Good Friday 2019 - Chief Service

One of the better known Psalm verses is from Psalm 118.  The Psalmist writes “This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”  It’s a very pious thought, a good Christian expression.  God has made this day, and I will rejoice in what He sends me.  However, to leave the verse’s meaning at that misses its context.  If you read all of Psalm 118 you find the cry of Hosanna and “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord.”  The Psalmist writes things like, “All nations…surrounded me like bees.”  “You pushed me violently that I might fall.”  “The Lord has chastened me severely.”  “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.”  “Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.”  Psalm 118 is all about Holy Week, especially Good Friday.  So when we say “This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it,” we’re talking about today, the day on which Jesus Christ tasted death for our sin.

Read More