Calvary Road Baptist Church

“CHRIST REIGNS”

Psalm 93 

There are times when God’s people need to be reminded of some things. It is good to be reminded Whose we are and Who we serve. To that end I would like you to turn to Psalm 93. As you are turning to that passage, let me mention that in Second Corinthians 1.3-4, the Apostle Paul writes these words to the Corinthian congregation at a time when he knew they were experiencing great stress: 

3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;

4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. 

Then, in Romans 15.4, he wrote words that shed light on the kind of difficulties and adversities every Christian can be expected to face: 

“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” 

You already know life is hard. The Bible says that the “way of the transgressor is hard.” And the way of the Christian is also hard, but for different reasons. You’re going to need some comfort someday. You may not need comfort right now, but you will certainly need comfort someday.

Let me show you what the New Testament word for “comfort” actually means. It means this (side hugs the translator). That’s what it means. It’s a Greek word that means to come alongside someone. God is the God of all comfort.[1] So, I want to encourage you, perhaps not for the present but for the future, with Psalm 93. Be patient with me. We’ll get there eventually. I am an old man, and I move slowly.

This psalm was recognized by Jewish people in ancient times to be associated with the future Jewish Messiah.[2] Psalm 93 was written one thousand years before the Lord Jesus Christ was born, and it has to do with the kingdom of Israel’s promised Messiah.

The Messianic Kingdom, also termed the Theocratic Kingdom, is that kingdom the Lord Jesus Christ taught His disciples to pray for in Matthew 6.10, “Thy kingdom come.” The Messianic Kingdom is also that kingdom the Lord Jesus Christ, Who of course is the Messiah of Israel, will establish here on earth at the time of His Second Coming in power and great glory.

Before we read from Psalm 93 together, and before the encouraging and comforting of Christians begins, listen to what Paul wrote about the Lord Jesus Christ in Colossians 1.16-17: 

16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. 

We know that there is only one God. Perhaps members of your family do not know there is only one God. Maybe people from your childhood did not know there is only one God. But one of the reasons God called the Jewish people out from the nations was to use them to teach everyone that there is only one God. Deuteronomy 6.4: 

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.” 

First Corinthians 8.4, to the Greeks, Paul wrote, 

“there is none other God but one.” 

Here is a great mystery. There is one God, Who exists in the form of three Persons. One God, three Persons. You might say, “I don’t understand.” No one understands. It is a mystery. God is a Trinity, three Persons who are but one God.

Sometimes, especially in the New Testament, the three Persons are clearly distinguished. At other times, especially in the Old Testament, the Persons of the triune godhead are not distinguished. Thus, in Genesis 1.1, we read, 

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” 

But in John 1.3 we read, 

“All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made,” 

speaking of Jesus Christ. The same is true in Colossians 1.16, which we just read: 

“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.” 

By Jesus Christ were all things created; by Him, and for Him.

I have mentioned these things so you will recognize, when we read the 93rd Psalm, we are reading verses that do not expressly mention the Lord Jesus Christ by name. Nevertheless, He is the subject of this 93rd Psalm. This psalm is all about Him. I read: 

1 The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.

2 Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting.

3 The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves.

4 The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.

5 Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O LORD, for ever. 

When I say Christ reigns, I mean He sits on the throne as king, and He speaks as king, and what He says will be done.

All praise to Him Who reigns above, in majesty supreme.

How did Jacob’s son Joseph persevere in Pharaoh’s prison, knowing he had done no wrong?

How did Daniel continue to pray as at other times, knowing that it might cost him his life?

How did the three Hebrews refuse to bow down to the idols when faced with the fiery furnace?

How could Paul and Silas have rejoiced in the middle of the night after being beaten and imprisoned in Philippi? Remember, those men were in a dungeon. They had been beaten half to death. Their feet had been placed in very painful stocks so they could not move. It had to be cold and damp inside the Philippian jail, with rats nibbling on the flesh of prisoners. And the others in the prison were awaiting trial, exile, or execution by crucifixion by the Romans. Then, all of a sudden, two Jewish guys who identify as Christians started singing.

The others in the dungeon must have thought, “These guys are crazy. Those men are unstable. What’s wrong with them?” You know what was wrong with them? They knew, even though they had been beaten half to death for doing nothing wrong, even though they were in the inner dungeon and their feet were shackled, and even though they were weak from shock and the loss of bodily fluids, they knew something that made them sing. They knew that even though they were sitting in a dungeon, the One they served was sitting on the throne.

How does the Gospel continue to spread worldwide in the face of great opposition? Do you realize that in Nigeria, Christian girls are being kidnapped and raped by Muslim men? Even while Boko Haram is abusing the girls, while these men are abusing them, those Christian girls, my little sisters in the faith, are witnessing to them.

