God reigns

DEVOTION

PSALMS

GOD REIGNS

97:1

The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice.

2 Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. 3 Fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side. 4 His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles. 5 The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth. 6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.

7 All who worship images are put to shame, those who boast in idols — worship him, all you gods!

8 Zion hears and rejoices and the villages of Judah are glad because of your judgments, O LORD. 9 For you, O LORD, are the Most High over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.

10 Let those who love the LORD hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked. 11 Light is shed upon the righteous and joy on the upright in heart. 12 Rejoice in the LORD, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name.

NIV

Although this song was written within the confines of Israel, we are those distant shores. Therefor let the earth be glad because the LORD reigns. Without being political we should still see how different man thinks today compared to how man thought in the days this was written. How many people today think of God being surrounded by clouds and thick darkness? How many people today see fire going out before him and consuming his foes on every side? Who see this lighting light up the earth and trembles at that sight? How many actually believe the mountains will melt like wax before the LORD? The idea is the people of that time had no concept of man-made climate change. They understood the LORD was in charge of all the earth. They did not every believe they had any control over their environment, but they lived in fear of God and power and might over all the earth. How different it is today, what happened to mankind? Has mankind rejected the reign of God over all the earth? Let us remember the LORD reigns over all the earth, the heavens proclaim his righteousness, all the sky, the clouds, the wind, the rain, snow, hale, sleet, sunshine, moonshine, tornados, hurricanes and the like all proclaim his reign and his righteousness over all the earth. Which man has any power over all the earth? What man can stop the rain or the wind? Who of man is capable of stopping the light of the sun? The LORD reigns over all the earth. What man can change the weather, make summer into fall, or turn the winter into spring? All the peoples will see his glory someday, even if they cannot believe it today. Everyone who has made something or someone an idol will be put to shame. We cannot afford to have idols in our life, whatever form they might be. To many children look to some sports figure idolizing them, wanting to be like them. How many people worship materialism or idolize the rich and famous, the beautiful people of the world. Do we make an idol of beauty or health? There are so many ways in which we could be entrapped into forming an idol, having an image of how we would like to be. No, we can only worship God, all other things are just that, things. All over people are just people, but the LORD reigns over all the earth. We should understand that, we should not get distracted be all the stuff, for he is the one who will judge all the earth. Let us rejoice for we are his people and his is the LORD who reigns over all the earth. HE reigns over us, we belong to him, and we are at his beck and call, his to command. Therefore we love the LORD and hate that which is evil. He has guarded our life in so many ways we cannot count them. Our task, our life has to be one that is faithful to the LORD, doing what he has purposed for us, following the call upon our life. Since we have been delivered from the hand of the wicked, since we have been saved, we have been called to be a part of the kingdom of God. He has a plan for our life, and we need to forgo our plans in light of his plans, because he reigns over all the earth. We do not reign over anything, even our own life. He reigns within our heart. He is our KING, our LORD, and our SAVIOR. His light shines upon us because we walk in his light, not in the darkness of this world, our walk is upright because Jesus is in our heart, the Spirit dwells within us and that should be our source of joy. So we do rejoice, we do praise his Holy Name, for God reigns over all the earth.