Psalms 118:24-26 This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25 Save us, we pray, O LORD! O LORD, we pray, give us success! 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD.
Matthew 23:37-39 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 38 See, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
Psalm 118:24 is not merely about enjoying a new day — it is a prophetic declaration of a divinely appointed moment. “This is the day the LORD has made” speaks of a kairos moment in history when heaven and earth converge. It points to the day when Messiah would be revealed, salvation would walk into Jerusalem, and God’s covenant plan would take a dramatic step forward. This is not the casual celebration of a sunrise — it is the joyful response to God’s redemptive unfolding.
Verse 25, “Save us, we pray, O LORD!” — Hoshiana na! — is the cry that echoed through the streets of Jerusalem as Yeshua (Jesus) rode in on a donkey. The people cried out for deliverance, quoting this very verse, though many did not realize that salvation had already come to them in the flesh. That same cry is lifted every year on Hoshana Rabbah, the final day of Sukkot, when worshipers encircle the altar pleading for salvation, rain, and revival. It is followed by Simchat Torah, the rejoicing in the Word of God — a celebration Yeshua embodied as the Word made flesh.
Tragically and prophetically, on October 7, 2023, as Jews around the world danced with the Torah scroll on Simchat Torah, Israel was struck by war. And before the IDF entered Gaza, soldiers were praying Psalm 118:25: “Hoshiana na — Save us, we pray, O LORD! Grant us success!” The cry of the ancient psalm became a modern wartime prayer. It was not staged — it was spiritual. The plea of the people of Israel in their hour of need echoed the same cry once shouted before Yeshua in Jerusalem.
But the story is not over. Yeshua’s words in Matthew 23:37–39 reveal a prophecy yet to be fulfilled. After weeping over Jerusalem’s rejection of Him, He declared: “You shall not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” That’s Psalm 118:26 — the very next verse. The world has heard Israel cry out verse 25. Now, all creation groans, waiting for her to declare verse 26 — the key that unlocks His second coming. When Israel cries out in recognition of Yeshua as the One sent by the Father, heaven will respond, and the King will come.
We are standing between verses — between the cry of “Save us, O LORD” and the declaration “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!” The first has already been spoken. The second is coming — and it will shake the heavens. This is not a time for passive faith. This is the day the LORD has made — not just for rejoicing, but for revelation. The gates are open. The cries are rising. The King is near. Join the cry. Prepare the way. And pray with urgency that Israel will finish the song she began. When she sings verse 26, the sky will split, and Yeshua will come — not as the rejected cornerstone, but as the crowned King. Maranatha!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]We arrived at the airport late Thursday night with our bags and our kiddos only to find out that our flight was canceled because of a freak accident — a tractor ran into the plane, of all things! So we repacked our ourselves tightly into a small rental car to make the two hour drive to get back home to Arad in the middle of the night. Our flight was postponed till Sunday.
The Hebrew letter mem, equivalent to our English letter “M,” has a fascinating characteristic: it has two forms. The “open mem” appears at the beginning or middle of a word, with a small opening in its design. The “closed mem,” however, is used exclusively as the final letter in a word, fully sealed in its appearance. This distinction is consistent throughout the Hebrew language—except for one extraordinary exception found in the Bible.
Yeshua (Jesus) gave a remarkable parenthetic instruction in the middle of His Olivet discourse on the time of His coming and the end of the age. While it is unlikely that He himself said this, He certainly inspired Matthew to insert, “..let the reader understand”, concerning this critical event prophesied by Daniel, the Abomination of Desolation. His exhortation intended us (the readers of Matthew’s gospel) to learn what this means.
In John Bunyan’s best-selling book, Pilgrim’s Progress, the central character, Christian, begins his journey leaving the city of Destruction and ventures on his way toward the Celestial City. Early on his journey, Christian decides to depart from the narrow path onto an easier one which leads him to the territory of Despair and its stronghold, Doubting Castle.
The United States is currently experiencing a polar vortex—a surge of frigid air from the Arctic circle that blankets the country, bringing massive winter storms in its wake. As of now, over 350,000 people are without power. This sudden and unexpected cold snap brought to mind a story I’d like to share.
During this frigid weather across the United States and the devastating fires in California, millions have been grappling with widespread electricity blackouts. Thousands of people across the country remain without power. Across the United States, many teens are experiencing life without electricity for the first time—an adjustment that also means living without their cell phones. Can you imagine?
Mount Ibu, a volcano on Halmahera island in Indonesia’s North Maluku province, erupted on Saturday, spewing hot lava and sending a column of smoke and ash soaring over three miles into the sky. It’s a reminder of how volatile Indonesia can be as it has nearly 130 active volcanoes. All of this volcanic activity reminded me of another explosion that took place in 1991.