This Is the Day the Lord Hath Made Meaning, History, and Theology

"This is the day the Lord hath made"

Written: 1719
Category: Hymn
Tune: Standard Tune
Rights: Public domain

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Story

This Is the Day the Lord Hath Made is Isaac Watts's 1719 Christian paraphrase of Psalm 118:24-26, written explicitly for resurrection and Lord's Day worship. Often sung to the early American tune TWENTY-FOURTH, it celebrates Christ's resurrection, salvation, and the vindication of the rejected cornerstone.

Overview

This Is the Day the Lord Hath Made is Isaac Watts's 1719 Christian paraphrase of Psalm 118:24-26. In Watts's setting, the familiar language about the day God has made is not merely a general encouragement to appreciate each morning. He explicitly interprets the psalm through Christ's resurrection and the Lord's Day, joining the psalm's rejoicing, Hosanna, and salvation language to Easter faith.

The hymn's spiritual movement is therefore from divine action to congregational praise. God vindicates the rejected stone, salvation is proclaimed, and the church responds with joy. Watts's reading reflects his larger project of bringing the Psalms into explicitly Christian worship by reading them through the New Testament.

Pastorally, the hymn is especially useful for Easter, Sunday worship, and services centered on resurrection hope. It teaches that Christian joy is grounded not first in favorable circumstances but in God's saving work in Christ.

Historical Background

This Is the Day the Lord Hath Made appeared in 1719 in Isaac Watts's The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament, and Apply'd to the Christian State and Worship, published in London. Watts regarded this project as a major contribution to Christian worship. Rather than translating every psalm closely into meter, he deliberately reworked the Psalter through Christian interpretation, omitting or reshaping material he believed could not be sung naturally by a Christian congregation.

Psalm 118 received unusually extensive treatment. Watts produced versions in Common, Short, and Long Meter and divided the Common Meter treatment into several parts. The five-stanza section represented by this hymn was headed “Hosanna; the Lord’s-Day; or Christ’s Resurrection and our Salvation” and was based particularly on Psalm 118:24-26. Watts's own explanatory note makes his intention unmistakable: he understood the “day” as the day of Christ's completed suffering and resurrection and connected it with Revelation 1:10 and the Christian Lord's Day.

That interpretation also explains why the hymn moves beyond Psalm 118 alone. The psalm's rejected-stone imagery was applied to Jesus in the New Testament, its cry of Hosanna appears in the Gospel accounts of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, and its rejoicing becomes resurrection praise in Watts's Christian reading. The complete 1719 section contained five stanzas. Some modern hymnals, however, print only the opening stanza; The United Methodist Hymnal no. 658 is a prominent example.

The familiar United Methodist tune pairing came much later and has a surprisingly complicated attribution history. TWENTY-FOURTH is an early American Common Meter melody first known in print from 1812. That printing attributed it to Lucius Chapin, and many later hymnals repeated the attribution. Yet Lucius himself wrote to Andrew Law in 1812 and credited the same melody, under the name ORANGE, to his younger brother Amzi Chapin. David Warren Steel and Richard H. Hulan therefore identify Amzi as the composer in The Makers of the Sacred Harp. The tune later circulated as PRIMROSE and became part of the southern shape-note repertory.

The tune was not written for Watts's text: more than ninety years separate the 1719 publication from its first known printing. TWENTY-FOURTH became one of many Common Meter tunes used with the hymn. Hymnary documents numerous alternatives, with CROSS AND CROWN, DOWNS, BROWN, IRISH, and other melodies appearing in various denominational traditions.

Both Watts's text and the historic TWENTY-FOURTH melody are public domain. Modern harmonizations, arrangements, altered texts, and editorial settings may have separate copyrights. The hymn's history is therefore a meeting of two distinct traditions: an English Nonconformist's eighteenth-century Christian psalm paraphrase and an early American shape-note melody whose authorship was blurred in later hymnal transmission.

Biblical Foundations

Psalm 118:22-26 is the direct biblical foundation. The passage links rejection and vindication, rejoicing, a divinely appointed day, the plea for salvation, and blessing for the one who comes in Yahweh's name. Watts did not treat these themes as isolated devotional ideas; he read them together as a coherent Christian proclamation.

