"The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all. Bless the LORD, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word! Bless the LORD, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will! Bless the LORD, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the LORD, O my soul!"
For those of you who have been following our mini-journey of memorizing and meditating on Psalm 103- congratulations- we've come to the final verses here! I pray that the Holy Spirit has been blessing your heart and mind as you've sought to make a dwelling for His word in you.
Psalm 103 has thus far been an extended meditation on the steadfast love of the LORD- but in these final verses, David reminds his fellow singers (remember the Psalms were written to be sung!) of God's sovereign rule- "his kingdom rules over all". While it may seem a simple truth or thought at first glance- if we allow ourselves to think upon it further- God's sovereignty is such a foundational bedrock for our salvation and joy. It's at the heart of Roman 8:28- "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose". It's precisely because God is sovereign over all that we can rest secure in and through the storms and hardships of life- because nothing- not inside nor outside of us can thwart God's purposes for us.
But there will be times when it won't feel so easy to swallow the truth of God's sovereignty.
Two weeks ago I took a work-related trip to Berlin, Germany. Most of us are at least vaguely familiar with the Holocaust during World War II, in which over 6 million Jews were systematically exterminated under state-sponsored Nazi ideology. In some of my down time, I had the chance a particular memorial site dedicated to explaining in painstaking detail why and how things ended up the way they did. It was called The Topography of Terror (link includes some photos I took there). While I only spent about 2 hours at the memorial, I was struck not only by the intentionality and systematic entrenchment of such evil- but also the banality of it. This extraordinary evil was also ordinary- because it was so well ensconced that an entire nation became complicit. While Adolf Hitler certainly (and deservedly) earned his right to become the prototypical villainous tyrant- every officer that carried out orders from above to round up Jewish families en masse, to conduct mass killings, to perform dangerous experimental medical procedures on humans considered sub-human...was every bit as guilty as he. To some of those who live (and die) through such evils- God is utterly absent to them and all faith is lost. As I perused the exhibit, there was a real heaviness I felt- and part of me would ask, "God...even over this?"
And yet for us in Christ- the answer to that question is "Yes, indeed God is still sovereign- even over this." This truth is not meant to be an easy band-aid solution to make everything fine and dandy. The sovereignty of God should awe us to worship and reverence. If God was sovereign over the world's greatest evil- the death of the only innocent man who had ever graced the face of this earth (our Lord Jesus Christ) (Acts 2:22-24)- then He indeed is sovereign over all. Even amidst my own heaviness that day, the LORD was gracious to send a visual reminder of His sovereignty to me through a rainbow.
So in view of the steadfast love and sovereignty of our God- the only right response is to call for praise! David calls the heavenly hosts and all of creation to bless the LORD! And in calling forth such praise, he reminds himself (and us) of our rightful response to join in that chorus.
EACF, my prayer for us is that we would grow in becoming a people of praise- not just when visible and palpable blessings abound- but especially amidst difficulty and trial. May we become a people who will consider it all joy when we meet trials of various kinds, for we know that the testing of our faith produces steadfastness. Moreover may we remember that we are blessed when we remain steadfast under trial, for after we have endured, we will receive the crown of life which God has promised for those who love him. (James 1:2-3; 12)
Grace and Peace,
Mike
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