This is the Day

Today's the day! In just a few hours, I begin chemotherapy. And so for this reason, Psalm 118:24 has a special meaning for me:

"This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."

Likewise, Psalm 139:16 declares:

"All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

The Message phrases Psalm 139:16 this way:

"Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I'd even lived one day."

The Amplified Bible brings Psalm 139:16 out this way:

"...in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them."

Remarkable, isn't it? As the ever-present God, everything - past, present and future - is immediately known by him. My life is "an open book", with "all the stages of my life...spread out before" him. And far more than just knowing about each and every day of my life, the Bible reveals that each and every day were "ordained" or "prepared" by God! As Ephesians 2:10 explains:

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

The Amplified Bible, true to its name, amplifies Paul's original meaning for us:

"For we are God's [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live]."

God's foreknowledge is total in the same way that his compassion and faithfulness are total (Psalm 100:5). In The Message, Psalm 56:8 tells me:

"You've kept track of my every toss and turn through the sleepless nights, Each tear entered in your ledger, each ache written in your book."

Back in Psalm 139:17-18, David is amazed by the personal knowledge God has of his life:

"How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you."

This knowledge is both total and personal, for in Psalm 139:1-5 it is described in the most intimate of terms:

"O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. You hem me in behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me."

It is with this understanding of Psalm 139 that I now enter this new day, a day where God's compassions are "new every morning" (Lamentations 3:23), where his "grace is sufficient for [me]" and where his "power is made perfect in [my] weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). This is the day when the God of Zephaniah 3:5 reveals himself in a special way:

"The LORD within [this day] is righteous; he does no wrong. Morning by morning he dispenses his justice, and every new day he does not fail..."

Scripture indicates that when we walk with the Lord, he "appoints" days of salvation and grace. For example, Psalm 75:2 tells us:

"You say, 'I choose the appointed time; it is I who judge uprightly.'"

Again, in Psalm 102:13, the Bible says:

"You will arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show favor to her; the appointed time has come."

Likewise, in 2 Corinthians 6:2, Paul applies this in the most practical way for the Christian, not just as a future event where God intervenes, but as a daily experience of God's grace:

"For he says, 'In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.' I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation."

Each day is the beginning of a new work of God in my life. Every morning is the start of a unit of time in which "my Father is always at his work to this very day" (John 5:17). In fact, according to the New Testament, "Today" is the designated day of God's work, for Hebrews 3:13-15 says:

"But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. As has just been said: 'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.'"

Hebrews 4 goes on to describe the dynamics of this "today" experience with the Lord, and makes a vital point, which has not been lost on me today. For Hebrews 4:1-2 explains:

"Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith."

And so we come full circle back to the theme which God has been impressing on my heart all this week: faith! During the time of the Exodus, the people of Israel hardened their hearts against the Lord. Although they heard the message of the gospel (of God's salvation for them), it was "of no value to them" because they "did not combine it with faith." So the warning God is bringing to me is: "Don't fall into the same trap." Today is the day of God's speaking into my life, but I must "combine" the message with faith! Only when that vital ingredient is added to the mix will I experience the grace and rest God has appointed for me today.

Hebrews 4:1-2 brings the final explanation of the "today" dynamic of God's grace. It declares:

"Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: 'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts'...There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience."

Today is the day that the Lord has made - the day appointed for me to experience grace, rest and the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit. This particular "today" is a day when I have chosen to hear his voice and not harden my heart, a day when God has "waken[ed] my ear to listen like one being taught" (Isaiah 50:4). And so I'm marching into the hospital today armed with two psalms, "with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left" (2 Corinthians 6:7). These two psalms of faith - my words from the Lord for the day - are:

Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip - he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm - he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

Psalm 91

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."
3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 If you make the Most High your dwelling even the LORD, who is my refuge -
10 then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."