THE LORD IS STILL ON THE THRONE

THE LORD IS STILL ON THE THRONE
            Preached by:  Carolyn Sissom
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Psalms 93-100
 
 
As a nation, we have just celebrated our Independence from foreign tyranny.  However, as a nation we find ourselves again in bondage to another tyranny.  This tyranny is our dependence on foreign oil and our greed for the wealth this oil brings to our nation.  We are not only dependent on this oil for our national infrastructure, but the value of our dollar is tied to O.P.E.C.  It is time for those in American who have any backbone to declare Independence again or our economy will be totally controlled by foreign nations. 
 
Psalm 94 is a prayer to the Judge of the earth to render a reward to the proud. “Lord how long shall the wicked triumph?”  At the writing of this Psalm, God’s people are in the grip of an oppressive regime.  United States we are again in the grip of oppressive nations who worship the god of Islam.  The psalmist brings his case to the appeal court of heaven, and in his own name he challenges the government and encourages the persecuted people.   Wicked men are in power, but the speaker knows the Lord God of Heaven and Earth to whom he may report their misdeeds and request their removal.  He prays to Our Lord God to intervene and to restore the social equilibrium.  These wicked men are acting like little gods, abusing their power at their subjects’ expense.  God must surely do something because it is his chosen people who are suffering.  “They break in pieces your people, O lord, and afflict your heritage.  They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless.  Yet they say, the Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it”
 
Let’s back up to Psalm 93.  It is the first in the group of Theocratic Psalms of the Kingdom of God.
 
Psalm  93 – The Lord Reigns
Psalm 94 – The judgment and destruction of the Wicked.
Psalm 95 – The invitation to worship
Psalm 96 – The Lord is Coming!
Psalm 97- The Lord has come (The Coronation Anthem)!
Psalm 98 – The New Song of Triumph.
Psalm 99 – The Rulership of the Kingdom over the Earth.
Psalm 100 – The Praise and Worship in the Kingdom
 
Psalm 93 is a declaration of Omnipotent Sovereignty of Yahweh.  This is the conviction of His absolute power.  His attributes of majesty and strength are described as royal robes; they are his “habits”.  He is monarch by virtue of His work of creation.  It is He who has made the world secure and unmovable.  Creation is proof of the antiquity of His Kingship.  He is no pretender to another’s throne, here today and perhaps overthrown tomorrow.  His Kingship is established of old and is everlasting. 
 
A note or urgency and suspense are sounded:  opposition rears its ugly head, and in alarm the community turns to God afresh.  The seas or ocean currents speak of hostility and evil. (Verse 3) “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, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.   This is divine triumph over the forces of chaos or any menace to God’s rule over the earth.  His will is the law and His presence is the Temple throne room.   His spiritual laws, and covenant terms are as reliable as the natural laws of the world.
 
The wicked in the world are underestimating Him.  The Psalmist bravely challenges the government in 94:8:  “Understand, you brutish among the people: and you fools, when will you be wise?  He that planted the ear, shall He not hear?  He that formed the eye, shall He not see?  He that chastises the heathen, shall not He correct:  He that teaches man knowledge shall not He know?  The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are vanity… (V.15) But judgment shall return to righteousness; and the entire upright in heart shall follow it.  Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? (V.22) But the Lord is my defense; and my God is the rock of my refuge.  He shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea the Lord our God shall cut them off.”

This is the absolute promise of judgment and destruction of the wicked.  It is a Song of the Justice of God.  First it is an appeal to the Lord God in the presence of the triumph of the wicked.  This is followed by an address to those who are doubting because of the apparent inactivity of the Lord.  Finally, the song again becomes a prayer in which faith makes its great affirmations. 
 
Psalm 95 is a worship Psalm to the praise of the God who is reigning over all His creation.  It rings like a church bell as in invitation to worship. Here he is the rock of our salvation.  (Verse 3)  “For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all gods.  In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is His also.  The sea is His, and He made it; and his hands formed the dry land.  O come let us worship and bow down:  let us kneel before the Lord our maker. .
 
