Let me read it. Let me try to explain what I think the Lord is speaking to us by the Spirit. Let me conclude it, and then hopefully by God's grace, most importantly, equally as importantly, let me apply it. This is a great psalm, and I told Daryl that one of the reasons I'm preaching it tonight is that I've actually put music to this in the ESV, and so in weeks to come, me and Sharon are going to jam, or else, I don't know, I'll do solo. But I'd like to sing this. I'm thinking of our kids. I'm thinking about the next generation. I'm thinking about what Nathan taught probably four or five weeks ago at prayer meeting, Psalm 78. Passing on the truths, the glories of redemption and scripture and God's unchangeable truths to the next generation. Like Luther said, man, let's put theology to song and even more, let's put scripture to song. A lot of people hear the word Psalter and they cringe in power, but hey, If it's a little too melancholy and dull for you, let's get people writing new tunes to those awesome, awesome inspired words of God. So, it's a happy song, it's about God's reign, and hopefully we'll be learning it in a couple weeks. And it's pretty much word for word, so we're hoping that by doing things like this we'll be hiding God's word into our hearts. Every time we sing it, maybe we'll remember the truth that's therein. Yahweh reigns. He is robed in majesty. Yahweh is robed. How is He robed? He has put on strength as His belt. Yes, the world is established. It shall never be moved. Your throne is established from of old. You are from everlasting. The floods have lifted up, O Lord. The floods have lifted up their voice. The floods lift up their roaring. mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, Yahweh on high is mighty. Your decree is very trustworthy. Holiness befits your house, O Lord forevermore. We'll pray and ask that God would, I don't know, this is maybe overly technical, but I'll pray that, you know, make it really simple for us because it's a simple song. Father, we come to you and ask that you would comfort us, that you would assure our hearts even as the psalmists were comforted and reassured of your triumph and of your powerful and eternal reign over the forces of chaos, over the enemies who oppose your kingdom. Father, I pray for those here who feel like the seas and the thunders of the waters are pounding against them in their lives, I pray that they would look up and they would see Christ who has been risen, who is reigning, who is in charge of all things, who is ordering all things according to the purpose of His good will. Father, I pray that as we preach on Your sovereignty again, that it would not be lost on us. It's something just natural, that it would just move us afresh and we would trust in You afresh. And Lord, we've grounded on this rock, this bulwark, this amazing statement that You reign. Come Holy Spirit, remind us of the reign of Christ. Give us grace to submit to the reign. May we find great joy and peace and blessing as we live under the holy reign of our King. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. I'm hoping that in God's providence that this is a good psalm. I don't know where everyone's at, so we trust in the sovereignty of God. That this will be a word of encouragement, a word of comfort. That's what the psalms were for. They were psalms they would sing to remind them that even though there's chaos all around them, there's one who's in charge. There's one who's greater than the apparent chaos. One who is still ruling and reigning. So, I don't know what happened this week, or the upcoming week, I don't know what will happen, but I do want to declare to you that Yahweh is on His throne, and that He is robed in majesty. Now, I don't want you to think that He's wearing a nice little velvet, He is wearing warrior's clothing here. When it says He's robed with majestic clothing, and He's put on armament, um, that's awesome if you're one of His children. That's awesome if you belong to the Lord of hosts. Basically it's saying, God is conquered, God will forever conquer, God is a warrior that cannot be defeated, God will fight for his people, God will save ultimately his people and destroy and vanquish his foes. A major theme throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament, the Lord is a warrior. And so before I even preach, I pray to God that he is commanding your army, in the sense that you're on His side, and that He's not against you, right? The Lord is a warrior, and we learned in Joel that this divine warrior, He fights for people and against people. He fights for Israel, He fights for those who are opposed to Israel. So I trust that by sovereign grace and by faith in the risen Christ, that you're quoting this, and you're thinking, yes, if God is Who can be against us? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ who died, yea, Christ who has been raised. I'm going to close with Romans 8, I hope. But I want you to be encouraged. This is a hymn written, inspired by the Holy Spirit for God's people. And it's a hymn of praise to the eternal, universal, and invincible reign of Yahweh. Now remember when I say Yahweh, that's LORD in all caps. It's more than just God. I know there's only one true and living God, but that's an intimate name, right? When it says Yahweh reigns, you could basically say our covenant-keeping God reigns. The God who chose us. Israel's God is reigning, even though it appears that Israel is sort of being curb-stomped and beaten down by all the opposing chaotic forces of the world. The Israelites are reminding themselves, they're preaching to themselves, they're not letting circumstance preach to them, they're letting truth preach to them. Verse 5, they're letting God's trustworthy decrees preach to them. That is what orders, not just their life, but their emotional life. If you let circumstances preach to you, you're just going to be all crazy. Is Heather here? She's not here. When I think of the word crazy, it's Sunday evening, so it's stories time. When we were looking for a house on Manitowoc South, there's the park there. And so we were at the weir's bus, met Heather, and there was this Latino boy who was playing with us. And, you know, of course the mom wasn't there. And she came running, where have you been? You're all crazy. And so she's saying crazy like the Latino way. And so every time I think of crazy, I think of Heather who's like, oh, that's sweet, the way she said crazy. It's not funny, but it's story night. This hymn was a celebration of the kingship of Yahweh. Everyone knows what a king is, right? Someone who rules. Someone who reigns. Someone who is in charge. Someone who is ordering the affairs of his people. And it's more than just a president, or a prime minister, or a king in the east. This is the king of the cosmos. This is the king of the universe. This is God Almighty. This is Yahweh. This is our covenant-keeping God, whose fullest expression is found in the risen Christ. The name of all names is given to Christ when He's exalted. That's Philippians chapter 2. So they're celebrating. I hope that that's what we're doing. You know why we gather not on Saturday, but we rather gather on Sunday? We