Ruth 2-3, Psalm 93, Mark 9:1-13, 1 Corinthians 15:29-58

Psalm 93:

We live in times when floods rage and roar. There are wars and rumors of wars. There are difficulties in our own lives, and we read of race tension and struggles around the world. Such things are not unique to our age: perhaps every age has thought that it lived in both the best of times and worst of times. For by the same token, we also live in a time with unparalleled opportunity with the expansion of the Internet and the informational technology revolution.

Whether you are feeling down in the dumps or up in the sky, you can take solace in the fact that God is in charge. That is the theme of this short but brilliant psalm: “The Lord reigns” (93:1). He is the king: “He is robed in majesty” (93:1). He assures that everything that happens in this world happens according to his divine plan: “The world is established; it shall never be moved” (93:1).

Throughout this psalm, as so often in the Psalms, the Bible is speaking in poetic language. It is important to tune our ear to the music of the poetry of the Psalms, or else we will miss their voice for the language of engineering. And this last sentence of verse 1 was misused by some to try to disprove that the earth moved around the sun! Surely the Bible says, “it does not move.” But this is not scientific language; it is poetry. The point is that whatever befalls us in this world, there is a masterful plan behind it from the hands of the Master. Let that truth comfort you today. Even when the “floods” of negative circumstances “lift up” against you, even then he is “mightier.”

“Mightier than the thunder of many waters Mightier than the waves of the sea The Lord on high is mighty” (93:4).

In fulfillment of this truth, Jesus Christ himself stilled the raging storm with but a word of command. Jesus is Lord; he reigns. And his voice can still the storm at his command.

Why does he sometimes allow storms? Why does he sometimes seem to wait to still a storm? Such imponderables of our own personal lives, and our attempts to “read” providence as the Puritans described it, do not counter the truth of his rule. For when he does speak, when he does act, then we see Almightiness at work.

In practice, then, it means we can live our lives in trust of what God says in the Bible. “Your decrees are very trustworthy” (93:5). And not only can we trust the Bible, we can trust God’s people, his house, his church. “Holiness befits your house, O Lord, forevermore” (93:5). Whatever you are going through today, however much the thunder of many waters may roar, remember then that God reigns. And trust his Word. And live your life in the context of his people, the church.