Sermon – Psalm 93 – God is King
Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Presbyterian Churches
June 5, 2011
We have been looking at what it means to believe in Jesus, not just believe statements about Jesus, but to trust Jesus with our lives. Last week we saw the importance of prayer, especially the daily meditation on scripture, as a means of knowing Christ deeply. And we saw that meditation on the Psalms, especially, help us to believe in Christ because they direct us to praise God in our prayers and remember how much God has richly blessed us. Today we will be looking closer at the Book of Psalms to see how the help us to pray and believe in Christ.
The psalms teach us that God is king. Today we celebrate Ascension Day, the day when Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father in Heaven. From this position Christ is our sovereign Lord ruling over heaven and earth. By believing in Jesus we trust that his power and might will protect us and save us from the floods that overwhelm us. Lets pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
NRS Psalm 93:1 The LORD is king, he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed, he is girded with strength. He has established the world; it shall never be moved; 2 your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting. 3 The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring. 4 More majestic than the thunders of mighty waters, more majestic than the waves of the sea, majestic on high is the LORD! 5 Your decrees are very sure; holiness befits your house, O LORD, forevermore.
Just before hurricane Katrina hit a family was sailing near the Florida keys. Friends were concerned for their safety and called the Coast Guard. Search was made, but the family could not be found. The search was called off as the weather worsened. The next day the searched resumed and miraculously the family was found on a mangrove island fifteen miles off shore near their overturned boat. They were rescued and brought to safety. A family friend commented on what happen by saying, “Sometimes there is a thing called divine intervention.”
Psalm 93 is a prayer of people who have been rescued from a flood. This could have been a literal flood, but the Bible often used the word “flood” as a metaphor for chaos in our lives. Chaos can be external like when a tornado rips your house apart and everything you have is destroyed in an instant. Or it can be internal like when a spouse leaves you, a boss fires you, or a loved one dies. Chaos, the flood, overwhelms you unless, of course, you believe in Jesus trusting him to save you. If we meditate on Psalm 93 and prayerfully consider the Kingship of God our confidence in Christ to protect us from the flood is built and strengthened.
Most us believe that the psalms are the divinely inspired Word of God. We also know that psalms were how ancient believers prayed. But it is difficult for us to use psalms for our own prayers. We read the psalms for their poetic beauty or we recite the psalms when the pastor tells us to in worship, but we rarely pray the psalms letting them guide our conversation with God.
One reason for this is that the Psalms are filled with praises for God. But we find it difficult to give genuine praise. Today praise is cheap. Advertising tells us to praise everything from shampoo to motor oil. Movies stars and professional athletes are our normal objects of praise. When everything is praised then nothing is praised. So it is with great difficulty that we praise God. And if we can't praise God then the psalms become unintelligible. By meditating on the psalms we can learn how to praise God. We begin to experience that the psalms are the perfect prayers that unite our souls with God. And when we are one with God we learn how to trust God completely and shower God with praise. So how do we come to experience psalms in this way?
One way to experience union with God is by praying the psalms saying them aloud, slowly and with care. It would be helpful to memorize a psalm and repeatedly throughout the day pray it, savoring the time you have with God. Or pick a time of day, maybe early morning or just before bed and meditate on a psalm, praying slowly considering each phrase as a word of God for you. Don't worry that you won't understand the meaning of a psalm. Don't spend time with a commentary. Just pray the psalm, let words fall off your tongue and travel to God. Let God respond.
Just use a good English translation when you pray the psalms. Peter Gomes, the former chaplain at Harvard, suggested that you use the King James version because its soaring Elizabethan vocabulary will help you experience the otherness of God. Listen to Psalm 93 again from the King James Version. 1The 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. 2Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting. 3The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves. 4The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea. 5Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O LORD, for ever. (Psalm 93 KJV)
Or you could use the translation of the psalms by Eugene Peterson in the Message for an earthly incarnate experience of a God with us. God is King, robed and ruling, God is robed and surging with strength. And yes, the world is firm, immovable, Your throne ever firm—you're Eternal! 3-4 Sea storms are up,God, Sea storms wild and roaring, Sea storms with thunderous breakers. Stronger than wild sea storms, Mightier than sea-storm breakers, Mighty God rules from High Heaven. 5 What you say goes—it always has. "Beauty" and "Holy" mark your palace rule, God, to the very end of time. (Psalm 93 Message)
The reason the psalms can deepen our belief in Christ is because they are both poetic and religious. As poems they can tells us things about God that prose cannot. As poetry, our imaginations are engaged and we go beyond a literal meaning of the words. As religious literature, psalms are the Word of God and through them the Holy Spirit comes upon us to plant and nurture our belief. And so meditation on the psalms leads us into not a new religious experience but a realization that our experiences live out and are directed to God. Our joys become God's joys; our concerns become God's concerns. When we pray the psalms we are carried to heaven to the throne of God. There we worship God as our King. We subject ourselves to God's authority. We become people who obey God's commands. Once we experience union with God we place ourselves under God discipline. By meditating on the psalms we are finally at the point when we trust God with our whole lives and we believe in Jesus Christ, a belief that leads to eternal life.
Some of the psalms are beautiful and joyful. They are full of life. They seem to bring God very close to us. They open our hearts to receive God's grace. consider Psalm 121: 1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; 4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The LORD watches over you—the LORD is your shade at your right hand; 6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; 8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. (NIV)
Other psalms are appropriate for our times of suffering. Like people of ancient times our lives are not always smooth. Our souls must bear conflict and injustice. So we turn to God for help. Listen to Psalm 12. 1Help, LORD, for no one is faithful anymore; those who are loyal have vanished from the human race. 2 Everyone lies to their neighbor; they flatter with their lips but harbor deception in their hearts. 3 May the LORD silence all flattering lips and every boastful tongue - those who say,“By our tongues we will prevail; our own lips will defend us—who is lord over us?” 5 “Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will protect them from those who malign them.” 6 And the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times. 7 You, LORD, will keep the needy safe and will protect us forever from the wicked, 8 Who freely strut about when what is vile is honored by the human race. (NIV)
Sometimes our sins are so great that we have to turn to God. But we don't know what to say. Psalms like 130 can help us find the words we need to speak to God. 1 Out of the depths I cry to you, LORD; 2 Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. 3 If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you. 5 I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. 6 I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. 7 Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. 8 He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.
A sometime we are just joyful. And we can express our joy to God through the psalms. The most joyful of all the psalms are those that praise God. As we have seen praising God is the essence of Christian prayer. Through psalms of praise we submit to God's rule. We are happy to serve a God who is so good. Praising God's goodness is our greatest joy. Listen again to the 93rd Psalm.
NRS Psalm 93:1 The LORD is king, he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed, he is girded with strength. He has established the world; it shall never be moved; 2 your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting. 3 The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring. 4 More majestic than the thunders of mighty waters, more majestic than the waves of the sea, majestic on high is the LORD! 5 Your decrees are very sure; holiness befits your house, O LORD, forevermore.
Amen.
Adapted from Praying the Psalms by Thomas Merton
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