Tag: god’s sovereignty

Psalm 2 – God

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment

Why are the nations so angry?
    Why do they waste their time with futile plans?
The kings of the earth prepare for battle;
    the rulers plot together
against the Lord
    and against his anointed one.
“Let us break their chains,” they cry,
    “and free ourselves from slavery to God.”

But the one who rules in heaven laughs.
    The Lord scoffs at them.
Then in anger he rebukes them,
    terrifying them with his fierce fury.
For the Lord declares, “I have placed my chosen king on the throne
    in Jerusalem, on my holy mountain.”

The king proclaims the Lord’s decree:
“The Lord said to me, ‘You are my son.
    Today I have become your Father.
Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance,
    the whole earth as your possession.
You will break them with an iron rod
    and smash them like clay pots.’”

Now then, you kings, act wisely!
    Be warned, you rulers of the earth!
Serve the Lord with reverent fear,
    and rejoice with trembling.
Submit to God’s royal son, or he will become angry,
    and you will be destroyed in the midst of all your activities—
for his anger flares up in an instant.
    But what joy for all who take refuge in him! (New Living Translation)

Our view of God determines how we live. If our perception of God is a being who is small and ineffective or does not really see or care about everything that happens on earth, then the response of the nations in Psalm 2 is likely.

Demagogues and delegates meet for summit talks; God-deniers, the Messiah-defiers get together and say, “Let’s get free of God! Cast loose from Messiah!” (The Message)

However, if we discern that God is far larger than we can ever imagine and sees all, then we know that in heaven the Lord breaks out in laughter as he sits on the sovereign throne, as if amused by such insolence. 

People who think they can distance themselves from the God of the universe are, at best, delusional, and, at worst, in danger of being swept away like an ant hill.

In the past, God spoke through the prophets to our ancestors in many times and many ways. In these final days, though, he spoke to us through a Son. God made his Son the heir of everything and created the world through him. 

The Son is the light of God’s glory and the imprint of God’s being. He maintains everything with his powerful message. After he carried out the cleansing of people from their sins, he sat down at the right side of the highest majesty. And the Son became so much greater than the other messengers, such as angels, that he received a more important title than theirs.

After all, when did God ever say to any of the angels:

You are my Son.
        Today I have become your Father? (Hebrews 1:1-5, NIV)

The sovereign Lord blesses and protects all who seek what is right, fair, just, and true. So, we are to be smart and show respect. Because the fact of the matter is that God is bigger than anyone or anything. That’s good news for those who serve God and bad news for those who don’t. 

For the faithful, nothing can separate us from God’s steadfast love; and for the unfaithful, no nation has more power than God; and no organization, institution, or government can continue unabated in their unethical ways. 

So, when we face adversity, hardship, and difficulty we have a very large God who has our back. It may seem, in the short term, that evil is winning, and arrogant people are having their day, but ultimately God will deal with it. Jesus is king, and we are not.

The presence of God is everywhere. Whenever nations or institutions or governments or communities or individual people fail to discern this, then all hell breaks loose.

Sensing the Lord’s presence, knowing the love of God in Christ, is of upmost importance.

Parishioners must desire the presence of God in a church building more than the building itself. 

Christians must desire the presence of God in their liturgies, spiritual practices, and ministries, more than the programs themselves. 

Clergy must desire the presence of God with them at all times more than the presence of budgets, books, and butts in the pew. 

Spiritual parents and grandparents must desire the presence of God in their families more than the presence of kids, or order in the house, or wanting everything to be up to our standards.

God wants our hearts where they belong: desiring the divine love and presence of the Lord more than anything. Many religious folk in biblical times lost their true sense of purpose as God’s people. They neither perceived nor focused on God’s presence but cared more about the presence of animals and sacrifices, making money, and keeping their social positions secure. 

Failing to seek God’s presence, we are then likely not to see it, even when it stares us in the face. 

A few years ago, the Washington Post orchestrated an interesting experiment. They had arguably the best violinist in the world, Joshua Bell, play in the train station as a regular looking street musician complete with open violin case to catch monetary offerings. 

Not only did Bell play some of the most difficult pieces of music for the violin, but he also played them on a Stradivarius worth $3.5 million dollars. 

