“Songs of joy and victory are sung in the camp of the godly. The strong right arm of the Lord has done glorious things! The strong right arm of the Lord is raised in triumph. The strong right arm of the Lord has done glorious things! I will not die; instead, I will live to tell what the Lord has done. The Lord has punished me severely, but he did not let me die. Open for me the gates where the righteous enter, and I will go in and thank the Lord. These gates lead to the presence of the Lord, and the godly enter there. I thank you for answering my prayer and giving me victory! The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see. This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Please, Lord, please save us. Please, Lord, please give us success. Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord. The Lord is God, shining upon us. Take the sacrifice and bind it with cords on the altar. You are my God, and I will praise you! You are my God, and I will exalt you! Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.”
Psalms 118:15-29 NLT
There is an interesting truth about being a finite being. Every moment is technically different than the last. Because of this, our expectation of continuity in our lives may seem odd, or at the least, problematic. Indeed, some scientists describe life as a series of random events. Yet, no one actually lives this way. We all operate on the idea of continuity. We expect that there are certain laws that do not change regardless of time or space. We use math and logic to reason our way through life. However, continuity still makes sense. This is because we were created to perceive it, as creatures of an infinite being. We view it as a high virtue when we pursue things like legacy and the extension of life. The sentiment that I should rejoice in the day the Lord has made, is in essence a statement of God’s sense of continuity. It is not a statement of the days events, but of the fact that the same good God is present in all days, whether they are difficult or easy for us. To recognize this is a part of attaching the infiniteness of God. It is nonintuitive, and by nature an act of faith. To declare this truth is not wishful thinking that manifests reality. It is faithful thinking that clarifies it and distills it to its pure form.
