Saturday 25 July 2015

Psalm 93: An Exposition

One of the clearest biblical truths is that God reigns. He is sovereign, the only ruler of the cosmos. He is the great Creator of all things and governs all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least. There is nothing outside of his sovereignty, even the remotest particle is under his Sovereign sway.

God reigns and He is robed in majesty. That is his Sovereignty is clothed with the greatest conceivable beauty. God reigns but not like the most despotic of rulers, or Kings who are bent solely on destruction, but he reigns magnificently and efficiently administering his mercy and grace to all creation, kissing all his works with the soft kindness of his tenderness. O to have seen the universe before the fall, to have beheld that uncorrupted creation! Men could almost be justified in worshiping her, but our uncorrupted reason would have prevented such a catastrophe.

God reigns but many scoff at this truth. They deny him his basic right namely his absolute sovereignty over the cosmos he himself established. Yes, the world is established and it shall never be moved. They deny his personal involvement and attribute the cause of this fine world to a force that cannot be known, or they established it upon nothingness. But the truth remains, namely that God reigns and he has put on strength as his belt. Only God has the power of being in Himself. He alone exists necessarily and all other things exist in him and move and have their being. The psalmist understood this simple truth, the simple truth bellowed by nature which was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him (God) who subjected it, is tortured with frustration at those who seek to attribute to her what they should attribute to the one who reigns, whose throne is established from of old; who is from everlasting.

God reigns and nature knows it. She knows her maker, the kind One who fashioned her from nothing and established her to be what she is. She understands her part in his universal plan of him who has worked all things according to the counsel of his own personal will. She adores the Sovereign loving hands that moulded her. That is why the floods lift up, yea they rise up in praise, even that flood which once a time destroyed the earth. She lifted her voice in praise delighting in the obedience of her maker’s will, but not in the destruction itself because her maker does not take delight in the death of the wicked, but does take delight in vindicating his justice, the floods delighted in obeying his will and thus lift up the gloriousness of his name declaring that the Lord on high is mighty.

The psalmist, yea the inspired psalmist in the last verse comforts himself with the application of this grand truth. Your decrees are trustworthy. That is his promises, his verdicts, rulings, judgements, declarations are upright, truthful and trustworthy to himself so he takes great delight in Yahweh’s Sovereignty. God is for him, God is working all things together for his good.

Man never needs doubt his God but there are many who find him suspicious. Some like Adam think that he withholds the greatest happiness from them when he commands them not to do a thing. Others are blind and are in that cave of unbelief and will not gather themselves to come out into his light to see that he really is good. But if they had a personal relationship with him, they too would have soon come to the same conclusion as the psalmist who says holiness befits your house, O Lord forevermore. God is clothed in majesty; He is eternally clothed in sweet holiness and righteousness and what sweet relaxation this is for the righteous. The sinner can take refuge in God’s goodness for it was Him who sent forth his Son, yea that prophesised Messiah that was to come to his own people and justify the ungodly. His saving work now clothes all who would come to him with that unique righteousness, that all who say they are his, yea his precious sheep can say they are covered with the holiness of God, and this being so God is for them forever. Holiness befits your house, O God, Holiness befits his people forever.

K.Oni

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