His earnings for a few hours of work were exactly $32.17, which is less than just one $100 ticket at a Boston concert hall he played three weeks before. No one noticed the extreme talent right in front of their faces, much like those who merely discern God as a pathetically ineffective deity, or those who only see Jesus as a regular guy.

“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.”

G.K. Chesterton

Immense God, you are sovereign above all creation and everything in the earth. I choose this day to submit to the words and ways of Jesus, who is the true ruler of all. May all the nations come to see you for who you really are, the great and wondrous king. Amen.

Psalm 97 – Celebrate the Lord

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment

The Lord rules! Let the earth rejoice!
    Let all the islands celebrate!
Clouds and thick darkness surround God.
    His throne is built on righteousness and justice.
Fire proceeds before him,
    burning up his enemies on every side.
His lightning lights up the world;
    the earth sees it and trembles!
The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
    before the Lord of the whole world!

Heaven has proclaimed God’s righteousness,
    and all nations have seen his glory.
All those who worship images,
    those who are proud of idols,
    are put to shame.
    All gods bow down to the Lord!
Zion has heard and celebrates,
    the towns of Judah rejoice,
    because of your acts of justice, Lord,
    because you, Lord, are the Most High
        over all the earth,
    because you are so superior to all other gods.

Those of you who love the Lord, hate evil!
    God guards the lives of his faithful ones,
    delivering them from the power of the wicked.
Light is planted like seed for the righteous person;
    joy too for those whose heart is right.
Rejoice in the Lord, righteous ones!
    Give thanks to his holy name! (Common English Bible)

Being overwhelmed with a tremendous sense of majesty for King Jesus is an appropriate response, especially in the wake of Ascension Day – the Christian holiday celebrating Christ’s return to heaven.

Today’s psalm portrays the Lord as a huge God whose presence impacts the world in cataclysmic glory. God is truly large and in charge. 

Nothing moves God; but God moves mountains. 

This is no wimpy deity who needs creatures to sustain him and his memory. Conversely, all of creation is dependent upon God for life, sustenance, and flourishing.

Our view of God deeply impacts how we think, feel, and live. Whenever people catch a mere glimpse of God’s glory, it causes them to renounce useless idol worship, and brings forth humble celebration from the penitent. 

The sheer dearth of penitence and praise to God in today’s world ought to clue us to the reality that we are not seeing God for how God truly is. And what is the God of Holy Scripture? The Lord is the great and glorious king who is so immense and so concerned for justice that just a snort of his nostrils could thoroughly lay waste to the earth.

Confronted with such a majestic and awesome Being, the ultimate conclusion in how to order our lives is this: Love the Lord. Hate evil. Why? Because we are God’s people. 

Therefore, celebration and praise to God are in order. So, let us collectively make a simple choice to celebrate and praise God in some simple ways:  

  • Acknowledge God in both the big and the small things of life
  • Talk about God’s grace in your everyday conversations– we don’t have to be preachy, just real, genuine, and authentic
  • Praise God in public as well as in private
  • Pray to God with simple heartfelt prayers – they don’t need to be eloquent, because God simply wants to hear the voice we have been given
  • Be generous toward others through forgiveness and tangible help because the Lord is a generous God
  • Read God’s Word because it honors the Lord
  • Give thanks to God and have a predetermined mindset to find gratitude in all things God has put in your life
  • Count your blessings today, and then again, tomorrow, so that it eventually becomes a spiritual habit
  • Sing to God with the joyful noise you are able to make

The power of God is more than enough to bring effective and lasting transformation of body, mind, emotions, and spirit. The might of God is unlimited, able to establish social change, economic uplift, physical healing, relational peace, spiritual hope, mental rest, and so much more.

Celebrating the sovereignty of God is downright good for us. It releases our stress, energizes us, provides a positive way of reflection, challenges evil, and acknowledges realities which we might have forgotten – especially that God is with us, loves us, and has only good plans for us.

Praise and celebration are both organic acts on our part and need to be intentionally planned. That is, celebrating the Lord ought to be both spontaneous and prepared. Liturgical rhythms of worship to God need to be both formulaic and free.

The shape of our worship can remind us that we are in continuity with believers throughout history and in all places on earth. We are not alone. We are joined by the entire community of worshipers, offering our celebration – both old and new.