gather on the Lord's day and we celebrate His resurrection. So I'm not going to get all weird or anything and try to prove... This is, I think, fulfilled in Christ. How do we know the Lord reigns? because we have the Holy Spirit in our midst. God has accepted Christ's sacrifice. He has raised Christ up. He has bestowed all authority. He has given all authority to this King of the universe, the Messiah. Messiah equals King. And the Messiah has poured forth the Spirit to confirm in our hearts that God is reigning. So the very fact that we're a new covenant community with the Holy Spirit, we should be proclaiming and declaring God reigns. Yahweh reigns. Christ reigns. Right? And that's a major... We'll see. That might take us to some spots in Scripture. I might not. I don't know yet. But it's a celebration. When you come here on Sundays, it's a celebration. So often we forget. You know, we come here to have our felt needs met. But we're here to ascribe glory to the Risen King. We're here to make declarations of God's reign. Which, in turn, meets our foul means. Right? So I'm not saying foul means are bad. But I'm not coming here... We're coming here and by declaring that God reigns, we're finding meaning in the universe. We're finding meaning in chaos. We're reminded that even though life sucks, in our estimation, God is on His throne. And yes, Romans 8, 28 comes out His skin. And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good. even for those who are called according to his purpose. So you understand that the sovereign king who reigns has purposes in everything. And his purpose is Romans 8, 29, which I love quoting since Rod is a Lumen to me. The beautiful impact of that is that God's purpose in everything is making us like Christ, who is the one who is reigning. So they're celebrating Yahweh's kingship. Not only over the cosmic order. You know what cosmos means? That's just the universe. That's everything. Cosmic. You guys are with me? I just don't want you to be like, what does cosmic mean? Is it like a really cheesy adjective from the 70's? No, it just means God is reigning over the whole cosmos. That's the Greek word for world, but I would include creation. So God is ruling over creation, He's ruling over the nations in this world, and in a special sense, He's ruling over His people Israel. How do we interpret that? Well, He's ruling over the cosmos, yes, He's ruling over the nations, and in a very special sense, in Christ, He's ruling over us as Christians. So we're celebrating the fact that God is reigning over all things, and in a special way, in a very intimate way, He's reigning over us. That's what it means to be a Christian, right? That is the creed. When you read through Paul, and even say through Acts, what was the concession of faith they would make? Lord and I always want to remind you that it's not just an altar call or something that Kenneth Copeland says at the end of his lame little half an hour show Jesus is Lord is massive It is encapsulating the whole idea of the Kingdom of God fulfilled in the resurrected Christ. So when I say Jesus is Lord, I'm not just quoting a pithy little saying. That's a massive worldview statement. I'm saying Christ is ruling over every affair, especially, especially over my life. Jesus is Lord. And I am celebrating that on Sundays when we gather as a people in Christ. We're celebrating that Christ is reigning over us. Right? The very fact that he's reigning over us reminds us that he's been raised from the dead. Are we happy? Matt kind of smiled. We should be celebrating. Bring your tambourine next week, Matt. Implicitly, his kingship is being hailed in contrast to the claims of all other gods. So we're saying, not just any god reigns. It's very emphatic in the Hebrew. You can take my word for it or read every commentary. Usually in the Hebrew you have a verb followed by a subject-object. Here it's Yahweh, and then the verb. So it's just saying, who's reigning? Not just God. Not any God. Yahweh alone is reigning. Not Baal, not Marduk, not Allah. These are all small g's. Not any of those pagans. We celebrate the fact that the true living Creator God and redeeming God of the universe, Jesus Christ, is reigning. According to tradition, the psalm was sung before the Sabbath in the Second Temple period. If you were to read this Septuagint, does everybody know what the Septuagint is? It's the Greek version of the Old Testament, right? The Old Testament originally was written in Hebrew. written in Hebrew. And so then you have all of that written, except for some portions of Daniel and some portions of Ezra in Aramaic. And then as the Jews were dominated by pagans, and their traditions and their oral languages were sort of demolished, they started to read now a Greek rendition of the Old Testament, which is called the Septuagint. Just so you know, if you're reading books and stuff, and you're like, what's a Septuagint? It's just the Greek version of the Old Testament. And according to the LXX inscription, they would sing this on Sabbath. Day of rest, which I will, maybe I'll do too later. Here in this psalm we see that Yahweh's reign is evident not only in creation, but especially in redemption. I want you to catch that. Okay, we're praising God for being the Creator, but man, there's so much more than that. I want you to understand that, especially in the poets, or the poetry narratives of In the poetic sections of the Old Testament, when they would praise God for creation, often they were alluding to redemption. They used a lot of creative language in redemption. So we're like, yes, praise God that he created all things, that he conquered all the chaotic forces in the beginning. But really they're saying, praise God who not only created all things, but now is redeeming things to himself. Okay? He caught that. So God's reign is evident not only in creation, His reign is evident especially in redemption. He's not just saying, okay waves, thus far, no farther. No, sometimes they're just saying waves are an analogy for all the world orders that are against God's people. So God is ruling over creation? Amen. But even more importantly, God is reigning in redemption. God is on His throne as He is redeeming His people. That's sweet. Just so you know, if God is not on His throne in redemption, you have absolutely no assurance of your salvation. You might lose it in the next second. But if God is reigning not only over creation, and is also reigning in redemption, you have great assurance. If He who began a good work in you, is sovereign enough to complete it. That the one who is the author of your salvation is sovereign and reigns enough that he might also be the finisher of your salvation. So that's why we come and that's why I just want to remind some people here that the God we serve is awesome and we need to celebrate his awesomeness, if that's such a word. The conviction that Yahweh reigns is the ultimate antidote to doubt and despair. I think I got that from the ESV study Bible. I'm going to read it again, though. The ultimate antidote... Does everybody know what an antidote is? The cure. What ails you? Have a cure. You need an antidote. The ultimate antidote to doubt and