Day 37: Psalm 93
1 The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty;
the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength;
indeed, the world is established, firm and secure.
2 Your throne was established long ago;
you are from all eternity.
3 The seas have lifted up, Lord,
the seas have lifted up their voice;
the seas have lifted up their pounding waves.
4 Mightier than the thunder of the great waters,
mightier than the breakers of the sea—
the Lord on high is mighty.
5 Your statutes, Lord, stand firm;
holiness adorns your house
for endless days.
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Psalm 93 evokes images of the magnificence of the reign of the Lord. The Lord is clothed with attributes of power and majesty rather than fabric. Presidents and leaders decorate their homes with fine paintings and expensive artifacts, yet our Lord’s palace is adorned with His holiness. We find in Chronicles and Kings men who measure their reign by years, yet the Lord’s throne exists through the spans of all time.
The Talmud, a collection of Jewish instruction on law and ceremonies, says that the Levites, Jewish priests, would recite Psalm 93 on the sixth day of the week in the New Year “because on that day He completed His labor and ruled over all of creation in full glory.” We are reminded of how He, out of the chaos of the sea in Genesis, became victorious and established the world – His kingdom. Stability and life have been achieved through the Lord’s sovereignty.
The majestic reign of God moves from eternity through creation and into the order of natural, religious, and social life. In our time we have separated any continuity between natural and moral law. We no longer describe behavior or attitudes as unnatural or ungodly. In the Old Testament, the ordering of the world and the ordering of society are expressions of one and the same rule.
As we proclaim ‘The Lord reigns,’ we must reflect not only on the reign of God over creation, but also on the reign of God in our lives and homes. “To confess that the Lord reigns is to believe that the instructions of God – on life and society – are as given a part of reality as the very continuity and stability of the world” (James Mays).
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Phil Starr | Student Ministries Pastor, Lima Community Church