In my office, I keep my Bible in a little box. A picture of a young Pakistani girl is in the box underneath my Bible. Her name is Saleema. The picture was taken when she was fourteen years old. She is now thirty-nine years old. When she was fourteen years old, she witnessed to a young Pakistani neighbor girl. She introduced her friend to the Lord Jesus Christ.

The neighbor girl was converted and went home and told her mother and father, “Rejoice, my sins are forgiven. I am now a Christian.” Her father grabbed her hair, reached for a kitchen knife, and cut her throat. He murdered his daughter because she became a Christian. Her parents then called the police (this was in Islamabad, Pakistan).

When the police arrived, they arrested the Christian girl, Saleema, and took her to the Islamabad Central Jail. There she was raped by no less than fifty men. Then, they sentenced her to death. Someone in the Christian community found out about it and sent the bad news worldwide. Under pressure from more than ten million Christians worldwide, foreign embassies told the Pakistanis, “You’d better leave that girl alone.” After years of letter writing to the Pakistani government, they finally released her from jail, but told her, “We will never allow you to emigrate to another country.”

How could that fourteen-year-old girl do that? How could that young woman survive that? How does that now thirty-nine-year-old woman live with joy in her heart and a song in her voice? Because God is the God of all comfort, Jesus Christ is her Savior, and her Savior reigns.

Who wrote Psalm 93? We are not sure. Perhaps it was Moses. Perhaps it was David. The human author is a mystery, but the divine Author was the Holy Spirit of God. Notice what the Holy Spirit tells us in this psalm about the LORD, this One Whose name is Jehovah (the meaning of this word LORD), who we know to be the Lord Jesus Christ.

There are five things we know: 

First, OUR LORD REIGNS ... GLORIOUSLY 

The thirteen colonies used to have a king. Russia used to have a czar. Turkey used to have a sultan. Saudi Arabia still has a king. Thailand still has a king. There are kings worldwide, and these kings typically are dressed in very, very fine garments. Beautiful, ornate, and very expensive. So, the kings of this earth have their royal clothes. But the Bible says my king, Jesus, is “clothed with majesty.” What is majesty? Majesty is defined as stately dignity and imposing character. It is supreme greatness and sovereignty.[3] And the Lord Jesus Christ is clothed in all of that.

Simon Peter once wrote that the apostles were “eyewitnesses of his majesty.”[4] Job tells us that “with God is terrible majesty.” Terrible majesty is majesty that inspires terror, that overwhelms with awe, that fills with fear, that leaves one with astonishment, and that staggers the comprehension of the lowly creature.

Listen to what the Apostle John wrote about Christ being clothed in majesty: 

“and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”[5] 

The prophet Isaiah wrote of his experience with this One Who is clothed in majesty, in Isaiah 6.1-5: 

1  In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

2  Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

3  And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

4  And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

5  Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. 

Who can compare to our King in His glory? Who is to be esteemed next to His excellent greatness? Who else is worthy for us to bow before but Him? It is at His name that every knee will bend, every head will bow, and every tongue will confess that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father.[6] The Lord Jesus Christ does, indeed, reign ... gloriously. 

Next, OUR LORD REIGNS ... POWERFULLY 

In verse one, the psalmist continues: “the LORD is clothed with strength.”  He is not only clothed with majesty, as a prince in his court but He is clothed with strength, as a general in his camp. By this, we understand He has the wherewithal to support His greatness and make it truly formidable. See Him not only clad in the robes of royalty but also in the armor of conquest. Both strength and honor are His clothing. This shows us that He can do everything and that with Him, nothing is impossible.

It is owing to His power that the world stands to this day. Verse 1 ends, “The world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.” So, not only was the world brought into existence by His power, but His power sustained it. Where have we heard this concept before? Again, Colossians 1.16-17: 

16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. 

Job says the same thing, but poetically, in Job 23.7: 

“He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.” 

This verse says more about the maintenance of the existing order than its creation. What we observe to be preserving the powers and course of nature, typically mislabeled “Mother nature,” is what the Lord Jesus Christ should be glorified for doing. And we who benefit from His nature daily are careless and ungrateful if we fail to give Him the glory that is due Him for it all.

Though He clothes Himself with majesty, He condescends to take care of this world and tend to our affairs. If He established this world so that it cannot be moved, much more will He establish His people and His cause so that we cannot be moved. The Lord Jesus Christ does truly reign powerfully. 

Third, OUR LORD REIGNS ... ETERNALLY 

How do we know the Lord Jesus Christ reigns eternally? 

Psalm 93.2 reads,   

“Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting.” 

Hebrews 1.8 reads, 

“But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.” 

The Lord Jesus Christ’s right to rule the universe is founded in His creation of the universe. He that brought the world into existence, no doubt, has every right to rule it, and so is His title to the government incontestable: “Thy throne is established.”

His is a title without a flaw or defect. His is an ancient title. His title is established of old, from the beginning of time, before any other rule, principality, or power was erected. He truly is the king of all glory, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords.