despair is reaffirming God's reign. If you're a Christian, and you had a really rough week, and you're struggling with doubt and despair, this is really good. It's really good to remember that God reigns, and that God is holy, and that God is majestic, and that God has entered into covenant with you. Right? I think that's sweet. Yahweh's secure cosmic rule grounds His righteous and effective rule over human affairs, which results in joy, that's Psalm 92, and hope, Psalm 94. The Psalms were put in specific orders. under the inspiration of the Spirit. And so we have Psalm 93, God is sovereign, He's ruling, He's a King. And we see if you were to read in 92, it's filled with joy. Psalm 94, even in the midst of judging enemies, it's filled with hope. So, as you reflect upon the sovereignty of God, the fact that He's ruling and reigning over all things in Christ and you belong to Christ by grace through faith, you should actually be moved to joy and to hope. Am I saying the circumstances will end? No, but you can rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, knowing that Christ will complete the outcome of your salvation through faith. That's 1 Peter, written to people who are suffering more immensely than we will ever know. For those who rely upon him, they will be given joy and hope in the midst of the assaults of godless fools who live by violence. Israel was constantly being oppressed. There's just lots of war going on. They're always being threatened. They're always fighting. They needed to be reminded that there's security in the midst of chaos. I'm going to spiritualize this on you, Ephesians 6. We're in a battle too. But we wrestle not against flesh and blood. We understand that the forces that we wrestle with are a lot stronger than the chaotic waters of the nations of the Old Testament. But we understand, according to 1 Corinthians I think 8, that those godless nations are truly influenced by demons. I have no problem saying that Pharaoh, the king of Babylon, Assyria, all of them, demonic to the hells. Paul says that those idols are really demons. And we need to understand that we are also in a war, but we also need to understand that just as Yahweh conquered those chaotic forces at creation and all through redemption, He has ultimately shown us that He has conquered those forces because Christ has risen from the dead. Let me just freestyle for a bit. Turn to Colossians 2. It's one of my favorite texts in all the Bible. I think one of the most important ones. I would really encourage you to memorize. Colossians chapter 2. I'll just read verses 13 to 15, but I want you to really look at verses 14 and 15. As we're thinking about battles going on, cosmic battles, let's think about how God is disarmed and how God is conquered and how God is reigning in Christ over all of these waters that are lifting up their voices. Speaking to believers, plural, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with them. This is why I'm a Calvinist, just so you know. God made you alive. If you're a Christian, God made you alive. Sorry, I just have to always do that. God made you alive together with Christ, having forgiven us all our trespasses. That's what it means to be alive. How did He make us alive? By cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross. And here's the verse. He, God in Christ, designed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame. How? By triumphing over them. In it. And it is the cross. If you have an ESV, it has the little footnotes. Or probably the NIV just throws that in there. God has triumphed over all of our enemies in the cross of Christ. And so, when Satan tempts you to despair and reminds you of the guilt within, upwards I look and see Him there who made and ends all my sin. Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free. For God the just is satisfied to look upon Him and pardon me. It's Colossians 2 and even me reading a lot into Psalm 93. We're celebrating that God is reigning over all the forces, chaotic forces, that oppose His reign, the Kingdom of God. So Ephesians 6 says that there's a battle going on. Colossians 2 says, in Christ they're conquered. He made a public spectacle of them, I think the King James said. He made an open shoe of them. Not shoe you put on your foot, but I think show with an E. I'm still in my intro. We'll get there. Despite resistance to his reign, Yahweh has easily overcome that. Okay, I want you to see that. The waves are pounding, they're pounding, they're pounding. There's cinch for Yahweh. Right? It's not like it's a battle, you know, like, you know, cheesy. I wish I would think before I preach. You know, when there's like two sorcerers going on, and they're seeing who has the stronger sort of magic, and they're sort of wavering back and forth. And you're like, uh-oh, who's got the stronger, the red or the blue? There's nothing like that going on. God easily disarms, God easily overcomes, God easily conquers. It just, boom, he speaks it into existence. Done. No battle going on, just a quick word. Just like creation, just like redemption, just like the end, Jesus comes back with a sword coming out of his mouth. One little word shall fell him. Okay? So he asked those opposition, but they're wimps compared to God. Am I saying Satan's a wimp? Absolutely not. All these clowns who think they can fight with him in their own strength, they don't understand what a roaring lion is. He didn't say, you know, like a tamed chihuahua. He says Satan is like a roaring lion. He don't mess with roaring lions. But, comparatively speaking, he's nothing to the one who created him. That's good news for you, right? Satan, he's going to tempt you this week. He tempts me a lot. He tempts me to doubt. He tempts me to sin. He tempts me to think, oh no, this and this and this. And you say, you've got nothing. God's trustworthy promises stand sure and are established from a vault. God's word is what conquers the foes. You catch that? Sometimes we leapfrog over that too much. At creation, there's the background of chaos going on, right? You have the waters, and in ancient mythology back then, if you were to read the Babylonian account of Illuma Initia, whatever it is, you know, there's these chaotic forces of water. Am I saying God is battling them in creation? I'm not sure, but I am saying that He's telling all the pagans that all of the forces that you can ever concoct that you think are powerful, God subdues them by the power of His Word. God said. God said. God said. God said. I want you to understand that God reigns through His Word. That's why verse 5 ends with His decrees. This is just a beautiful thing. God is reigning on His throne. He's reigning over creation. He's reigning over the earth. He's reigning over the seas. He's reigning over His foes. He's reigning over His people. He reigns over them by His Word. Do you love His Word? I'm not saying you can start speaking things into existence. I'm not going to get all charismatic on you, but I am going to say that God has the power to speak things into existence, and He does so by the power of His Word, the Logos. So do you know it? Do you know especially the Logos of the Cross, the message, the Gospel