Psalm 96:  “Let the song go round the earth, Jesus Christ is Lord.” (Sarah G. Stocks)  As Christians we are living in a world peopled with Buddhists, Moslems, atheists, Hinduism, etc. etc.  We, who have been great missionaries to heathen nations, now find ourselves surrounded by those who worship heathen gods.
 
Christians here as well as Israel are to exist in the world as a vocal witness of this heritage and experience of God.  The gods of the other nations are dismissed as non-entities.  This is the Lord Jesus Christ’s world.  He is neither Baal nor Marduk.  He is alone the great, awe-inspiring Creator and there is no real alternative to Him.  So loud must be his praise, the splendor and majesty, the power and glory which are his attributes.  “declare His glory among the heathen.  His wonders among all people.  For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods.  For all the gods of the nations are idols; but the Lord made the heavens.  Honor and majesty are before him:  strength and beauty are in His Sanctuary.  Give to the Lord, O you kindreds of the people, give to the Lord glory and strength.  Give to the Lord the glory due to His name; bring an offering , and  come into his courts.  O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; fear before Him, all the earth. Say among the heathen that the Lord reigns; the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved; He shall judge the people righteously…Before the Lord, for He comes, for He comes to judge the earth; He shall judge the world with righteousness and the people with His truth.”
 
We are the herald of this royal status.  Jesus’ right to the throne depends upon two great factors, creation and judgment.  In creating the world He has established it fast against any threat.  He it is who maintains the moral order as well as the physical, and intervenes to correct oppression.  The order of nature in creation and the order of history in judgment are planned by God in such a way that they are tuned to each other and supplement each other.  Both have a common goal the realization of the righteousness of the Lord and His plan of salvation.  “So with the story of His worth/ Let the whole world ring! (S. G. Stocks)
 
This stained world is to be restored so that it perfectly reflects God’s righteous rule.  He is in us, and He is ascending into Zion (the Spirit of man).  His Lordship, Government, and Kingdom is coming in fullness in His people!  Let us arise in our heritage and inheritance and again declare independence from foreign tyranny.
 
“Say among the heathen that the Lord reigns.”
 
Psalm 97:  The Righteous King Reigns.  This is the Coronation Anthem for the Lord.  It is the Psalm of the casting down of the idols of the nations.  Jesus in enthroned!  It shows the results of His Lordship in the life of an individual.  This reign of Jehovah is full of terror and judgment in the process toward His purpose.  The method of God’s judgments is described:  mysterious, founded on the strictest justice, and forceful.  Then the effects of his judgments are declared.  His adversaries are destroyed.  His glory is revealed.  His people are filled with joy.  The Spirit of Christ has swallowed up the spirit of antichrist!
 
“The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice, let the multitude of isles be glad.”
 
God proves Himself victorious King over evil and catastrophe.  The acclaim of all humanity will reflect His glory.  This transcendent God is surrounded by an awesome aura of mystery.  Righteousness and justice are like the carved figures that support a monarch’s throne.  He is not static and remote, but intervenes in this world enveloped in searing fire, the splendor of light, and in holy goodness which destroys those who would dispute His rule.  His coming is like a terrific thunderstorm which leaves men aghast.  So terrible is this God who comes that the very mountains (by words for stability and strength), quake and quail before this source of eternal power.  For He is no less than the Lord of all the earth.  The heavenly phenomena of clouds, thunder and lightning serve as heralds of His coming to establish righteousness, which all mankind are awed witnesses of His glorious appearing.  This magnificent word-picture is intended as a vehicle of praise, an attempt to reflect the dynamic grandeur of God.
 
So dynamic is the impact of His coming that all idolaters are confounded.  The empty bubble of their pride in false religion is burst at last. 
 
(V. 10)  “You that love the Lord, hate evil:  He preserves the souls of His saints; he delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.  Light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart.  Rejoice in the Lord, you’re righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.”
 
Psalm 98:  This is the kingship and victory of the Lord, past, present and future are telescoped together in a grand hymn of faith. 
 
