Psalms

This is a Psalm about the sovereignty of God.  The Psalmist recognized that God is sovereign and sings His praise because He alone rules over the entire world.  That's a difficult thing to grasp.  How is it possible for us to understand that God is moving and working here, now, all around us, while simultaneously working on the other side of the world and everywhere in between?  God moves and works and shakes our world.  He judges and chastises as He sees fit.

The Psalmist celebrates and remembers when the Lord moved in their world.  We can relate this to at least 2 specific events.  That would be in Egypt and the exodus as the Lord moved as a pillar of fire and at the parting of the Red Sea and then at Mt Sinai, the mountain of God.  The mountain tops melted at the presence of God.  It shook with earthquakes and there was lightning and thunder.

But also, in the words of this Psalm we can look forward to a future time.  It is the great and glorious day of the coming of the Lord.

A Song of Praise to the Sovereign LORD

1 The LORD reigns;
Let the earth rejoice;
Let the multitude of isles be glad!

2 Clouds and darkness surround Him;
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
3 A fire goes before Him,
And burns up His enemies round about.
4 His lightnings light the world;
The earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD,
At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
6 The heavens declare His righteousness,
And all the peoples see His glory.

7 Let all be put to shame who serve carved images,
Who boast of idols.
Worship Him, all you gods.
8 Zion hears and is glad,
And the daughters of Judah rejoice
Because of Your judgments, O LORD.
9 For You, LORD, are most high above all the earth;
You are exalted far above all gods.

10 You who love the LORD, hate evil!
He preserves the souls of His saints;
He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.
11 Light is sown for the righteous,
And gladness for the upright in heart.
12 Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous,
And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.

We started our study in Hebrews on Sunday and we learned that Hebrews was written to establish the superiority of Jesus Christ.  The writer of Hebrews used many Old Testament scriptures to make his case.  The writer of Hebrews quoted verse 6 of this Psalm:

6 The heavens declare His righteousness,
And all the peoples see His glory.

The writer of Hebrews could have quoted this entire Psalm as it celebrates the majestic King.  It extols His power and dominion over all the heavens and the earth.  He reigns and the world should rejoice in that reign.

The Psalmist said, Let the multitude of isles be glad! This is just another way of saying the entire world, the isles being the continents of the earth.  They should be glad in the reign of the Lord.  The throne of Jesus Christ is founded on righteousness and judgment.  He is the just judge of all the earth.  A time is coming when he will execute that judgment.

He is coming again.  When he comes, at the Lords presence men will see clouds and darkness surround Him.  This describes the affects of being in the presence of God.  It strikes fear in men.

Here is what Jesus said in Matthew 24:

²⁹ "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory

Our Psalm says that a fire goes before Him and burns up His enemies round about.  There is lightning and storms and earthquakes.  The mountains will melt like wax.  The earth will be shaken, the lives of men will be shaken.  Governments will no longer matter, economies will be meaningless.  All that men trust in will be wiped away.

Hebrews 10 says:

³⁰ For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. And again, "The LORD will judge His people." ³¹ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Zechariah says:

Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet,
Their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets,
And their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths.
¹³ It shall come to pass in that day
That a great panic from the LORD will be among them.
Everyone will seize the hand of his neighbor,
And raise his hand against his neighbor's hand;

To us this might sound like a sci-fi movie with great special effects but this is real, it's prophecy.  Our human reaction might be that this is a little over the top.  God could tone it down a little can't he?  But this picture we see enhances the truth we know.  God is angry over sin.  Yet he loves us.  He loved us enough to send His Son to die in our place.  Long before we even existed He knew us and He knew our hearts and He know our sins.  He knew each time that we would sin against Him.  He knew each time we would be disrespectful, disobedience and blasphemous.  Yet, he died for us anyway. 

Those that deny the free gift of grace will stand in their sin before the righteous judge.  And He will justly and righteously give them what they deserve.  And the Psalm says, the heavens declare His righteousness, and all the peoples see His glory.  As Christ judges the earth and it's people, He is bringing His will on earth as it is in heaven.  All men will know that his judgments are just and right. 

The messianic kingdom will be established.  There will no longer be idolatry.  No man will serve other gods.

Zechariah 13 says:

² "It shall be in that day," says the LORD of hosts, "that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered. I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to depart from the land. ³ It shall come to pass that if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother who begot him will say to him, 'You shall not live, because you have spoken lies in the name of the LORD.'

Zion hears of all this judgment and is glad, the Psalmist says.  The daughters of Judah rejoice because of Your judgments, O LORD. 

9 For You, LORD, are most high above all the earth;
You are exalted far above all gods.

As judgment goes out against all other gods and all the idols, God shows His sovereignty.  He is revealed to be the great I AM; the creator and only God.

All this can sound very frightening.  We know the Lord rules today.  We know that we worship and seek His presences.  We know He speaks to us by His word.  Yet, as frightening as this Psalm may sound, we only have a vague idea of what a person may face if they stand in their sins on that great day.

Verse 10 says:

10 You who love the LORD, hate evil!
He preserves the souls of His saints;
He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.
11 Light is sown for the righteous,
And gladness for the upright in heart.

If we are in Christ we don't have to fear that day.  He preserves His saints.  He keeps us from harm.  Our souls are preserved in Him and by Him.  Because we are His saints, we hate evil.  We hate sin.  That should be one of our primary characteristics.  We should hate what sin does to men, to this world, to our health.  The bible says the penalty of sin is death.  Sin brought death, destruction, disease, pain, illness, affliction, oppression, depression, corruption, lies, deceit and sorrow. 

But we are delivered out of the hand of the wicked.  For those in Christ this deliverance is in the form of the rapture.  The Lord will take the church, His bride, before He executes judgment on the land.  Light is sown for the righteous.  That light is Jesus Christ, He is our righteousness.  Righteousness will triumph on that day.  And the upright in heart will rejoice and be glad.

Verse 12 says:

12 Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous,
And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.

If we are called righteous by the Lord.  We have much to rejoice over.  It is an eternal gift deserving of eternal praise.  We give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.  His name is Jesus.

And all God's people say.....Amen.

©2011 Doug Ford