of Jesus Christ? That is God's most powerful, conquering Word ever displayed. It was pretty powerful in Genesis 1, when Jesus uttered, It is finished. Or when He speaks creation into our hearts, 2 Corinthians 4. Man, that's sweet. He subdues chaotic, rebellious hearts that are a lot more foaming than the waters of Psalm 93. And God subdues them and reigns over them. So I want you to understand that God reigns, yes, but He establishes and maintains His reign through His Word. Through Christ and through His Word. Do you love His Word? Do you submit to it? That's how God exercises His rule over you. Don't say God is ruling over you if you disregard his word and have no love for it and don't store it up in your lives and don't obey it. Point one, which I've alluded to so I can quickly get through it, Yahweh reigns. Just look at the text. It's a declaration. Every time we gather on Sunday, that's really what we're gathering to say. What good news is proclaimed? Stinky sweaty Old Testament feet upon the mountains. How beautiful are those feet? That what? Proclaim the good news. Messages of peace and reconciliation. Hope. Our God reigns. That's what I'm proclaiming to you. I'm not preaching that to you. I'm not going to expound. I'm basically just saying that's how the Psalm starts. Are you struggling? Are the forces mounting up against you as they did against Israel? They're always being bombarded. The first thing they say is, God reigns. Not in every psalm, but this is a good psalm that you should memorize. Man, life is harsh, Yahweh reigns. This is a proclamation of the ultimate truth. And Israel's first article of faith. And is ours as well. Jesus Christ is Lord. Look in Psalm 97 verse 1. This is a sort of cluster of God's reigning psalm. The Lord reigns. What's the response? Let the earth rejoice. Let the many coastlands be glad. Clouds and thick darkness roll around Him. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. Very similar to what I'm going to be preaching. So the Lord reigns. Let the earth rejoice. Psalm 99. The Lord reigns, let the people tremble. So that's our declaration. The Lord reigns, you either rejoice in that reign or you tremble. And if you're not in Christ, I encourage you, come. Rejoice in His reign. Because one of the most horrific pictures, in my mind, in the Bible is when the end comes. And all the rebels cry out to the rocks and to the hills. Why do they cry? Come and fall upon us. Why? Because the wrath of the Lamb, Yahweh who reigns, is going to be unleashed. Let the earth tremble. Let the peoples tremble. So, yes He reigns, but there's sort of two results to that. I hope you're Psalm 97 and not Psalm 99. If you're Psalm 99, May that trembling become a reverence and an awe, and may you put your faith in Christ, who established God's reign through His perfect life, death, and resurrection. Literally, you could translate it, Yahweh has begun to reign. You're thinking, what? Wait a minute, I think he's referring back to creation here. Basically saying, long before calling Israel to himself, Yahweh has been king over everything since the creation. So Yahweh always existed. He's from, what does it say here? He's from everlasting. So yeah, he's in the Trinity and he's a king. But this king creates so that he can establish his reign. You think, oh boy, God must have a really small self-esteem that he creates things so he can be a king. Just live with it. You know, there's all these people, oh, God must really love the acclamation of... Of course He does! He created us to praise Him! He created everything that He might rule over it. And they're basically saying, yes, the Lord has begun to reign. When did He begin to reign? When He created. By very essence of being Creator, God is also Lord. So we love the doctrine of creation. Right? Read Acts 17. God doesn't need you. He created everything. He's Lord anyways. We praise God, because long before He even created Adam and Eve, long before He even created Israel and called them to Himself, He's begun to reign. And it implies that He is still reigning and will continue to reign. For me, I think that's sweet. Yahweh has been king over everything since creation. Yahweh creates, He reigns over. You know where I'm going here, because I love Biblical theology. Yahweh recreates to establish His reign. So just as He begins to reign when He speaks creation into existence, that is what the essence of Christianity is. You know what it is to be a Christian? To submit to the reign of God in Christ. That's what recreation is all about. The reason why God recreated you in Christ, or gave you regeneration, or the new birth, or you were born again, or made the new creation, 2 Corinthians 5.17. The reason you're the new creation is because you and your rebellious, dead, rock-hard, sinful state did not submit to God's reign joyfully. So God recreates because creation is followed by things that give homage and come underneath His reign. Are you recreated? Are you the new creation? I hope so. I hope no one here is an Adam. In Adam all die, in Adam all are rebels, in Adam all refuse, all reject, all cannot stand the fact that God is reigning. But all who are in Christ joyfully, willfully, with celebration, embrace, not just accept, but embrace God's reign. Because God's reign, as we live under it, submit to it, live, that's where we find ultimate blessing. It says here that he's reigned and he is robed in majesty. I just love poetry. I hated poetry, but since I've become a Christian, I love it now. I'm not saying I love like Robert Frost and all this weird stuff that like, I have to be on LSD to understand. I'm just saying I love poetry because God has used it. Sorry, I didn't, that wasn't in my notes. But I love poetry because it's an expression for God's people to worship him. You should love poetry because the Psalms is all poetry. Yeah, it's not very manly, but you know what? David would kick every one of our butts. And he was a sweet psalmist of Israel. So don't say that poetry is for wimps. Because David would kill you within like a split second. He'd probably break like five bones of yours before you could throw a punch. Poetry is not for wimps. Poetry is for God's people. There's my... See David, I'm trying to encourage you to like poetry. I thought poetry was for like hippies and stuff like that when I was in high school. He is, who said that? Like I said, poetry is for, no. But He is robed in majesty. Do you see God like that? As God is upon His throne, you know, I'm not even going to try to get all psychedelic on you. It's just saying, God is defined by majesty. Majesty, I don't, I can't, what's another good word for majesty? I'm trying to think of this. I'm like, I can't think of another way to say this, but he's just robed in majesty. His clothing is majesty. Everything about him is majestic. And everything about him is warrior-like. So this is majesty, but not pansy majesty. This is warrior majesty. Regality. Right? You're like, oh, sweet, gleaning sword. How majestic. He's robed as a warrior. Magnificence, that's a good adjective or synonym. Sure, and that's, he does reign supreme and there's majesty and majesty evokes awe and reverence and trembling. So he's