The Lord Reigns, Let the Earth Rejoice

Here we go.

Tonight we're on Psalm 97.

And I thought I was going home first, so my Bible is at home.

So it's just... I know. I have the Bible on the phone, it just feels different.

So you just have to bear with me if I feel a little uncomfortable.

No, I'm just kidding. It's fine.

Psalm 97.

The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice.

Let the many coastlands be glad.

Clouds and thick darkness are all around him.

Righteousness and judgment are the foundation of his throne.

Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around.

His lightnings light up the world.

The earth sees and trembles.

The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth.

The heavens proclaim his righteousness and all the peoples see his glory.

All worshipers of images are put to shame who make their boast in worthless idols.

Worship him, all you gods.

Zion hears and is glad.

And the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgments, O Lord.

For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth.

You are exalted far above all gods.

O you who love the Lord, hate evil.

He preserves the lives of his saints.

He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

Light is sown for the righteous and joy for the upright in heart.

So rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name.

So the title in this psalm is The Lord Reigns.

A psalm, a hymn celebrating God's rule and reign over the universe,

over his creation, and over this world.

Described in terms of a king ruling over a kingdom.

But it's not describing just any king, but the king above all kings.

So we have a king who rules with righteousness and justice.

A king stronger than all his adversaries.

Not a king who rules over a nation, but a king who rules over all nations.

Not a king who is elected by any people, but created all people.

And not a king who is given control, but a king who has been, always been, in control.

So as we look at verse 1, it says,

The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice.

Let the many coastlands be glad.

The coastlands here is, in other words, another way of saying it would be,

all the lands that ships can reach.

So it could be reworded, all the nations, all the known nations be glad.

And verse 2, clouds and thick darkness are all around him.

There's some imagery or some pictures here of connected back to Exodus.

So we're reminded of Exodus 19, where we see God coming down on Mount Sinai.

Verses 16 through 18 of Exodus says,

On the morning of the third day, there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain,

and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled.

Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God,

and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain.

Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because God had descended on it in fire.

And the smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly.

So we get a picture of God's unapproachable majesty as he comes down and settles on the mountain.

And then the second half of verse 2 follows that up by saying,

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

So when we first think of the clouds and the thick darkness and this unapproachable majesty,

it's easy to kind of get a disconnected, kind of distant feeling towards God.

But then the second half of that verse brings it back.

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

That's not a picture of a distant, unsympathetic king,

but one who cares about what is good and right.

If he's righteous and justice, then that's what he stands for.

He stands for perfect justice, and he rules with righteousness.

Verse 3 says,

Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries.

Again, looking back to the first couple books of the Bible,

we can think of areas where God judged with fire.

So you have Sodom and Gomorrah where he rained down fire on them.

You have him using fire in part of the ten plagues when Moses was coming against Pharaoh.

And we also have connections back to end times in Revelation.

Revelation 8-7 says,

So what's really cool about Psalm 97 is,

As you go through it, there's a lot of connections back to earlier in history,

and there's connections to the end.

But as you'll see in a few minutes,

it like is grounded in Jesus Christ and his salvation for us,

his death on the cross for us.

And we'll get into that in a couple of minutes.

Continue on with verses 4 and 5.

It says,

His lightnings light up the world.

The earth sees and trembles.

The mountains melt like wax before the Lord of all the earth.

Now we know that God, because he created the mountains,

he has the power to melt them if he wanted to.

But I think here the psalmist is probably more referring to nations rather than mountains.

If you were to picture looking at a globe,

and you see nations are built up,

kind of like a mountain,

if you're looking at a globe in that sense.

And we know that God brings down nations,

and he lifts nations up.

Micah 1, 2, and 3 says this,

as we hear the word of the Lord given to Micah

concerning the judgment on Judah and Israel.

It says,

Here, you peoples, all of you,

pay attention, O earth,

and all that is in it,

and let the Lord God be a witness against you,

the Lord from his holy temple.

