Psalms 118:24

The verse has become a good-morning line, but the original "day" is quite specific. Psalm 118 is a victory song sung at the entrance to the temple, after a deliverance. The preceding verses speak of a stone rejected by the builders that became the cornerstone — and it is that day, the day of the turnaround, that the psalmist celebrates.

That does not invalidate the everyday use; on the contrary, it gives it more weight. Every ordinary morning starts to be seen as something that was made, not something that simply happened.

Notice too that joy is presented as a decision: "we will rejoice and be glad in it". It is an invitation in the imperative, a call to choose your outlook before knowing how the day will end.

Perhaps that is why this is one of the verses most sent early in the morning and most used at birthdays, weddings and first days at work.