robed in majesty, he's robed He's put on strength as His belt. That's for me, just a matter, I don't know what strength looks like, but basically He's saying, He's clothed with strength. He's the strongest guy, strongest thing you'll ever see. He's robed in majesty, but His majesty is not wimpy. It's strength, and it's the language of putting on armor. It's war-like mentality. That's your God. And you say, well, please tell me a time when God was robed in majesty, and He put on strength as His belt. the resurrection. I really think a lot of the Bible uses imagery to fulfill that. When is God most gloriously robed? Not just at the crown of thorns, you know, and robed in mockery, but at the ascension. Here is the Lord on His throne, majestic. He's put on His war armor, because He's conquered. I think that's Revelation language. So my first point, ad nauseum, but hopefully to your peace and joy and hope, our God reigns. The second point, which is related to it, it could almost be a sub-point, Yahweh reigns over the earth. That's from the third line of verse 1 to the end of verse 2. Yes, the world is established. It shall never be moved. Why? Because your throne is established from old. You are from everlasting. Basically saying, as the Creator God, He has established the world and thus He rules over it. Typhoons, as I said in the book of Joel when I preached to it, are not Mother Nature. You'd say, oh, the world is full of chaos. No, everything is working according to God's sovereign plan. He is perfectly ruling over His creation. Yes, the creation is marred with sin and filled with rebels, but still, He has set the world in motion and He has established it. Very strong word. He's established the world. Because He's established it, He's ruling over it. Why? Because His throne is established and secure, so too the world is established and secure. Thus the nations can rage, but they cannot overcome. Remember Psalm 46? The waters are lifting up, the waters are lifting up their voice. Same idea. And then they're saying, there is a river whose streams make loud the city of God, the holy habitation. of the Most High. So, there's all this chaos going on. The psalmist is reminding himself, God is still on His throne, even when the waters are right at the threshold of our city. When chaos is at the threshold of your sanity, you need to say, God has established the world. And it's not the Hebrew word, Eretz. It's the world order. Everything is working according to God's plan. And even when people are mocking you and doing everything, you need to understand that God is still on His throne, and there is a river whose streams make glad the city of God. And God will give you peace in the midst of that storm. The nations may rage against His rule. If you read Psalm 94, you see that it's not just waters that are raging against the people of God, but it's the proud, arrogant nations. Though they rage against God's rule, they will not overcome His reign. That's good news for you. Read the book of Job. It's pretty close. Think of 1 Corinthians 10 where it says, God will not allow you to be tested or tempted beyond what you can handle, but with that testing slash temptation, however you want to translate the Greek word, will provide a way of escape. My paraphrase, God is sovereignly allowing you to go through that, but He's still sovereign. Yeah, the waves are growing, the floods are lifting up, God is established on His throne from of old, and by the way, He's everlasting. I don't need to preach too much on that. Yahweh is from eternity, and His rule now from creation proceeds into eternity. Third point. So God is reigning. God is reigning over the land. God is reigning over the seas. You're like, who cares? I'm not a fisherman. What does that matter to me? To an Israelite, the raging sea was the most vivid emblem of uncontrollable chaos. You know why Jonah's freaking out? When you don't throw him into the sea, it's judgment, it's chaos. Psalm 46, this psalm, even in the creation account, God is subduing chaos. And so, the raging sea, or the undercurrents within, that's freaking a Jew out. We kind of miss that. A good study Bible probably will pick up on that. or a good commentary, so I'm not making this up. And so we have here uncontrollable chaos, and it's repeated three times for emphasis. Not just Hebrew poetry, right? Repetition. Floods have lifted up. The floods have lifted up! The floods have lifted up! God, don't you understand the floods have lifted up? Yes. Yes, He does. And sometimes you wonder, how much more can the floods lift up? As much as God allows them to. He's still on His throne. The floods have lifted up. They've lifted up their voice, O Lord. The floods lift up their roaring. It's getting more intense. So, I don't know. Some of you are in intense struggling and you're thinking, well, for them, they're just lifted up. For them, they're lifting up their voice. For some of you, they're roaring. Mightier than the thunders of many waters. Mightier than the waves of the sea. What does this say? Yahweh on high. Yahweh who is seated on his throne. Yahweh who is ruling in heaven. He is mightier than all of that. So, you got the three-fold sea going on. The three-fold waves crashing in on you. The three-fold flood. I almost sound like Pentecostal or the Charismatic with like the five-fold ministry. You've got the three-fold ministry of floods crashing against you. God is so much more mighty than us. They're roaring and vying for you to be afraid and to give in and say, that's it, I'm sunk. Hopefully you understand God's voice, it's so much more mighty than that. The floods are vying for your attention. When you're going through a real zinger, they're saying, hey, focus on me. And then more floods, focus more on me. The floods lift up, they're roaring, hey, focus on me. And I think the psalmists are saying, let's focus on Yahweh, Almighty on high. is ruling and reigning. So let's not look at circumstances, let's look to the Lord who is on His throne. Let's look to the Lord who is on high, and let's look to His mightiness. Though the waters rise up and pound, literally, with great force, Yahweh is mightier and will not let them pound beyond their limits. As King over the seas, I got this from a commentary, The C's are conceived not as independent forces, but are controlled by Yahweh's power So Yahweh's letting them power Yahweh's letting them roar Yahweh's testing them Because he's on high he's not subject to the powers of anything. Oh these powers are just all undone God is above them He's greater than I know a lot of people say that he's greater than you're you're tempted. He is he's greater than all He is greater than all the pain that is going on with you. I hope that is the voice that thunderclaps the loudest. You say, okay, I'm not a fisherman. I don't care about water. Let me put it this way. Both at and since the founding of the world, Yahweh has shown himself to be mightier than all the forces of disorder that threaten his kingdom. So when I'm saying that the waters are threatening, They're waters of chaos and disorder, and what are they trying to do? They're trying to... Boy, oh boy, what's the word I'm thinking of? Undermine