Rejoice, The Lord God Reigns
The
declaration that the Lord reigns is the central claim in the Bible. Psalm 99 is one of many psalms in Scripture
that declares that God is holy, and He is the Almighty king. And all the subjects of the heavenly king are
called to bow in awe before their God, their King, their Creator, heavenly
Father and Redeemer.
Throughout
the Scriptures God has many more names. The Scriptures call Him our Protector
and our Shepherd, our Refuge and our Judge.
And He is also a Warrior. The
warrior image of God and the references to the Christian life as a war/battle is
a constant in the Bible, (Revelation 17:14: 2 Corinthians 10:3-4, Ephesians
6:11-17, Exodus 15:3)
The Holy Scriptures
tell us that God is a warrior who defends His people with vigor against their
enemies. Psalm 98:1b-2 states: “His
right hand and His holy arm have gotten victory. The Lord has made know His victory: He has
revealed His vindication in the sight of the nations.” (Psalm 98:1b-2)
And many
passages throughout Scripture command us to not strike back at an enemy for
wrongs they have done against us or harm they have caused to us. Scripture says that our job is to forgive, and
God’s job is to judge and avenge or punish. Romans 12:19 says: “Do not take
revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘Vengeance
is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.”
All the
kings of the world have faults, but our God and king has no faults. He is holy, pure, good, merciful, loving,
just and righteous. God’s holiness
causes the earth to quake in His divine Presence. (Psalm 99:1) And He is also Almighty and
Everlasting. God is the Three in One: ,
the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, a great mystery. Psalm 97:2b declares: “Righteousness
and justice are the foundation of His throne,”
Yahweh, or God is a judge without corruption
or partiality. And Psalm 99:4-5 pictures
God as a “lover of justice”. Psalms
96:13 and 98:9 speak of God’s judgment over the whole world. There will be a final judgment of the world when
Jesus will sit as sovereign arbiter of the fate of nations. (Matthew
25:31-46)
God is also pictured
in Scripture as the One who answers the prayers of those who turn to Him. God listens to those
in distress and comes to their aid (Psalm 72:4, 12-14). However, God’s watchful care carries expectation
with it. Israel was required to obey the decrees of God. God calls His children
not only to trust Him but to try to obey His laws.
There are times when we must wait for God’s
answers to our prayers to become apparent.
In the book of Hebrews chapter 11 there is a list of some of the great
men and women of faith who fully trusted in God. Some of the people on this list
received miracles and great answers to their prayers during their
lifetimes. But some of the people
mentioned in Hebrews 11 – also believers with great faith in God -suffered terrible
persecution and will receive their answers after they get to heaven. God’s timetable is not our timetable. But His
promises are sure.
If we must wait for some of our prayers to be
fully answered, we must wait patiently trusting that God knows how to take care
of everything. “All things work together for good, to them who love Him…” (Romans
8:28) His ways are higher than our ways and they are beyond our
understanding. He has promised that believers
will be victorious in Jesus. And we can
count on that, even though we cannot understand.
God our divine King is not limited or defined
by human rules. He transcends all human
institutions and He is our Creator and Redeemer. God the Son suffered and died
to take away our sins and then He rose again. And God the Father, the King of
the Universe, is also our personal God – our heavenly Father- if we allow Him
to be.
We humans
will always be “ruled” by something.
Often, we humans allow the values of our culture, or the delusions about
human wisdom and power to rule our lives instead of allowing God to rule our
lives. Sin is always at the door, so if
we do not make a conscious choice to be ruled by God, we will inevitably be ruled
by something that is oppressive, unscrupulous or unrighteous.
Perhaps the
best argument against the belief in God as King and ruler of our world is the
apparent lack of control by God in our world today. Wars, shootings, drug abuse, bombings,
hatreds, a world gone haywire! If the kingdom of God exists, there are times
when its presence is hard to discern.
The Bible
acknowledges this dilemma. The kingdom
may not yet be evident now, but it will be when Christ comes again as king and judge. In Scripture the kingdom of God is compared
to the smallest seed (Mark 4:31) and to a treasure buried in a field. (Matthew
13:44) and to yeast hidden in the dough (Matthew 13:33) Some parts of the
kingdom are “now” and some are “not yet.”
The problems
and tragedies of this world today are not the last word. The shouts of voices in heaven are written in
Revelation 11:15 “the kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord
and of His Christ.” When Jesus Christ
comes back at the end of the age, He will take over the rule and reign of the
world. Christian faith declares that the
kingdom of God will come. The Bible, God’s
Word proclaims it and we believe it. Our
belief in this kingdom gives us hope to defend against the false notion that
the future offers no more than the drudgery of today’s world.
The kingdom
of God lies ahead of us changing everything.
It is our hope and joy as Christians. God gives us His Holy Spirit to
live within us and teach us and bring us this hope and joy. 1 Corinthians 15:25 declares: “He (Jesus)
must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”
Though
unseen in fulness, the kingdom of God is more real and meaningful than any
other power, even the power of death. We
serve a mighty God and we have a powerful and wonderful hope. Rejoice.
The Lord God reigns!
Some of the
ideas in this blog were taken from “Psalms Interpretation Bible Studies by
Jerome F.D. Creach, Chapter 6 “Rejoice, the Lord is King”
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