to Louis Chapin) and the tune is found with another hymn ("Come, Let Us Join Our Cheerful Songs" by Isaac Watts) in the 1986 Great Songs Revised edited by Forrest M. McCann; and the text is found with still another tune (Arlington by Thomas A. Arne most commonly associated with Anna L. Barbauld's "Again the Lord of Light and Life") in the 1992 Praise for the Lord edited by John P. Wiegand; as well as the 2007 Sacred Songs of the Church edited by William D. Jeffcoat.
The song points out the special meaning that the first day of the week has for the Christian.
I. Stanza 1 says that the first day is a special day made by the Lord
"This is the day the Lord hath made; He calls the hours His own.
Let heaven rejoice, let earth be glad, And praise surround the throne."
A. The author did not leave any doubt as to what is meant by "the day," because his notes say, "This is the eday wherein Christ fulfilled his sufferings, and rose from the dead, and has honoured it with his own name": Rev. 1.10
B. He calls the hours His own in that He wants disciples to assemble on the first day of the week to break bread: Acts 20.7
C. As they assemble, they pour out their praise before the throne of God: Heb. 10.25, 13.15
II. Stanza 2 says that the first day is the day of Christ's resurrection
"Today He rose and left the dead, And Satan's empire fell;
Today the saints His triumph spread, And all His wonders tell."
A. It was upon the first day of the week the Christ rose: Mk. 16.9
B. By His resurrection, He bruised the head of the serpent and brought Satan's empire down: Gen. 3.15, Matt. 12.29
C. While this work is not limited to the first day of the week, it is true that when saints assemble on that day and the gospel message is preached, the word of the Lord is being sounded forth: 1 Thess. 1.8
III. Stanza 3 says that the first day is a day to give Hosannas to the King
"Hosanna to th'anointed King, To David's holy Son.
Help us, O Lord; descend and bring Salvation from Thy throne."
A. Jesus Christ, whose death we remember on the first day of the week, is the anointed King who is now at the right hand of God: Acts 1.29-33
B. He is David's holy Son as prophesied: 2 Sam. 7.12-16
C. Therefore, He is the one who brings salvation to mankind from God's throne: Rev. 12.10
IV. Stanza 4 says that the first day is a day to bless the Lord
"Blest be the Lord, who comes to men With messages of grace;
Who comes, in God His Father's name, To save our sinful race."
A. Jesus Christ, whose resurrection we celebrate on the first day of the week, came down to men: Jn. 1.1, 14
B. His purpose in doing so was to make know the grace of God: Tit. 2.11-12
C. As a result, He has made it possible for God to save our sinful race: Matt. 1.21
V. Stanza 5 says that the first day is a day upon which the church raises her praise
"Hosanna in the highest strains The church on earth can raise;
The highest heavens, in which He reigns, Shall give Him nobler praise."
A. The word "hosanna" means "save, we pray" and is used as an expression of praise to Christ: Matt. 21.9-15, Mk. 11.9-10, Jn. 12.13
B. In this way the church on earth raises its voice in worship to God: Jn. 4.24
C. Yet, when the church is eternally redeemed in heaven, even nobler praise will be offered to the Lord: Rev. 5.8-14
CONCL.: A lot of Bible believers like to have a plaque with the quotation from Psalm 118, "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it," as a motto to remind them that each day is a gift from the Lord. While it is certainly true that each day is a gift from the Lord and should be used wisely, in the context of Psalm 118, the verse is talking about a specific day when "the stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner" (v. 22), and Peter identifed that prophecy as being fulfilled in the resurrection of Christ (Acts 4.10-11). Therefore, when Christians assemble on the first day of the week, they can know that in a special way "This Is The Day The Lord Hath Made."