Having both fixed forms of worship and free expressions of worship enable us to tap into the full dimension of faith. Practicing both personal prayers in our secluded closet and corporate prayers together with others strengthens our faith, makes more sure our hope, and connects us with the God who is Love.

A big God ought to be worshiped with all the means available to us.

Mighty God, you are worthy of all the praise, honor, and glory I can give you. May my life be a simple offering to you, so that your kingdom comes not only in my own life but impacts the lives of others; through Jesus, my King. Amen.

Psalm 93 – Ultimate Power Belongs to the Lord

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
Psalm 93 by Bernard C. Winter

Our Lord, you are King!
Majesty and power
    are your royal robes.
You put the world in place,
    and it will never be moved.
You have always ruled,
    and you are eternal.

The ocean is roaring, Lord!
    The sea is pounding hard.
Its mighty waves are majestic,
but you are even more majestic,
    and you rule over all.
Your decisions are firm,
and your temple will always
    be beautiful and holy. (Contemporary English Version)

God is bigger than any threat of chaos or destruction. That’s because the Lord is sovereign over all things. The Lord is King. From a Christian perspective, today’s psalm finds its ultimate fulfillment in the ascension of Jesus Christ.

When we talk about kings, there are a few things a ruler needs: a realm (a kingdom); and the ruled (the subjects) of the realm. In reflecting on Christ’s ascension, the three elements which make up a rule are: King Jesus as Ruler; God’s people as the ruled; and the entire world as the realm of Christ’s lordship.

Rule, glory, and kingship were given to him;
    all peoples, nations, and languages will serve him.
His rule is an everlasting one—
    it will never pass away!—
        his kingship is indestructible. (Daniel 7:14, CEB)

Now, as soon as I state that all the world is Christ’s realm, it is quite understandable to at least be curious about this, as well as perhaps be outright doubtful of it.

After all, this old fallen world is filled with all kinds of catastrophes like pandemics and natural disasters; myriad human vices; and potent spiritual foes. Sometimes, it appears that if Jesus were King, he is either sleeping on the job or just indifferent to our plight.

I’ll reframe this by putting it in military terms. The battle and the war has been won – there are, however, some clean-up or mop-up operations still taking place. Pockets of resistance to God’s rule and reign still very much exist. And they unfortunately lead to casualties.

Every Memorial Day weekend in the USA, Americans remember and pay homage to our fallen men and women in uniform. Many of those soldiers were lost from mopping up resistance after a battle achieved and a war won.

For example, the Battle for Okinawa in the Pacific theatre toward the end of World War II resulted in an American victory. However, in securing the island after the Japanese defeat, small groups of Japanese soldiers still mounted resistance resulting in hundreds of American deaths.

In a 1944 article from the Stars and Stripes, an interview of one patrol leader from the battle said, “It’s a tough, methodical grind, this mop-up operation. Here, the Japanese have gotten together, organized, and are carrying out a planned guerilla warfare, even though the battle is won…. I wish a mop-up was as easy as people think it is.”

We live between the two advents of Christ, his ascension to heaven and his coming again. That means we live in the already/not yet kingdom and realm of God. Deliverance from sin, death, and hell has been achieved through the cross of Christ – yet that achieved salvation will not be here in its complete fulfillment until Jesus comes again to judge the living and the dead.

Meanwhile, Christians everywhere continue to pray that God’s kingdom spreads and is realized in the hearts of humanity – the true place where war begins and ends.

There is no power in heaven or on earth which can circumvent or overcome the plans and purposes of an almighty God.

Ocean waves are a powerful force. The United States Energy Information Administration Ocean states that ocean waves contain one-thousand times more kinetic energy than wind. They estimate that the annual energy potential of waves off the east and west coasts of the United States to be as much as 2.64 trillion kilowatt hours. That’s about two-thirds of all American needs for electricity in a year. 

And yet, the incredible strength of ocean waves are no match for the might of God.

“Your rule is eternal, and you are king forever. The Lord is faithful to his promises; he is merciful in all his acts.”

Psalm 145:13, GNT

Even though we might worry about the power and influence of human governments, systems, and institutions, the actual weight they carry is infinitesimal compared to the glory of God. Since God has fixed the earth in place, there is no conglomeration of people who can move this planet off its axis, even a millionth of a degree.

