The Sovereignty of the LORD in Creation and History
1 Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous!
For praise from the upright is beautiful.
2 Praise the LORD with the harp;
Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.
3 Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.
4 For the word of the LORD is right,
And all His work is done in truth.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.
6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap;[a]
He lays up the deep in storehouses.
This Psalm starts off by telling us we should rejoice in the Lord; praise the Lord and sing Him a new song. This was collective praise of the congregation. It involved the people, musical instruments and the choir. The righteous were to lift their voices to Praise God. This was to sing with all they had; to pour everything into worship; skillfully and with a shout of joy.
God's people were to sing a New song. This could be a completely new song or it could be an old song, sung in a new way. Since the Lord brings us new mercies every day, we should bring him new praises every day, not old worn out praises.
So how do we keep our praises new? How do we sing a new song to praise the Lord? It's never about the praise band, though the praise band should perform the music to the best of their ability to honor God. Praise must come from the heart and to God. The music is the vehicle some times. But you can praise God in the silence, in a thunderstorm, or maybe just words and music bouncing around in your head.
Worship takes different forms in different cultures and different churches and traditions. No matter what form it takes, the real worship happens in our hearts. It needs to be a new song, a fresh appreciation for who God is and what He's done.
Verse four begins to talk about why we worship and praise Him. It's a lesson on the sovereignty of God. His word is right. His work is in truth, righteousness, justice and goodness. By a word, He created all the heavens and all that is in them.
Colossians 1:15
15 He (Jesus Christ) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
By His word it was made and He is the one holding it all together.
8 Let all the earth fear the LORD;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
It's hard to imagine the entire world standing in a fear of the Lord and in awe of Him. We seem to be getting further and further from that, don't we? Those that truly fear the Lord seem to be getting fewer and fewer. Even those within the church don't fear the Lord as they used to, nor do they stand in awe of Him.
Instead of growing in the understanding of the Lord and coming to the knowledge of how high and holy His is, we've shrunk God down to our understanding. We've made Him small and manageable, easy to understand.
This Psalmist hadn't done that, though, he hadn't forgotten. He speaks about the sovereign acts of an infinitely holy God.
9 For He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.
10 The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.
11 The counsel of the LORD stands forever,
The plans of His heart to all generations.
The Lord spoke the world into existence. Think about all that is implied and included in that. Think of all the planets and stars, each one named, given a place. Think of all the plants, from the tallest tree to the things that grow in the deepest parts of the ocean. Each one fulfilling a purpose; each created by a sovereign God.
Think of all the animals, each intricately created by the hand of God, given a name and purpose, given instincts, defense mechanism and tools that help them to survive in balance with other animals.
All these things and many more have all been created by God. And what does our world do with it. Instead of falling face down and worshiping God, in all of man's arrogance, we say how could any being create all that. The scoffing begins. It makes no sense in the mind of man so the mind of man gives credit to time and chance instead of God.
The nations have a puny view of God and can't imagine Him creating everything so they give credit to nothing. They say it happened by itself; by accident, the result of time and chance; order out of chaos. Somehow it makes more sense that all these amazing things happened by accident then to think that an awesome, holy, righteous, amazing God did it.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.
Maybe we would understand this verse better if we flipped it around. Cursed is the nation whose god is something other than the God of the bible. What is man thinking when he thumbs his nose at God? What is our nation thinking when we tell school kids you don't dare mention the name of Jesus or open a bible? What is man thinking when he creates a god to his own liking and disregards and disrespects the Lord God of the Bible?
13 The LORD looks from heaven;
He sees all the sons of men.
14 From the place of His dwelling
He looks On all the inhabitants of the earth;
15 He fashions their hearts individually;
He considers all their works.
We can't hide from God. Some men say, "Well I don't believe in a God like that." It doesn't make God any less real if you don't believe. It's like saying I don't believe in a truck that's about to run me over. It doesn't matter if you believe or not. Truth is truth, the truck is truth. God is truth.
It's in the heart of man to be his own king and lord. He can put his faith in all kinds of things: career, fame and fortune, accumulating wealth, power and prestige. Whatever it is, it will fail. It will disappoint you. You'll never get enough fame, money, health, power. It will always leave you wanting more.
For the kings of the Psalmists time it was military power, it was horses, chariots and modern weapons.
16No king is saved by the multitude of an army;
A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.
17 A horse is a vain hope for safety;
Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.
Instead of relying on the things of the world, we should trust in the Lord. All those other things are distractions. They are temptations to man to make him feel as though he can control his own circumstances.
18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope in His mercy,
19 To deliver their soul from death,
And to keep them alive in famine.
Every last one of us are at the mercy of the Lord. When our search for the things of this world finally let us down, we go searching. When man has wealth, but the doctor says he'll die of cancer, he goes looking. When you finally get that promotion, only to find out you have to work longer hours under more stress, you begin to search your heart. When you finally make first string, only to break a bone or blow out a knee, you'll seek out an answer. Maybe it's just waking up, looking in the mirror and realizing that your youth has quietly slipped away. We are all at the mercy of the Lord. We can try to run, we can try to hide or we can yield to his will.
20 Our soul waits for the LORD;
He is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart shall rejoice in Him,
Because we have trusted in His holy name.
22 Let Your mercy, O LORD, be upon us,
Just as we hope in You.
We must wait on the Lord. We don't always know how long. We rarely know why. Yet we know we can trust in Him. There is no other. He is our help and shield. And when we do that we experience that joy and peace that comes from the Lord and not from our circumstance of this life. But knowing and trusting in what is to come, that is our hope and promise that we hold onto.
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