Matthew 21:9 carries the Psalm 118 acclamation into the Gospel story as the crowds address Jesus with Hosanna and bless the one coming in the Lord's name. Later in the same chapter, Matthew 21:42 records Jesus applying the rejected-stone passage to himself. These texts provide strong New Testament warrant for the Christ-centered direction of Watts's paraphrase.

Acts 4:10-11 makes the resurrection connection even more explicit. Peter identifies Jesus, whom God raised from the dead, with the rejected stone that has become the cornerstone. The psalm's reversal is thus interpreted as God's vindication of the crucified Christ.

First Corinthians 15:20 gives the hymn's Easter theology its wider horizon: Christ's resurrection is not merely an isolated wonder but the beginning of the resurrection hope of God's people. Christian rejoicing in the Lord's Day therefore looks backward to the risen Christ and forward to the promised resurrection of those who belong to him.

Verse Explanation

A lyric-by-lyric or stanza-by-stanza explanation is intentionally omitted because the lyrics field is not being processed. Broadly, the five-stanza 1719 section moves from rejoicing in the divinely appointed day to Christ's resurrection victory, then draws on the Hosanna language of Psalm 118 and the Gospels before widening into the praise of the church on earth and in heaven.

The theological movement is therefore from Easter event to salvation proclamation and finally to worship. Watts's own heading and explanatory note confirm that this resurrection-centered reading was intentional.

Theological Reflection

The hymn's central doctrine is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Watts interprets the divinely made day as the day on which God's victory in Christ is revealed. Christian praise is therefore rooted in an event: the one rejected and crucified is raised and vindicated by God.

A second theme is reversal. Psalm 118's rejected stone becomes foundational, and the New Testament repeatedly applies that reversal to Jesus. Human rejection does not overturn God's purpose. What appears defeated becomes the very means through which God establishes salvation.

The hymn also joins resurrection with worship. The Lord's Day is not treated merely as a weekly calendar marker but as a recurring Christian remembrance of the risen Lord. Sunday praise becomes participation in the church's continuing response to Easter.

Finally, Watts's paraphrase illustrates a particular approach to biblical interpretation. He reads Israel's psalm through the New Testament witness to Christ. Modern teaching should acknowledge both layers: Psalm 118 has its own setting within Israel's worship, while the New Testament itself gives Christians warrant for applying its cornerstone and Hosanna imagery to Jesus.

Church Impact

This Is the Day the Lord Hath Made illustrates the wider impact of Isaac Watts's attempt to bring the Psalms into explicitly Christian congregational language. His 1719 Psalter became an important part of English-speaking Protestant worship, and this Psalm 118 paraphrase carried biblical language about rejoicing, salvation, Hosanna, and the rejected stone into an Easter and Lord's Day setting.

The hymn has circulated in many denominational collections and in more than one textual form. Some hymnals preserve several of Watts's five stanzas, while others use only the opening stanza as a short Easter or Sunday response. The United Methodist Hymnal's one-stanza form with TWENTY-FOURTH is especially concise and functions effectively as an opening hymn, sentence, or resurrection acclamation.

Its tune history also connects the hymn with early American sacred music. TWENTY-FOURTH or PRIMROSE belongs to the shape-note repertory that spread through singing schools and tunebooks in the South and trans-Appalachian West. The later pairing therefore joins Watts's English Dissenting psalmody with a distinctly American musical tradition.

The hymn remains useful because its central scriptural images continue to serve Easter proclamation. Its message is more specific than a general celebration of a new day: it directs the church toward Christ's resurrection, God's vindication of the rejected cornerstone, and the salvation that calls forth praise.

Musical Notes

The text is in Common Meter, 8.6.8.6, which made it highly adaptable to existing hymn tunes. The United Methodist Hymnal pairs it with TWENTY-FOURTH, an early American shape-note melody. Hymnary gives the incipit as 51232 16551 23455 and commonly prints the tune in F major or a modal form.

The composer's identity requires qualification. The first known 1812 printing attributed TWENTY-FOURTH to Lucius Chapin, which explains the credit still found in many twentieth- and twenty-first-century hymnals. However, Lucius's own 1812 correspondence attributes the same tune, under the name ORANGE, to Amzi Chapin. Modern shape-note scholarship therefore favors Amzi, while responsible cataloging should still acknowledge the older Lucius attribution.

The melody later circulated under the name PRIMROSE and became established in American shape-note tradition. Its strong opening gesture and compact four-phrase Common Meter form give a direct, energetic setting to Watts's short lines. The tune is an editorial pairing rather than the hymn's original music; Watts's text circulated for generations before this melody appeared in print.

