What "This Is the Day" means
Fred Hammond's arrangement of "This Is the Day" draws from the long tradition of African American Gospel, specifically the tradition that does not merely acknowledge joy but argues for it, insists on it in the face of circumstances that might suggest otherwise. The foundational text, Psalm 118:24, is a verse that has been sung in corporate worship for millennia, from the Hebrew Temple to the early church to every tradition that has ever gathered people to celebrate what God has done. "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Six words of declaration, followed by two words of command: rejoice, be glad.
Hammond's arrangement takes that text and builds a celebration around it that is not superficially cheerful. The joy in this song is fought-for joy, the kind that comes from people who know what it is to need a reason to celebrate and have found one that holds. The repetitive structure of gospel forms is not laziness. It is pedagogy. You sing the truth again and again until it gets from the mind to the body, until you are not just affirming a proposition but inhabiting a posture. That is what this song is designed to do.
What this song does in a room
At 92 BPM in F major, this song moves. It brings physical energy into a room without demanding emotional pretense. People who are not feeling particularly joyful when the song starts often find themselves participating in the song's claim by the second verse, not because the music tricked them, but because the act of corporate celebration has its own weight. You are not faking joy when you sing this song. You are choosing it, which is exactly what the Psalm commands.
The particular genius of this song in a congregational setting is that it includes people across age and background through its rhythmic accessibility. The melody is simple enough that first-time visitors can lock in quickly. The repetitive structure means the congregation spends more time in the declaration and less time tracking where they are in the lyrics. And the call-and-response elements, built into the DNA of Hammond's gospel style, create a dialogic energy between leader and congregation that is, in itself, a form of ministry.
Rooms with significant diversity tend to respond to this song across cultural lines because the joy it embodies is not stylized or genre-precious. It is celebration of a God who makes days and claims them for goodness.
What this song is saying about God
The theological statement underneath this song is sovereignty expressed as generosity. The Lord made this day. He did not merely permit it to exist as a neutral block of time. He made it, which means He authored it, and He placed in it the conditions for rejoicing. That framing changes how you lead into the song and how the congregation hears it.
This is not a song about feelings. It is a song about a fact: God has made today, and that making is sufficient cause for gladness. The command in the Psalm, and by extension in the song, to rejoice is not an emotional prescription. It is a theological orientation. You rejoice because of who made the day, not because of how the day feels. That distinction is what gives the song pastoral weight alongside its celebratory energy. It can be sung by people in hard seasons because the declaration is not contingent on their circumstances. It is grounded in God's creative and sovereign act.
Scriptural backbone
Psalm 118:24 is the direct source: "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." But the broader context of Psalm 118 matters here. The psalm is a communal song of thanksgiving that moves through distress ("In my anguish I cried to the Lord"), through deliverance ("the Lord answered me and set me free"), and into celebration. The verse that gave us this song is not a freestanding cheerful thought. It is the conclusion of a testimony. The people who sang it had been somewhere hard before they arrived at rejoicing.
That context is worth carrying into how you set the song up. Psalm 118 as a whole was used at the Passover celebration and was likely sung by Jesus and His disciples the night of the Last Supper (Matthew 26:30). The early church sang it as a resurrection song. The "day" the Psalmist is pointing to has layers: today, the day of deliverance, and the Day that is coming. All three layers are present when a congregation sings this song.
How to use it in a service
This song is a strong opener or a strong response to a call-and-response moment in your service. It does not serve as a reflective landing point. It serves as a launch. Use it when you want to establish from the first moments that something worth celebrating is happening in this room today.
It is particularly effective at the start of a service that will later move into deeper or more reflective territory. The joy established early creates a foundation that the congregation can return to after the harder work of conviction or lament. You are not manipulating emotional contrast. You are building the full arc of a service that tells the truth about who God is.
In celebration contexts, Easter, church anniversary, baptism Sundays, services following a season of community difficulty, this song can carry a disproportionate amount of the emotional weight simply by being present. The congregation knows the song. They know what it costs to mean it. Singing it together in those moments is its own form of testimony.
Things to watch for as the worship leader
The energy this song creates can peak early and then flatline if you do not have a plan for where you are taking the room after the first chorus. Pace your own presence. If you are at maximum energy in verse one, you have nowhere to go. Let the song build. The congregation will take it there with you.
Watch for a tendency in some congregational cultures to observe the celebration rather than participate in it. The call-and-response structure is an invitation, but some rooms need explicit permission to respond. You can give that permission simply by pausing expectantly during the response phrases rather than filling every gap yourself. Wait for the room. It will come.
The tempo, 92 BPM, is a comfortable groove. Do not let it creep up during the service. A song that starts at 92 and ends at 104 has been driven by adrenaline rather than led. Keep the pocket.
A note for the team behind you (techs, vocalists, band)
Drums: this is where you earn your place in the team. The groove here is foundational. A solid, locked-in feel at 92 BPM that leaves room for the congregation to find the pulse. Avoid fills that pull attention to yourself. Your job is to make it easy for 200 people to clap together without thinking about it. Ghost notes on the snare and a steady hi-hat pattern do more work here than any showy fill.
Keys and organ: if you have an organ player, this is the moment. Hammond's style is built on organ foundation. The sustained chords between phrases create the breath and release that the melody needs. A Rhodes or electric piano works as a substitute, but prioritize warmth over brightness in your tone selection.
Vocalists: bring your people. This is a song where background vocalists contribute enormously to the energy. Tight harmonies on the chorus, clear call-and-response on the sections that build. If your vocalists are used to blending into the background, this is the song to coach them forward.
Techs: check your low-end frequency balance before this song. A gospel pocket at 92 BPM needs the kick to be felt, not just heard. Make sure the kick is cutting through without muddying the bass. The vocal mix should be present and clear. If the congregation is loud (which they should be in this song), make sure the monitors are giving your vocalists enough to stay in tune and on time.