God is no local prince ling but lays claim to all the earth.  The covenant relationship with Israel is not exclusive but the prelude to the universal extension of His Majesty.  The whole earth is included.
 
“His right hand, and His holy arm, has gotten Him the victory.  The Lord has made known his salvation (Jesus Christ); His righteousness has He openly showed in the sight of the heathen.  He has remembered his mercy and His truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of the Lord.  Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.  Sing to the Lord with the harp; and the voice of a psalm.  With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the Lord, the King.  Let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they hat dwell therein.  Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills be joyful together Before the Lord; for he comes to judge the earth; with righteousness shall He judge the world, and the people with equity.”\
 
Psalm 99:  Worship The King.  This is the last of the psalms of kingship which praise God’s rule not only over Israel but over all the other nations.
 
It is Holiness in three dimensions (V.3)  “It is Holy”; “He is Holy”; and “Jehovah our Elohim is Holy”.) the theme is Holiness of Divine Order and Government, revealing the Most Holy Place principle of Ezekiel 43: 10-12.
 
This is the Song of the Lord’s earthly Kingship.  His Kingdom is founded upon, and administered in holiness!  There are three distinct parts:  The first acclaims the King is being enthroned (1-3); the second affirms the absolute integrity of His administration (4-5); the third declares the constant and faithful guidance of His own representatives (6-9) the enthroned King is to be praised.  The governing King is to be exalted and worshipped in submission at His footstool.  The guiding King is to be exalted and worshipped in fellowship at His holy hill of Zion.
 
Zion is where the Throne of God is eternally established and sure against all attacks of an enemy.
Zion is the dwelling-place of God, where He is gloriously praised, where His doings are known.
Zion is the place where God’s most glorious praise is known because there the fullness of salvation is known in the lives of the redeemed.
Zion is the source of continual salvation.  Those who discover Zion know the fullness of salvation, and yet learn day by day more of an increasing fullness.
Zion is the joy of the whole earth, experienced already by many, anticipated by others, travailed after by all.  This joy of the Lord is our strength.
Zion is the source of strength and support for the people of god, especially in the day of trouble.
Zion is the place of rejoicing in the judgments of God, for In Zion men come to know a true perspective of God’s judgment and righteousness.
Zion is the perfection of beauty, out from which the light of God shines.
Zion is the place where praise to the Lord is perfected:  a praise which arises out of a perfect rest in the Lord, so much so that silent expectation becomes praise in Zion.  In Zion is the realm of perfection.
Zion is the perfection of beauty, out from which the light of God shines.
Zion is loved much by the Lord and therefore glorified much by Him.
Zion is where the Lord is known in His greatness.
Zion is the hope of all the afflicted.
Zion is where God reigns in the now.  It is the realm from which the scepter of His strength is stretched forth.
Zion is the most established and sure place in the world.  No government, nation, refuge, or stronghold of this age can compete with it.
Zion has a King Who reigns forever in a Kingdom which extends to all generations.  He is alive in God’s sons.
Zion is known, not traced out with a boundary.  Zion is experienced.  Zion is a place of being in God.  Zion is the Most Holy Place with all its truths.  Zion is becoming a present reality.  Zion is spreading without observation throughout the earth, yet being readied to rule over all.  Zion is the government of God in the earth!  Zion is a people.
 
Psalm 100 – This is the final Psalm in the series of Royal or Kingdom Psalms.  This is the Song of Kingdom Praise.  All lands are called on to sing the song of His reign. 
 
“Make a joyful noise to the Lord all you lands.  Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Know you that the Lord He is God; it is He that has made us, and not we ourselves, we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.  Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise; be thankful to Him and bless His name.  for the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and his truth endures to all generations.”
 
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries, Inc.
Scripture from KJV.  Text reference  from F.F. Bruce Bible Commentary (Leslie C. Allen and John W. Baigent) and quotes from Principles of Present Truth by:  Kelly Varner.  Comments and conclusions are my own.
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