The Most High God is firmly in control, even when it seems otherwise. The Christian tradition is consistent in proclaiming that the throne of Jesus Christ has been established forever. It shall not be moved. Love has won the day and will have the eternal day forevermore.

“Entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.” (2 Peter 1:11, NRSV)

Sovereign God, you reign over all things! Robed in majesty and armed with strength, you hold our world and our lives securely. Your throne has been established. From everlasting to everlasting, you are God.

Even when waves of grief, disease, and hardship rise-up—when surging seas threaten to overwhelm me, and a pounding storm crashes around me—I know that you are mightier and more powerful than any threat. Wash over me with your own cleansing flood. Grace me with your mighty presence. Refresh me with the water of life, for I know, Holy God, that your decrees are firm and unshakeable and will last forever. Amen.

Revelation 4:1-11 – In Another Dimension

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
Hallgrímskirkja in Reykjavík, Iceland

After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads.From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. Also, in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:

“‘Holy, holy, holy

is the Lord God Almighty,’

who was, and is, and is to come.”

Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:

“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
    to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
    and by your will they were created
    and have their being.” (New International Version)

Whenever we open the door to God’s gracious invitation to commune with us, we gain an incredible glimpse of heavenly realities.

The Apostle John’s vision is so otherworldly that all he can do is try and describe what we saw with the limitations of language, metaphor, and simile.

Let’s acknowledge up front that, when it comes to the biblical book of Revelation, there are plenty of folk who want to understand it all. I believe this to be a fool’s errand, not because we ought not to try and make sense of things, but because far too many people try and conquer the text of Holy Scripture rather than letting Scripture capture them.

In our anxiety about the future, we would like some certitude, some semblance of knowing and understanding what will occur so that it will ease our icky feelings of not being in control. Newsflash: You and I aren’t in control of anything but ourselves. Ultimate control belongs only to God, not us. Our role is self-control.

So, before we start making complicated prophecy charts and trying to predict future events with precise certainty, let’s take a step back and see that worship is always the appropriate response to any vision of God – not conquering the Bible and colonizing other people’s minds with our supposed apocalyptic insights.

Okay, now that that’s out of the way, and the soapbox is back in the closet, let’s simply appreciate this incredible scene before us of God’s heavenly throne room in today’s New Testament lesson.

Since God is an awesome God, I imagine that John was downright slack-jawed with awe over the bedazzling vision before him. It is a vision befitting a God of great majesty and power. The scene of worship which unfolded before John’s eyes is continual – praise and adoration of God has been going on, is going on, and will keep going on forever and ever.

To a church beat down by the world, John’s vision is meant to encourage and inspire the suffering believers toward persevering in faith. Hardship is but for a season; worship, however, is for all time.

The four living creatures worshiping God reflect the nature and character of God: the lion (majesty); the ox (strength and power); the man (intelligence); and the eagle (transcendent over creation). All of them, covered with eyes, front and back, testify to the sovereignty and omniscience of God, who sees and knows all things – nothing is hidden from God’s sight.

The twenty-four elders, likely signifying the twelve patriarchs of the Old Testament and the twelve apostles of the New Testament, together represent the one new people of God without walls or barriers to unity, fellowship, harmony, and peace. They all rightly honor God by giving back their own authority, given to them from the Lord to accomplish divine purposes on the earth.

We, as the people of God today, are meant to be encouraged and uplifted by the reality that God is forever the same – powerful, loving, good, honorable, and holy – and will be so permanently for all time and beyond time.

The Lord does not exist merely in three dimensional space, as we humans do. God is truly multi-dimensional and reigns supreme over each and every one of those dimensions – however many there truly are.

I suspect the Apostle John was privileged to step into another dimension so that he could return to our three-dimensional world with the good news that God is still and forever on the throne. God’s good purposes shall be accomplished, no matter how tough things get here.

Now is temporary; then is eternal. Let us, then, embrace that which is permanent and unchanging, even Christ our Lord, who shall return to judge the living and the dead, and consummate a benevolent kingdom which will last forever.

May you be so privileged to have the dimensions unveiled, for even a few minutes, and know the eternal love and grace of God for humanity. Amen.