For behold, the Lord is coming out of his place,

and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth,

and the mountains will melt under him,

and the valleys will split open like wax before the fire,

like waters poured down a steep place.

All this for the transgression of Jacob,

and for the sins of the house of Israel.

And, you know,

that sounds similar to some of the chapters

we just went through with in Jeremiah,

where there's just constant judgment

that's being given to the people of Israel

as they continue to live in sin

and rebel against God.

So we see this picture of God's power and his judgment.

But like I mentioned before,

there's a lot more going on in this psalm than just that.

If this is a psalm of celebration,

which looking at some of these verses,

this is very much a psalm of celebration,

then it's got to be more than just power and judgment.

Not that there's anything wrong with that,

but it's hard to feel celebration

when you're talking about judgment

and you're talking about God's power.

So if we take a closer look at verse 1,

the Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice.

The psalm is celebrating the reign of the Lord

and praising who he is.

The Lord reigns.

Just saying the Lord reigns

is like the centerpiece of the gospel that we preach.

Jesus has come.

He's risen.

He reigns.

That's the cornerstone of the gospel.

Jesus is the cornerstone of the church.

He's risen and all the power that's in heaven

and on earth has been given to him.

So that's the celebration that we start to realize

as we look at even just verse 1 starting out.

And then as we move to verse 6,

it says the heavens proclaim his righteousness

and all the people see his glory.

So we see his reign and we also see his righteousness.

The Lord reigns with

and never moves from

a foundation of pure righteousness

and complete holiness.

And it's from that foundation,

that throne that he judges.

So while we don't understand what God is doing,

we can rest in the fact

that he's never going to do us wrong

because of his righteousness.

If he does,

then he wouldn't be righteous.

Charles Spurgeon says,

absolute power is safe

in the hands of him

who cannot err or act unrighteously.

I couldn't help but think of

some of the Avenger movies

where superheroes have all this power,

but even with that,

they're not perfect.

And they fight for

who's doing the right thing.

They fight for

who should have

kind of governance

over these special powers.

So they fight amongst themselves.

It isn't a problem

when we're talking about God

because he doesn't err.

He doesn't act unrighteously.

And so for that,

we can glory

and we can proclaim

the greatness

in that righteousness.

Verse 7 says,

All worshipers of images

are put to shame

who make their boast

in worthless idols.

Worship him,

all you gods.

Just accenting the fact

that putting our trust

in idols

or anything that are made

with human hands

is an empty act.

So if you think

of the progression

of a person

before and after

they're saved,

they worship things

of this world.

They worship idols

and then God opens

their eyes

to the one true God

and they see that shame

in what they used

to worship.

So while God

doesn't look at them

in shame,

it's easy to see

where it talks about

they're put to shame

because they think

about what they used

to worship,

about what they used

to live for

and go after

and now they go

after the one true God.

Verse 8 says,

Zion hears

and is glad

and the daughters

of Judah rejoice

because of your judgments,

O Lord.

This verse could be

referring to

a specific occasion

that has taken place

with the people

of Israel

and judgment

that has been

put out

against their enemy.

That could be

why this psalm

was written.

I'm not sure.

but

we also know

that there will be

a time in the end

where

there will be

a remnant

of God's

first,

if you will,

his first

chosen people,

the Israelites

or the Jews

when he will

open their eyes

and he will

save them.

So we have

Zion hearing

because their eyes

have been opened

and now

they'll be glad

and they'll rejoice

because they're

reminded of

their deliverance

that they were

promised

and the judgment

against those

who were against

them that they

were promised

and that we get

to see.

So we get to see

a picture of that

that they could be

going through

here in psalm

and also

in the future

when God

opens their

eyes to the gospel.

verse 9 says,

For you, O Lord,

are most high

over all the earth.

You are exalted

far above all

gods.

