The Lord Reigns and Will Judge the World

We must keep these core biblical teachings in mind:

I am again reading through the Psalms, and my reading today (Psalms 90-100) struck me because of a phrase found in various places – the phrase found in my title. Different translations might render it somewhat differently, but the ESV puts in this way in these four psalms:

Psalm 93:1 The Lord reigns; he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed; he has put on strength as his belt. Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.

Psalm 96:10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.”

Psalm 97:1 The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!

Psalm 99:1 The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!

The only other passage in the ESV with those exact words is 1 Chronicles 16:31: “Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, ‘The Lord reigns!’” But here I want to focus on the psalms. These and other psalms are known as Royal Psalms.

They have two main focuses: more particularly, they can refer to King David and his rule over Israel. But more broadly, they can refer to God as the one who rules and reigns over all creation. Bear in mind that the notion that God is King is found throughout the entire Bible. He is the sovereign ruler over all things and over all mankind.

While Christians would of course readily assent to this, they can still live as if they doubt it, or don’t believe it. Well, that is true of me at any rate. Because of my ministry in watching culture – and politics, ethics, the world, the church, etc. – I can get a bit overwhelmed at times.

My usual prayer time each night begins by telling God how all this can so heavily weigh me down, and how I wish God would act – and act much more quickly. I have to be reminded to cast my cares on him, and to really trust that he is indeed the Lord of all, and that he is indeed reigning right now. And that he is coming soon to judge the world.

So let me look just a bit further at some of these psalms with a little help from my friends – Christian commentators that is. Here then are some thoughts by some others on Psalm 93. As James Johnston remarks:

We need to know that there is a throne over all creation, and God sits securely on the throne.

 

God’s sovereign rule is not a question to be debated. The psalmist simply states, “The Lord reigns” (v. 1). It’s a fact—the central fact of the universe. Get this wrong, and the rest of the world doesn’t make sense. God’s rule is a reality that will change your life.

 

This is the first of a group called the Yahweh Malak psalms, Psalms 93-100. Yahweh is the covenant name of God; it’s usually translated “LORD” in small capital letters in our English Bibles. Malak is the Hebrew verb “reigns” or “rules.” Not surprisingly, this group of psalms focuses on the kingship of God, each from its own perspective.

 

“The Lord reigns” is the best news ever. These eight psalms show us the goodness and blessing of his kingdom, his reign.

And Richard Phillips says this:

Psalm 93 begins with an acclamation of divine kingship: “The LORD reigns” (v. 1). Derek Kidner argues that this opening statement deserves an exclamation point, having “the ring of a proclamation.” God’s people need to be forcefully reminded of the Lord’s enthronement. When godly King Uzziah died, the prophet Isaiah was grieved and concerned about the vacant throne in Jerusalem. Walking into the temple, he saw a vision designed to remind him that Israel’s true throne never is or can be empty: “I saw the Lord sitting upon the throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple” (Isa. 6:1). Likewise, the church today needs a fresh vision of God’s kingship. “The Lord reigns” is just as true, relevant and comforting today as it was in the time of the psalmist. Psalm 93 does not merely proclaim God’s kingship in an abstract sense, in that he is the Maker and owner of all things, but it proclaims God’s reign in action: governing and overseeing all things according to the counsel of his will.

 

Psalm 92 introduced this theme of God’s kingship, posting that “you, O Lord, are on high forever” (Ps. 92:8). The effect of Psalm 93 is to expound on this theme and shed further light on God’s kingship. If we inquire, “What is God’s kingdom like?,” Psalm 93 provides an answer, identifying four characteristics of God’s reign.

The four points he raises about it are these:

-It is majestic
-It is mighty
-It is characterized by his absolute sovereignty
-It is eternal

As to the third point about God’s sovereignty, he writes:

“Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved” (Ps. 93:1). The point of this statement is not that the earth is fixed in space, with the sun orbiting around it, as some early medieval scholars claimed. The emphasis is moral in decretal, not scientific or astronomical. God’s order and righteousness cannot be overthrown, despite the presumptions of earthly governments that seek to replace God’s law with perverse demands. God’s will for the world is unshakable and fixed. When Christians pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10), we can be sure that it will in fact be done. Charles Spurgeon writes, “That there is any stability, either in the world or in the church, is the Lord’s doings, and he is to be adored for it.” Hebrews 1:3 speaks of this sovereignty as being exercised specifically by the exalted Jesus Christ at the Father’s right hand: “he upholds the universe by the word of his power.”

Since the eight or nine psalms found in this part of the psalter are all considered to be Royal Psalms, let me look at Psalm 94, even though it does not have the words “The Lord reigns” included in it. It begins:

O Lord, God of vengeance,
    O God of vengeance, shine forth!
Rise up, O judge of the earth;
    repay to the proud what they deserve!
O Lord, how long shall the wicked,
    how long shall the wicked exult? (vv. 1-3)

The end of the psalm (vv. 16-23 says this)

Who rises up for me against the wicked?
    Who stands up for me against evildoers?
If the Lord had not been my help,
    my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.
When I thought, “My foot slips,”
    your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.
When the cares of my heart are many,
    your consolations cheer my soul.

Can wicked rulers be allied with you,
    those who frame injustice by statute?
They band together against the life of the righteous
    and condemn the innocent to death.
But the Lord has become my stronghold,
    and my God the rock of my refuge.
He will bring back on them their iniquity
    and wipe them out for their wickedness;
    the Lord our God will wipe them out. (verses 20-23)

Here we see the real King discussing mere human kings and rulers. While these evil leaders may seem to be getting away with murder right now, it is imperative to keep the big picture in mind. It is crucial that we keep things in perspective by always keeping God and his sovereign rule in focus. James Montgomery Boice discusses this issue of divine payback:

Vengeance is proper to God. It is a function of his perfect justice. Alexander Maclaren writes, “There are times when no thought of God is so full of strength as that He is ‘the God of recompenses,’ as Jeremiah calls him (51:56). . . . They who have no profound loathing of sin, or who have never felt the crushing weight of legalized wickedness, may shrink from such aspirations as the psalmist’s and brand them as ferocious; but hearts longing for the triumph of righteousness will not take offence at them.”

 

Even more, avenging justice from God is what everyone should desire when they observe terrible wrongs being done. John Milton heard about the massacre of entire Protestant families at Piedmont in northern Italy in the seventeenth century and wrote about it, drawing on Psalm 94. The poem began:

 

Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered Saints, whose bones

Lie scattered on the Alpine mountain cold. . . .

 

Even closer to Psalm 94 is a hymn that we sometimes sing. The first stanza goes:

 

O Lord, thou judge of all the earth

To whom all vengeance doth belong,
Arise and show Thy glory forth,
Requite the proud, condemn the wrong.

 

It is a way of confessing rightly that we stand on the side of justice with God and long for the day when the arrogant people of the world will be punished for their crimes against the weak.

All this should be greatly reassuring for the believer. God is still on the throne, his kingdom is unshakeable, evil and evildoers will one day be fully judged, and the believer will be vindicated and comforted by the King of Kings. That is good news indeed, given the sort of world we find ourselves living in now.

It may not seem like God is in charge, and it may not seem like evil, ungodliness and unrighteousness will ever be finally dealt with, but we can bank on these truths. We can bank on them because God is God, and what he promises he always delivers on.

So never forget: The Lord reigns!

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