Because the meter is so common, other tunes are historically legitimate. CROSS AND CROWN, DOWNS, BROWN, IRISH, and others have been used. Worship leaders can therefore choose a setting known to their congregation while preserving the text's resurrection character.

Application

When singing the hymn on Sunday, connect weekly worship consciously with the resurrection of Christ rather than treating the Lord's Day as religious routine.
Read Psalm 118:22-26 alongside Matthew 21 and Acts 4 to see how the New Testament receives and reuses the psalm's imagery.
Let resurrection joy remain grounded in God's saving action even during weeks when personal circumstances do not feel joyful.
Use the rejected-stone image to remember that God's judgment about Christ is decisive even when human opinion rejects him.
At Easter, connect celebration with salvation and discipleship rather than allowing resurrection worship to become only seasonal festivity.
When teaching Watts's paraphrase, respect the psalm's Jewish scriptural setting while also explaining the explicitly Christological reading Watts intended.

Discussion Questions

How does Watts's own 1719 heading change the way the opening line should be understood?
What does Psalm 118 mean in its original scriptural context, and how do Matthew 21 and Acts 4 apply its imagery to Jesus?
Why is the rejected stone becoming the cornerstone such an important resurrection image?
How does Sunday worship function as a recurring remembrance of Easter in Watts's interpretation?
What can the disputed Chapin attribution teach us about the difference between hymnal tradition and stronger historical evidence?
How can Christians sing a Christ-centered paraphrase of a Jewish psalm while still respecting the psalm's original setting in Israel's worship?

Teaching Tips

Begin with Psalm 118:22-26, then read Matthew 21:9, Matthew 21:42, and Acts 4:10-11 to show why Watts interpreted the psalm Christologically.
Explain that the hymn was published in 1719 under a heading that explicitly connected Hosanna, the Lord's Day, Christ's resurrection, and salvation.
Clarify that the original section contained five stanzas, while The United Methodist Hymnal no. 658 prints only the opening stanza.
Tell the tune story separately: TWENTY-FOURTH first appeared more than ninety years after Watts's text and was not composed for it.
Correct the tune attribution carefully. Many hymnals credit Lucius Chapin, but Lucius's own 1812 letter attributed the melody to Amzi Chapin, so recent scholarship gives Amzi the stronger claim.
Use the hymn at Easter or on ordinary Sundays to teach that Christian joy is grounded in the risen Christ, not merely in the arrival of another day.

Sources

Isaac Watts, The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament, and Apply'd to the Christian State and Worship, London: J. Clark, R. Ford, and R. Cruttenden, 1719, Psalm 118, fourth Common Meter part.
Princeton Theological Seminary Library and Internet Archive, digitized 1719 first edition of The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament.
Discipleship Ministries, Victoria Schwarz, History of Hymns: This Is the Day the Lord Hath Made, 2021.
Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology, entries for Isaac Watts and This Is the Day the Lord Hath Made.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Isaac Watts, Independent minister and writer.
Hymnary.org, text authority and hymnal instances for This Is the Day the Lord Hath Made.
Hymnary.org, tune authority page for TWENTY-FOURTH.
David Warren Steel and Richard H. Hulan, The Makers of the Sacred Harp, University of Illinois Press, 2010, discussion of TWENTY-FOURTH and the Chapin attribution.
J. W. Scholten, Amzi Chapin: Frontier Singing Master and Folk Hymn Composer, Journal of Research in Music Education, 1975.
The United Methodist Hymnal, no. 658, 1989.
World English Bible Classic, public-domain Scripture text from eBible.org.

This Is the Day the Lord Hath Made Lyrics and Guitar Chords

Transpose:

Verse 1

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.

Verse 2

Today he rose and left the dead,

And Satan's empire fell;

Today the saints his triumph spread,

And all his wonders tell.

Verse 3

Hosanna to the anointed King,

To David's holy Son;

Help us, O Lord; descend and bring

Salvation from thy throne.

Verse 4

Blessed be he that comes to men

With messages of grace;

Who comes in God his Father's name

To save our sinful race.

Verse 5

Hosanna in the highest strains

The church on earth can raise;

The highest heavens, in which he reigns,

Shall give him nobler praise.

Tune

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