This was used

in part of

Paul's introduction

to the

Christians

in Ephesus

when he says

this in Ephesians

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1.

And what is

the immeasurable

greatness of his

power towards us?

Speaking of God,

obviously.

According to the

working of his

great might

that he

worked in Christ

when he raised

him from the dead

and seated him

on the right hand

in the heavenly places.

Far above all

rule and authority

and power

and dominion

above every name

that is named

not only in this age

but also

in the one to come.

So we see

this

high above

every name

this high

above all

the earth

exalted above

all gods

little g

and that's

part of

this

introduction

this encouragement

that Paul

has given to

the Corinthians

even in the

New Testament.

If idols

and gods

are worthless

and God

so they're like

down here

as much

as we want

to put

worth

and price

to them

if things

that man

makes

is down

here

at the bottom

worthlessness

and God

is most

high

over all

the earth

then

what does

it

profit

us

to spend

our energy

on those

things

versus

the creator

over us

they're not

even like

close to

each other

so

thinking back

to verse

one

where it

says

the Lord

reigns

Jesus

being alive

and us

being saved

we're going

to keep that

in mind

as we read

these last

three verses

because I

think it

just helps

bring it

more to

life

and give

us more

depth

as to

what it

is that

we're

rejoicing

over

and why

this is

a celebratory

song

verse 10

says

oh you

who love

the Lord

hate evil

the reason

why we're

told to

hate evil

is because

Jesus died

for us

to cover

our sins

and so

if we love

him

we have

to hate

evil

it's what

he died

for

he preserves

the lives

of his

saints

he delivers

them from

the hand

of the

wicked

Jesus

was victorious

over death

it was for

us his

saints

that sin

has no

power

and he

has ripped

us

from the

hands

of

Satan

verse 11

says

light is

sown

for the

righteous

and joy

for the

upright

in heart

so the

phrase

light

is

sown

is

I think

is a

little

easier

understood

if we

say

light

is

dawning

or in

other

words

made

visible

as

God's

guidance

for

those

who are

righteous

so if

you think

of it

as

God

opening

our eyes

to his

leading

to what

he has

for us

that's

the

light

or the

the

I don't want to

guidance

is the best

word

he's opening

our eyes

to what

he has

for us

that's

that's

what

is

dawning

for us

and likewise

the joy

dawns

or is

made

visible

for those

who are

upright

and heart

those

who follow

after

God

he's

he fills

with

instruction

and guidance

and with

joy

and the

verse 12

rejoice in the

Lord

oh you

righteous

and give

thanks to

his holy

name

so we

see

returning

back to

verse 1

where

verse 1

says

the Lord

reigns

and let

the earth

rejoice

here it

says

rejoice

in the

Lord

oh you

righteous

and in

verse 1

when it

says the

earth is

to rejoice

it isn't

it isn't

those who

don't know

God that

are rejoicing

it's his

saints that

are rejoicing

so we're

called to

rejoice in

him and

give thanks

to his

name

because

we are

the ones

who have

been forgiven

we've been

rescued

delivered

guided

blessed

we're your

joyful

servants

and we

get to

worship a

holy

righteous

and glorious

God who

is above

all

in

in

in that

vein

in that

thought

of just

praising

God for

who he

is

so it

would be

good just

to take

a couple

minutes

where we

just

we

pray

whatever

comes to

our

mind

we

praise

God

for

who

he

is

and I

want to

encourage

you

if there's

times of

silence

allow that

to be

times where

we let

the Holy

Spirit

speak to

us

often we

don't know

what to

say

and the

Holy

Spirit

can give

us

words

so

not

that

silence

needs to

be

where

somebody

would

pray

because

it's

quiet

but

a time

where

we're

silent

before

the

Lord

and

if

there's

something

that

we're

to

praise

or

ask

for

then

that

will

be

laid

on

our

heart

if

we

don't

know

what

that

is

already

so

let's

take a few

minutes

just to

praise

to