God's kingdom, and the advance of it. Okay, so everyone here, the waters are metaphorical for forces of chaos that are seeking to impede God's kingdom and advance in your life. And, like I said in Ephesians 6, I'll call those spiritual powers of chaos. seeking to undo the kingdom. But remember that God is on high. And even Satan, if you read the book of Job, has to give an account. Even Satan has to come and ask for permission. Okay? So, I know I've killed it, but you've got the waters, right? Chaos, problems, whatever the chaos is in your life, God is greater than that. Okay? If you like mathematics, Laura, God with a greater sign, chaos. It's pretty good, hey? It's a good bumper sticker. It's not a good bumper sticker? Yeah, he has that into bumper stickers. It's a good hat you can wear, Ryan. God greater than chaos. And if you want to be like all hip, you can put like K-OS. Implicitly, these waters symbolize all that oppose the coming of Yahweh's kingdom. Turn to Psalm 65. I just want to show you that. The Old Testament, yes they're actual nations, but the New Testament reveals that those nations are inspired by Satan and demonic forces. So look at Psalm 65 verses 5 through 7. So by awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas. The one who by his strength established, same word in Psalm 93, the mountains being girded with might, same language. who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of the waves, parallelism. What is the roaring of the waves, the roaring of the seas? It's the tumults of the peoples. All those who are seeking to destroy or somehow impede the Kingdom of God, which is the central motif, I think, of the whole Bible. The Kingdom of God in the Old Covenant, all these forces, they're attacking Israel because they're trying to stop God's reign over His people. The same thing happens for us. So, what are these roaring waves? Here they're peoples in our lives. It could be peoples, but ultimately, it's people who are held captive by Satan to do his will. People who are blinded in their unbelief. The God of this world has blinded them. And so those people who are still dead in their sins, the children of Satan that Jesus called them, are impeding the kingdom by persecuting Christians, mocking us, And if possible, even demons. I think there's a lot more spiritual warfare than Reformed Baptists give credence to. God is on His throne, but there's also chaotic forces seeking to undermine the Kingdom of God. God reigns over those too. The thunder of the chaotic waters is no match for the thunder of Yahweh's ordering word. Catch that? They're vying for attention with sounds, but God's Word trumps all these chaotic orders. Okay? So, again, are you loving the Word of God? When Paul is fighting against the enemies in 2 Corinthians 10, he says, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. Paul's all, okay, let's make some mallets, and let's get some ball and chains with spikes going on here. You know, let's take care of the super-apostles, all those heretics. And Paul says, no, we gird ourselves with weapons of righteousness in the left hand and the right hand, but ultimately, it's the Word of God and bringing people to the obedience of it. Sword and fire. Not baptism by fire, though. I'm trying, I'm trying, guys, I'm trying. I know that wasn't funny, but you could at least... So I'm just saying here, Right? We've got these chaotic forces. What trumps them? God's Word. There's a lot of power in the Word. I wish Christians would get that. You know, like Jesus, He did come to die for our sins. Amen? But He's also our Christus Exemplar. He's our example. Matthew 4. Satan comes and he tempts the Son of God. He tempts Israel. What does Jesus do? He fights them with the Sword of the Spirit. God's Word brings order. Okay, so you want order, shalom, in your life? Submit to it. Like, I know that's getting all, like, crazy philosophical. God's Word brings order. That's a good bumper sticker. Or it's a good mantra. It's a good way to live. It's a good what? Yeah, it does. It brings peace, order, rest, everything, unity. It's the opposite of chaos. Fourthly, and hopefully this is the greatest comfort to you, I'm getting to the cross, I promise. Not only does Yahweh reign over the earth and over the seas, Yahweh reigns over Jerusalem. And you're like, I don't see Yerushalayim or Jerusalem in verse 5. When I was on YouTube last week, there's this new cult. It's a bunch of super-Christians. Who's I talking to this about? Just today. They're using all these Hebrew words to make themselves sound holy, and it's just ridiculous. Just say Jerusalem. You don't have to say Yerushalayim. Or you don't have to say, you know, for Jesus, you don't have to say Yerushalayim. Just call him Jesus. It's pretty easy in the Greek. And I'm just picking on these clowns who start up cults and spirituality is defined by using Hebrew words. So if I'm impressing you by saying Yerushalayim, Just say Jerusalem. It's the same word in English. Did that impress you, Sharon? That's the Hebrew word, yeah. Like if you were to read it in Hebrew, it's Yerushalayim. Anyways, Yahweh reigns over Jerusalem. How am I going to get myself out of this one? Back to the word. Yahweh's kingship finds particular expression in the covenant community. Sounds like this morning, right? Community. to whom we're given Yahweh's reliable testimonies. Your decrees, for instance, they don't have a new American standard with them. I like the word testimonies. Your rules. It's a covenantal word, used especially in Psalm 119, in the Hebrew for the Jews reading. It's like, oh wait a minute, this word for testimonies or decrees in the ESV, it has covenantal overtones. What in the world does that mean? Am I just trying to talk? God gives special words to His people. When they hear those words, they'll be like, wait a minute! Decrees! Testimonies! How do you want to translate it? Not for pagans! Those are for God's people! Man, if God is ruling over all these things, and He has fixed upon His throne, and everything is stable and secure, how much more is He reigning over His people, whom He redeems? Yeah, he's ruling over land and sea, but especially he's reigning over his covenant community. And how does he reign over them? By the same word, the same power that he reigns over the created order. He rules over his people with decrees, or testimonies, or laws, or regulations. Interchangeable Hebrew words. He rules over us, as you could say easily, with the Word of God. Are you loving the Word of God? His statutes, testimonies, whatever the word is, are symbolic of His covenant relationship. And they testify, that's why I like the word testimonies, they testify to the people of Israel the revelation entrusted to them, namely the revelation that God has chose them to make them His special treasure, that they might be a light to the nations, that He would redeem them, that He would actually bring them into His presence and reign over them, and He would be their God, and they would be His people, and they would live in intimate, covenantal unity through the temple in Jerusalem and find great shalom. So I love the way this psalm builds. It basically ends on, I