Does the Lord Jesus Christ reign ... eternally? Listen to Paul’s words to Timothy, in First Timothy 6.15-16, to make up your mind for you. He describes his Lord Jesus to young Timothy as 

15 ... the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;

16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen. 

If He is the blessed and only Potentate, if He is the King of kings, and Lord of lords, and if He only has immortality, then it is very safe to say that He does, indeed, reign ... eternally. 

Fourth, OUR LORD REIGNS ... TRIUMPHANTLY 

Psalm 93.3-4: 

3 The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves.

4 The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea. 

The imagery in this portion of the poem is of a threatening storm. 

“The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice.” 

This speaks of terror. 

“The floods lift up their waves.” 

This is worse, for it speaks of real danger. The allusion is of a tempestuous sea. Yet Isaiah 57.20 compares the wicked to such a scene: 

“But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.” 

The psalmist created a scene in which wicked men seek to terrorize and frighten the child of God. But do wicked men behave this way?

So, you see, any child of God can be overwhelmed with doubts, fears, and circumstances, both by enemies and by the weaknesses of the flesh.

Praise be to God, then, that the Lord Jesus Christ, Who once walked on the rough waters and quieted the wind, can still calm the stormy seas. Notice what Psalm 93.4 tells us about our sea anchor, Who provides stability during times of distress: 

“The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.” 

He is mightier, and does more wondrous things than the noise of many waters.

The point that needs to be made is that they cannot disturb His rest or rule. They cannot defeat His designs and purposes. Our most powerful foes are nothing more to Him than the noise of many waters. There is more sound than substance to them. Look back over your Christian life experiences. Have you not typically been more frightened than hurt? Why is this so? This is so because Christ is mightier than the noise which so frequently troubles us and robs us of sleep. After all, He is the One Who can, according to Psalm 65.7, still 

“the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people.” 

Our Lord once slept in a little boat during a violent storm. When His disciples were overcome with fear they woke Him and said, “Master, carest thou not that we perish?” Then “he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.”[7] Can He not calm your heart and mind if He can calm the wind and the waves? If He can rule over nature triumphantly and over all His enemies, can He not deal with your enemies and circumstances triumphantly? The answer, of course, is yes. 

Finally, OUR LORD REIGNS IN TRUTH AND HOLINESS 

“Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O LORD, for ever.” 

This, of course, means that all of His promises are reliable. You can take them to the bank. Did He not say, “I am the way, the truth, and the life”? So, He is true to the promises He makes concerning our safety and His victory. 

John 6.37:

“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” 

John 6.39:

“And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.” 

You can rely on His Word. So, what should your response to His trustworthiness be? He promises safety and keeps His promises. He says you are secure from harm. So, what should your response be? The psalmist puts the proper words into our mouths: 

“Holiness becometh thy house, O LORD, for ever.” 

This refers to Christ’s household so that I will apply it to this Church and the household of faith.

Whether you are a member of this Church or a Christian who is our guest, this congregation and the household of faith at large can be likened to God’s house. It is cleansed from sin and consecrated by God and should be employed in His service. The holiness of this congregation is our beauty (saints are never so attractive than when conforming to the image of Christ).

The holiness of this Church secures her against the many waters of our enemies and their sometimes-frightening noise. But no matter the noise, where there is purity, there will be peace. Fashions change, and that which is popular at one point in history is not so at another time. But holiness always reflects well on Christ’s Church and those who are members. Let other Churches follow this fad and then that fad. Let other Christians be blown by one wind of doctrine and then another. Our response to Christ’s glorious, powerful, eternal, and triumphant reign will be holiness. 

If you are not now discouraged, you have been. If you are not now discouraged, you will be. This is because life is properly likened to changing weather conditions, and sometimes the storm winds blow and the waves crash in on us.

This psalm shows that our Lord Jesus Christ reigns, that His throne is established from everlasting, and that He is mightier than the noise and even the mighty waves of the storm-tossed seas of life. He is clothed with majesty and strength, and His testimonies are very sure.

What safety and security is guaranteed to that one who belongs to Christ. What holiness will be his response, and the response of that congregation he worships and serves Christ with and in.

But how dangerous it is to be unconverted, to be accounted as noise and waves, to be a Christ-rejecter.

__________

[1] 2 Corinthians 1.3

[2] Adam Clarke, Clarke’s Commentary, Vol 3 (New York: Abingdon Press), page 517, Charles H. Spurgeon, The Treasury Of David, Volume II, (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers), pages 134 and 137, see footnote for Psalm 93 from John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, (Nashville: Word Publishing, 1997), page 826.

[3] Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, (New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1996), page 1161.

[4] 2 Peter 1.16

[5] John 1.14; 12.41

[6] Isaiah 45.23; Romans 14,11; Philippians 2.10; Revelation 5.13

[7] Mark 4.38-39

 

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