September 14 2023
Today, Thursday September 14
“The LORD Reigns”
Psalm 93:1-5
“The LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty; The LORD is clothed, He has girded Himself with strength. Surely the world is established, so that it cannot be moved. Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting.
The floods have lifted up, O LORD, The floods have lifted up their voice; The floods lift up their waves. The LORD on high is mightier Than the noise of many waters, Than the mighty waves of the sea.
Your testimonies are very sure; Holiness adorns Your house, O LORD, forever.”
You will notice that Psalm 93 does not have a title or inscription over it. We are not sure when it was written or who actually wrote it. But we know Who the author is! God is the author of all Scripture. Jesus said that all the Words in the Bible “proceed from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4). Psalm 93 is the first of a series of remarkable theocratic psalms (the others are Psalms 95 through 100). These are psalms which magnify Israel's theocracy.
We are familiar with the standard forms of government we have on earth. We have autocratic government (governments headed by a strong man or a dictator); we have monarchic government (headed by a king with more or less absolute power); we have democratic governments (governments in which the people rule). In all the history of the world only Israel has had a true theocratic form of government—a government in which there is no man-appointed or self-appointed ruler but rather a government directed by God.
From the beginning of its history until the time of Samuel this was Israel's sole form of government. It failed, not because God failed, but because Israel failed. When the people demanded of Samuel that he give them a king so that they might be like the other nations round about, he wept. God said to him: "Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto you: for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them" (I Samuel 8:7).
Psalms 93 and 95-100 emphasize the sovereign rule of Jehovah, the King of Israel, in the affairs of the nations. Psalm 94 focuses on God the Judge, which is an important aspect of His righteous rule. Psalm 93 was perhaps written by one of the Levites who returned to Judah with the Jewish remnant after the Babylonian captivity. The Medes and Persians defeated Babylon in 539 B.C., and the next year Cyrus, the new king, gave the Jews permission to return to their own land, rebuild their temple, and restore their nation.
We read about the history of this time period in the books of Ezra and Haggai. It was an especially difficult time for the Jewish remnant and their work was interrupted, attacked, and neglected. The leaders and the people needed encouragement to continue the work, and this encouragement could come only from the Lord. This brief hymn magnifies the Lord by presenting three divine assurances.
In verse 1-2, the remnant was given the assurance that God reigns supremely. It was God who allowed Nebuchadnezzar to attack and conquer the kingdom of Judah and to destroy the temple and the holy city. The Lord used Daniel in Babylon to teach this basic truth to Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 1-4; see especially Dan. 4:17, 25, 32), but Nebuchadnezzar's successor Belshazzar learned it when it was too late (Dan. 5). The Medes and Persians attacked Babylon and killed Belshazzar the very night he was boasting of his kingdom and blaspheming the Lord.
“The LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty”. "Jehovah is king!" (Psalm 92:8; 96:10; 97:1; 99:1; Ex. 15:18; Deut. 33:5.) He is enthroned in heaven, robed in the majestic robes of glory, and armed with all the power He needs to humble puny rulers. His eternal throne is majestic, strong and firmly established (Psalm 65:6; 104:1), and the world He created is also firmly fixed (24:2; 78:69; 119:90). No matter what happens to human rulers on earth, the throne in heaven is safe and secure.
We especially need this encouragement in a time when the world is in such a mess and there is international chaos on every hand! When God revealed Nebuchadnezzar’s dream to Daniel he said, “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings…” (Daniel 2:20-21). And in Proverbs 21:1 we read: “The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.”
My friend, no matter what is happening in the world around us we can be assured that “The LORD reigns”! There is nothing that is going to catch Him by surprise!
God bless!