By Ty Sager
This is the Day
Monday mornings can be a bit jarring. After a weekend of worship at church it can be difficult to think of the challenges a new week brings. This can rob us of the joy we’re to be continually having in the Lord. It was on one of these Monday mornings when an old song came to my mind:
“This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made;
I will rejoice, I will rejoice and be glad in it, and be glad in it.
This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.
This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made…..”
If you are familiar with the tune you probably can’t read that without singing! This old song may be a bit repetitive but it is definitely biblical!
After strumming a few chords out on the guitar, a clear melody came to mind and the words of the chorus came real quickly:
“This is the day, that the Lord has made;
I will rejoice and be glad in it.
Let everyone sing, to the God who reigns;
I will rejoice and be glad in it.”
I talked to Bobby about this idea and played it for him over the cell phone. He liked it a lot. He thought it was a great idea to make this old tune we sung as children, accessible to the church today. He found the verse where this song came from in Psalm 118:24. We began talking about what exactly a Christian can rejoice in each day. We know we’re supposed to rejoice always but why?
We talked about how the Lord’s mercies are new every morning and how God is always faithful to His people. Both of these ideas come from Lamentations 3. We talked about Psalm 16:11 where it says, “In Your presence is fullness of joy, at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” It is God’s presence in our lives that brings us joy. It is when He is near to us that we will be glad.
Bobby thought of another old song that has a very similar idea: “Rise and shine and give God the glory, glory” Remember this tune? Bobby turned this idea into the lyrics for the bridge, “Let us rise, let us shine, let us give God glory.” Why? Because of His new mercies, because His faithfulness is so great, because His presence brings joy to life, because His pleasures satisfy! We have reason to rejoice in God each day! When the song was finished it seemed like a perfect one to sing on Sunday morning!
I hope this song will encourage you to worship God each and every day that He has made for you, even those jarring Monday mornings!
Ty–Singing and remembering this song in the morning has set my heart right on many a difficult morning. Carter loves that it is on the computer now–he asked me to play it “again.” (Better than hearing mommy sing it). It is such a blessing having this scripture play in my mind on those difficult mornings. God ordained my day specifically for me–blessings and trials–and this song helps me remember that fact! Thank You!
Ty, I love hearing the story behind the song. We sing this song (your version) constantly in our house. Ivy knows all the words by heart and I am so excited that she will be able to hear it online tomorrow (as she’s asleep now)!
The song spoke to me in a fresh way today…as I am often focusing on “be glad in it portion.” But I loved meditating on the fact that “THIS is the day the Lord has made”…whether good or bad, our God has made it all.
Thanks, Ty, for all you do!
I listened to your song several times and scrolled down to add a comment and the 2 comments posted were from my daughter-in-law and my daughter!!! This song must really be ministering to my family today!!
But seriously, Ty, I LOVE this song. And I loved being able to listen to it quietly in my own home and think about all of the biblical truths there are in it. We should get up each day and thank God for this day, for His mercies which are new every morning, for His faithfulness, and for His presence which does indeed bring joy to life! And to think that He has ordained all of our days! What a way to start a Monday morning…or any morning. What an awesome God we have!
Thank you for this song! And thank you for sharing how God gave to you and to Bobby step by step. You are doing a wonderful job as our Worship leader. I am looking forward to more songs that stir our hearts and cause us to praise and worship Him.
Dear Ty,I was reminded about this song that we sang Sunday, though quite repetitive it a song of reminder of salvation. I recently went back to share 11 days with my two grandboys and my newborn grandaughter. I shared a room with the 3 year old and 20 month old boys, one morning they climbed all over me very early, the sun was just rising, I was a very tired grandma but my grandson opened the blind and said ” Grandma look, its time to get up” and what came to mind is that song” this is the day that the Lord has made”, I started singing it as they continued to climb all over me, but what my even more joy from singing it is not just the words but that my 3 year old grandson recognized the song! He loves songs, and loves to sing about Jesus, before we prayed each nite before bed we always sang the songs he wanted to sing, ” Jesus loves Me”…Jesus loves the little children…He has the whole world in His hands, these songs represent our Father in Heaven and they really enjoyed singing them. Thanks for the reminder to me who sang that song while I was on my visit in North Carolina ” This is the day that the Lord has made, today is the day of salvation.
Thanks again Ty
c day
This has quickly become one of my favorite worship songs–ever! I always love when we sing it in church. Sometimes I’m having a good day when we sing it, other times I’m having a bad day (or even a bad week) but this song always reminds me that each day is a day that the Lord has made and I need to rejoice and be glad in it. God is still worthy of my praise and worship even when life isn’t working out just how I would like it to. I’m really glad this song is now on the CBC site. It will constantly serve as a reminder for me to give God praise on both my good days and bad days. Thanks Ty, you and Bobby rock!
Ty, How fun to get to sing along with you. My daughter Bonnie was dancing around the house. This is the day that the LORD has made…makes me think of His mercies being new each day. Let us rejoice and be glad in it…when I make the choice to praise Him, it changes my perspective the whole day. Thanks for the blessing!!!
Thank you Ty for the awesome music that you provide us with each week! This song is one of my favorites, it plays in my head long after I’ve left church! And for that I am grateful & blessed!! It is such a reminder of the goodness of our God!
Ty, This song is like…ah….AWESOME!
This song got me thinking about how every time I say a prayer I begin with
“Dear heavenly father thank you for this day…” And how it is not that often I actually mean it. When I listned to this song I relized that I should be thankful for every day of my life and “rejoice and be glad it it” no matter what. I come to take every new day for granted but this song put it into perspective that God lets it happen. It also got me thinking about what a wonderful world we have. God has given us a beautiful world that words cant describe and even the greatist artists cannot captivate when he could have just put is in a card board box
This is the day indeed!
DSR
I have heard worship described as the necessary response of our hearts to receiving righteousness through God — “One does not become a true worshiper apart from redemption, and one who is genuinely redeemed becomes a true worshipper.” (John MacArthur, “The Ultimate Priority”) Even though sometimes we don’t feel like singing, this reality doesn’t fluctuate with our moods, how our day is going, or passing circumstances… there isn’t a moment that goes by when our hearts shouldn’t be overflowing with thanks and recognition for what He has done in our lives. Ty, thank you for helping us week to week in giving an outlet to the joy of our souls through our voices! Keep up the good work-
Ty! It is so encouraging to me to hear the story behind “This is the Day” and see how you and Bobby are always focused on writing songs from scripture that make Christ look great!
This song is a great reminder for me that I should be rejoicing every morning because God, through His grace, has chosen to give me another day to serve Him! I really liked how you said that “It is God’s presence in our lives that brings us joy. It is when He is near to us that we will be glad.” So often it is easy for me to focus on the things that God has given me and all the blessings that I have received, and not on the God who gave them to me. Our true joy is found in God alone!
Thanks for the encouragement and I can’t wait to hear whats coming up next!