The Lord God Is King – Psalm 97

A text – Psalm 97    

¹ The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!
² Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
³ Fire goes before him and consumes his adversaries on every side.
⁴ His lightnings light 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 behold his glory.
⁷ All servants of images are put to shame, those who make their boast in worthless idols; all gods bow down before him.
⁸ Zion hears and is glad, and the towns of Judah rejoice because of your judgments, O God.
⁹ For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.

¹⁰ You who love the Lord, hate evil; he guards the lives of his faithful; he rescues them from the hand of the wicked.
¹¹ Light dawns for the righteous and joy for the upright in heart.
¹² Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name!

A reflection:

The Lord God is king. The Lord God is in charge – no one else, none of these lesser Gods. And we are delighted because this Lord God of all is the One we worship and respect and trust.

Whom SHOULD we trust? God. Of course. But whom DO we trust? No one, and everything. We trust that money can buy a good result. We trust that we are clever enough to figure a way out of difficulty. We trust that a reliable friend can always save us. We trust a social network of friends or good government or kind community members – and we should be able to trust them. But the Lord God, Creator of the Universe, has fashioned a covenant with us puny little humans, a covenant that says God loves us and wants us to trust in God above all else, and when we do, God will be our refuge and our rock.

The psalmist here really believes that. Our God, who can burn up or melt everything in the way, will tenderly rescue the lives of the faithful and save them from the hand of the wicked. The psalmist urges us to rejoice in the Lord and give thanks. Even if you forget to rely on the Lord, you could begin  a tiny habit that places the name of the Lord on your lips with gratitude every morning (or every night, if you prefer). Honor the Lord and give thanks once every day as you awaken or as you lie down to sleep. Just do verse 12 of this psalm: “Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name.” How happy might we be if we reminded ourselves every day that we belong to the Lord who loves us?

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for being the one who rules. Help us to remember that we can and have put our trust in you, and that you have never left our side. Help us to love our lives with you on our mind every day. Amen.