think, redemption. Even as Yahweh established His sovereignty over the created order, so that His throne was established long ago, so also He has made a firm covenant with Israel for endless days. Literally that's what it means, forevermore. For endless days He has made a firm covenant with Israel. Though man can break this firm covenant, Yahweh's promises extend for all time. So this is the ultimate expression of praise. Yes, you rule over everything. Praise God that He rules over His people. And that His testimonies are utterly reliable, trustworthy. And that even though we deny Him, He cannot deny Himself. Maybe I'm reading into this Psalm. I don't know. I'm not Jewish. But I'm trying to understand the whole Bible. And I'm thinking, They're saying, yes, what you've given to us are worthy to build our life upon, especially your promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that you will bring a people to yourself, and you will bless the world through this people. And because your testimony, your promise, your covenant to share, even if all these waters roar up against us, they're saying, you have promised. You have promised us, God. You will keep us and sustain us forevermore. So, there it is, standing on the promises of God. All these waves pounding against them, basically they're saying, your word is so much more reliable and trustworthy than all of that, and I'm going to trust in you. So, you're building your life upon those promises, right? That's how you fight, that's how you preach to yourself. When Satan tempts me to despair, I know I quoted this, It reminds me of the guilt within. Upward I look. Or you could say, I preach to myself. There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ. For the law of the Spirit of life has set me free from the law of sin and death. For God is done with the law being weakened by the flesh could not do. In sending His Son for sin and as a sin offering, He condemns sin in the flesh. That's a promise. A sweet one. a trustworthy, a reliable testimony of God. So are you making them yours? I really think what Piper says is good. He says that fighter verses, memorize them. I know probably a lot of you aren't going to get like L.D.A. Carson and memorize the New Testament in Greek. If you could memorize five promises, especially in areas where you struggle, And make those fighter verses yours and say, yes, those testimonies, those decrees, those laws are reliable, they are trustworthy. So trustworthy, even more trustworthy than all that has preceded. The first four verses, yes, God is on His throne. Yes, God is ordering and regulating all things. Even more so, God is on His throne, ruling over us through His trustworthy Word. It's powerful. And dynamic. He can only end in praise. God, you're ruling and you're reigning over all of us. And he basically says, holiness is fitting of your house, of your dwelling place. He says, what is the one word that catches all that we've sung, that God is ruling and reigning, and he's covenantally faithful to his people? Holiness. He's just saying, holiness is the first word that I can think of that is fitting of your dwelling place. And I hope that you see God that way. And it's a good holiness. Yes, He's clothed and robed in majesty, but He says, even beyond that, that majesty and that armor and everything, ultimately is expressed through your holiness. And it is fitting. Holiness befits your dwelling place, O Lord, forevermore. Sweet, I think. Conclusion. God's rule over his people from his temple is fulfilled how? Perfect. One said cross, one said Christ. I was hoping someone didn't say through the rebuilding of the temple. Boy. I'm sure some of those southern Texans would like that bouncer, but it's fulfilled obviously in Jesus Christ, who is, how God expresses His majestic armament, how He expresses holiness that is befitting God's presence. It's all in the cross of Christ. And yes, God is reigning and ruling over all things, and He's reigning, in my last point, over His people. He's reigning over Jerusalem. But ultimately now in the New Covenant we know that is so because He's ruling and He's reigning over His people in grace through the resurrected and exalted, highly exalted I should say, Jesus Christ. Therefore God's people are to find a refuge. You know what refuge is? Safety. In the midst of a storm you run there to shelter. You find refuge in the truth that Yahweh's reign was inaugurated from of old when he subdued the forces of chaos that threatened his throne. Yes, he's been reigning all the way from back then and he's still reigning. Since he subdued all those chaotic waters, he's still on his throne and nothing is ever going to sort of kick him off. He cannot be impeached. The reign that was implemented at creation continues into the future forever and thus ensures stability. We should be, of all people, most stable. I know some of us, dispositionally, are a little more, you know, set towards, you know, um, I don't know. Boy, oh boy, I need to write my notes out. Doubts and fears and stuff. You have something greater than those doubts and fears. I'm not saying that, or they're just immediately eliminated. But when they come, you have something the world doesn't. There's stability in knowing that God reigns. And stability in knowing that God has made you with even that inclination to sort of doubt and stuff like that. Understand that God sovereignly knit you together in your mother's womb. He knows what He's doing. He's probably done that so you cry out to him all the more. I don't know. I wish I could give any reason. But I do want you to know that stability is offered to you in the trustworthy decrees of God, especially as they are fulfilled in Christ. Right? God loves you. How do I know? Christ died for you. That should give stability to a chaotic life. Am I saying that it takes the chaos out? No, but it surely has a stabilizing factor. Not only does God's reign give stability for the created order, but it especially gives stability for His covenant people, whom He has given His promises that cannot be shaken. In Old Testament poetry, God's mighty acts in redemption are often compared with His mighty acts in creation, as I alluded to. Therefore, I can say that God's power demonstrated in creation is the same power that He demonstrates in re-creation and redemption. So when you're reading this, it's all about creation. It's pointing to re-creation. It's talking about redemption. God is mighty to save. Some of you have maybe heard that song. He is mighty to save. Not just mighty to create, but He is mighty to save. Nothing can stop God's sovereign plan. If you're God's elect, nothing is going to stop Him. No waters are going to keep Him from saving His people. His power is just as guaranteed as Creator, as His power as Redeemer. Sweet! Right? Praise God that He shut off His reign when He created. But thank God that He still has the same powerful reign as Redeemer. Just as Yahweh asserted His kingly authority over the sea and declared, You may come thus far and no farther. Anyone know where He says that? It's the book of Job. He's explaining to Job his Grandeur and his magnitude he says to the seas thus far no farther, so he is