Psalm 97:1

Psalm 97:1

The Lord reigns

This psalm is a wonderful celebration of God’s reign over the earth, a reign characterised by two of His familiar attributes, namely righteousness and justice. It has to be a prophetic Psalm for it describes a time when all people will see God’s glory although Israel, of course, were meant to reveal Him to the world after their establishment in the Land of Promise.  

The words we are about to meditate upon not only involve the whole world and Israel but have a special significance for the righteous, those who are called and chosen to be the Lord’s people on the earth. That’s you and me! Let’s enjoy this Psalm together!

 

V1        In Zechariah 14:9 we read, “The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.” This is a constant theme throughout the Scriptures, and it occurs again and again in the Psalms. Whilst human kingdoms and rulers and nations and empires wax and wane, whilst all creation suffers in agony awaiting its liberation, heaven is counting down. The pinnacle of world history is still to come. The Satan seeks to convince us all that we are tottering on the brink of disaster and that we must try even harder to come together to avert this, while the Bible declares with authority that his time will be ended, and then the Lord will reign. Our God has already intervened once and the sick were healed, evil spirits fled, the dead were raised and even the wind and waves obeyed Him! At His first coming he conquered death, took the sting out of the grave and washed His chosen ones clean in the blood of His sacrifice. 

The reign of Jesus Christ on earth will initiate all of this and much more for His enemies will be silenced and even the natural world will be liberated. The earth will be overwhelmed with joy at His coming and though He will reign from Zion, even the farthest shores and nations and kingdoms will rejoice. Of course they will, human kingdoms will be seen to have failed, the earth will be tottering on the brink of extinction, the antichrist will have caused devastation across the planet and then, and then the Lord will come and peace will be restored. Hallelujah!

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