done for his people through the death of Jesus Christ Satan may come this far and no farther Sin may come this far no farther God is controlling all things not just just the creator is controlling all things especially in your redemption Humanity especially God's new redeemed humanity may therefore live in stable confidence because The Lord reigns. Yahweh's sovereignty guarantees that He reigns. His testimony is completely reliable. This will ultimately be realized when Jesus returns to usher in the consummation of the Kingdom of God, Revelation 19, verse 6. You can read that after. My paraphrase, God is in control. Trust your life to Him. Even when life sucks, claim His promises. Remember that God is on His throne. Christ is coming back for you. He will vanquish everything and the Kingdom of God will fully be set up. for all those people to enjoy. Application. The conviction that Yahweh reigns is the ultimate antidote to doubt and despair. Remember that? I said it at the beginning. I thought it was so deep that I would say it again. I'll say it four-fold, maybe not five-fold. The conviction that Yahweh reigns is the ultimate antidote to doubt and despair. Do you struggle with doubt and despair? I'm not whipping you, I'm just saying this sermon has been given to you by Sovereign Grace. Sovereign Right so I love the fact that God has opened my eyes to the doctrines of Calvinism This reminds me over and over and over and over and over That God is the one who is completing the work he began and not me Otherwise, I'd be just doubting and despairing everything, but God is on his throne Yahweh's secure cosmic rule grounds his righteous and effective rule over human affairs and And it results in joy and hope for those who rely upon Him for protection against all the assaults of this present evil age. God is sovereign. I don't know why, but He's allowed it for us still to remain in this present evil age. Still allows Satan to buffet us. Still allows all kinds of nasty things to happen. But remember that this One who allows it to happen is a King. And His throne is established from of old. And the one who we worship is on high, and he is mighty. Greater than the pounding of any waves. Closing, Jason you're going to have to take me out for lunch for this. Romans chapter 8. Verses you should try to memorize. I'm not saying, okay, let's be like Ryan. But this is what I do. Some of you just think, man, Ryan's the smartest guy I know. I'm not, I'm stupid. But I spend a lot of time meditating on scripture. So what I do is I take recipe cards, and I write out scriptures like Romans 8 on recipe cards. So that if I have 5 minutes while I'm at work, I can pull it out of my pocket. Don't have to look like the self-righteous creature that pulls out like, you know, the 18-pound red-letter KJV Bible. Just pull it out, you know. And people can ask, I'll tell them. But I'm just sitting there meditating on the Word of God. Verses like this. What then, in light of God's electing grace, What then, or therefore, what shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? My favorite verse. He who did not spare his own son, but freely, that's a better translation, gave him up for us all. Community language, not just for you, but for us all. How will he not also with him graciously give us all things? There's your promises, brothers and sisters. Remember the context? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? So you have people opposing God's reign, His kingdom. It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ who died. More than that, who was raised, who is now at the right hand of God, who indeed is now interceding for us. Those are sweet promises. Fulfilling Psalm 93. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Tribulation. Stress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, sword. You can add everything else in there. Paul's not trying to be exhaustive. He's just giving us a whole... You can take in anything, right? Depression? Absolutely not. People who struggle with depression, get those promises in here. Fight against it with it. Now, as it is written, right? Don't be surprised. For your sake we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. Knowing all these things, we are what? More than conquerors. Through Him who loved us. For I am sure, I think some other translations say convinced, I like that better, that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, we could say pounding waves, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, read Psalm 93 into that, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, that is a reliable testimony or decree. Build your life upon those. Our Lord reigns. And so I'll trust that the Lord put this on my heart, not just for you, but for me. Let us celebrate, let us declare, let us come together and say, brothers and sisters, Christ is reigning! If you tell me that, and I'm having a real crappy day, I know that will cheer me up somehow. Right? Mark calls me up and, you know, doing the self-pity thing. Mark to say, hey, you know, suck it up, God reigns. Maybe don't be so harsh. God reigns, brother. Right? God reigns. Just as He subdued all the chaos in creation, He's still on the same throne that He established from long ago. How do I know? Because Christ is on that throne because He's been risen from the dead. And that's good news you have to tell the people in this world who struggle with all kinds of chaos in their lives. May you speak and live the Word of God into your life. The Word that brings shalom, that brings order, that brings rest, that brings God's reign. And if you don't know Christ, may you by grace submit to that reign. I'm going to say it again. If you do know Christ, may you submit even more to that reign. That's what I want to see this church, just submitting and celebrating. I wish I had another S sound, sibilant. Submitting and celebrating to God's reign. Yahweh reigns. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your Testimonies, the decrees, they're trustworthy, completely reliable, worthy to build our life in the now and for all eternity upon. Lord, I ask that you will give us grace, Lord, not to look around at all the forces that vie for our attention, that tempt us to despair. Help us to look and to see Christ. now seated at the right hand of God. May we with Stephen, even in his martyrdom, look up and see the majestic Christ in his regal apparel, the essence of holiness. May we look and see Christ there. Father, I pray that our church would continue to preach your sovereignty and continue to live in a manner worthy of your sovereignty. And that it wouldn't just be something we talk about or argue about with those who disagree. May it be something that truly brings joy and hope and peace and rest and order to our lives. Fixate ourselves upon Christ, Lord. I know in my life so much disorder comes because I'm so ignorant and negligent of Your Word, Your creating and ruling and sustaining Word. Make us a people who are built upon this solid Word, I pray. Save Your people, Lord. Thank You, Yahweh, for including us in the Kingdom. really show us how massive that statement is. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.