May I ask you a question? Thank you very much. We'll clean it for you all later today. I don't know if it's due to the communities, but it indicates that whenever I'm just telling it on the rail, I'm not getting anywhere. Most of the cabs in the country, I don't get anything much better than that. What was the exclusion point for that, I think? Oh, the box. Because a lot of them have been laid out. I've got a good plan now, don't I, sir? I've got a bit of a plan to be able to put them out. I mean that. But there's no one coming to this place. Yeah. We've got a treat for them. We've got a treat for them. We've got a treat for them. We've got a treat for them. We've got a treat for them. We've got a treat for them. We've got a treat for them. We've got a treat for them. We've got a treat for them. We've got a treat for them. We've got a treat for them. We've got a treat for them. We've got a treat for them. We've got a treat for them. We've got a treat for them. We've got a treat for them. We've got a treat for them. We've got a treat for them. We've got a treat for them. That was his enjoyment. I mean, I... I... I... I... I... I... I... I... I... I... I... I... I... I... For our call to worship this evening, I'm going to read Psalm 122 from the Psalm book. They said to me, it made me glad. Let's to the Lord's house go. Jerusalem within your gates. Our feet are standing so. Jerusalem as a city is compactly built as one, to which the tribes go up, the tribes that to the Lord belong. There to the Lord's name thanks they give, as Israel had command. for thrones of David's house are set, their thrones of justice stand. O pray now that Jerusalem may have a settled peace. O may it be that those who love you prosper and increase. I therefore wish that peace may still within your walls remain, and ever may your palaces prosperity retain. For friends and for my brother's sake, I say, may you know peace. I'll seek your good to benefit the Lord our God's own house. Let us now come to God in prayer. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for yet another opportunity to meet together as your people, to worship you, the one true and living God. We thank you for this, your day. We thank you for the Lord's day. We thank you that you have set aside one day in each week when we can stop so many of our normal activities, and when we can spend more time in your presence, in your things, meeting with your people to worship you together. Father, we pray that you would bless us as we do that this evening. We pray that we would know the help of your Holy Spirit. Father, we thank you for Jesus. We thank you for his life, his death, his resurrection. We thank you for the forgiveness of sins that we know through him. We thank you for his righteousness being given to us. We thank you that when he ascended into heaven and sat at your right hand, that he poured out the Holy Spirit on his people. And we pray that we would know the help of your spirit this evening. We ask that he would open our eyes to see wonderful things out of your lung. And we pray that he would speak to our hearts and that he would encourage us and strengthen us and build us up. And we ask that he would prepare us and enable us to live for you in the week that's ahead. And Father, we pray for our leaders this evening. We pray for the government It saddens us that they make so little mention of You. But Father, we know that it is You that places each one of them in power. And so we pray that You would work in them, that You would enable them to govern, to govern not just for their own advantage, not even merely so that a people would be pleased, but Father, so that your laws and your standards would be upheld. For that is what is for your glory and what is truly for the good of people. Father, we pray that you would work that you would work to save many of them. Lord, we long to see many Christian rulers in our land, governing for your honor and your glory. Father, we pray that you would indeed bring that about. In Jesus' name, amen. We have two readings from God's word this evening. One from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament. The Old Testament reading is Psalm 97. This morning we were thinking about Psalm 96 and many people believe that Psalm 96 and 97 are a pair, that they were designed to go together There are many common themes between the two Psalms. Both of them speak of God reigning. Both of them speak of His glory and His righteousness. Both also contrast that with worthless idols. Both Psalms 96 and 97 have the whole earth in view. They speak of the earth and the nations. worshipping God. So this evening we read Psalm 97. The Lord reigns. Let the earth rejoice. Let the many coastlands be glad. Clouds and thick darkness are all round him. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all round. His lightnings light up the world. The earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim His righteousness, and all the peoples see His glory. All worshippers of images are put to shame, who make their boast in worthless idols. Worship Him, all you gods. Zion hears and is glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgments, O Lord. For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth. You are exalted far above all gods. O you who love the Lord, hate evil. He preserves the lives of his saints. He delivers them from the hand of the wicked. Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart. Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name. Our second reading is from the New Testament, Hebrews chapter one. Hebrews chapter one. If you're using one of the church Bibles, it's on page 1,203. Long ago, at many times, and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God, and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, you are my son, today I have begotten you? Or again, I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, let all God's angels worship him. Of the angels, he says, he makes his angels winds and his ministers a flame of fire. But of the sun, he says, your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. And you, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish But you remain. They will all wear out like a garment. Like a robe, you will roll them up. Like a garment, they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end. And to which of the angels has he ever said, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? Let us pray. Our Father, this evening we bring before you the work of the church. Father, we pray for this congregation, and the other congregations in our denomination here in Scotland. We pray for Blair McFarland as he comes across to take the services here next Lord's Day. We pray that you would grant him safety and travel, that you would help him in all his preparation. Father, we pray that your spirit would be mightily upon him. We pray that you would speak deep into people's hearts through your word next Sabbath day. Father, we pray that you would use it for the good of each one who hears and for your glory. We pray too for Peter Lockridge in his work here as interim moderator. We ask that you would help him in that, that you would give him wisdom in all the decisions that he has to make, that you would give him your grace and your strength. And we think of him as he's involved in many different aspects in the work of your church, both here and in North Edinburgh, also involved in the work in Stranraer, and as Clerk of Presbytery. We pray that you would help him in all of these roles, that you would be using him to advance your kingdom. And Father, we do pray for the work in Stranraer. They've asked that we would pray that you would give them two new people to regularly attend worship this year. And so Father, we pray that you would do that. And we pray that you would bring two new people in to worship with them. We pray that you would build them up and help them and strengthen them. We pray for the folks in Stornoway as they plan to start a Sabbath school in August. And Father, we pray that you would help them in all the details that need to be arranged for that. And we pray that you would guide in all the practical things that need to be organized. We pray that you would help the people who will teach, that you would enable them for this task, and that you would use it to bring much blessing into the lives of the children who attend. We pray too for Glasgow. Father, we thank you for the work there, and we pray that you would give them ongrowing growth. We pray that they would see new people coming in, and that they would see each of the members being built up and strengthened in their faith. And we also remember the students for the ministry, Father, we thank you for Ian's graduation. We thank you for how you have helped him over the past years of study, for how you have brought him to this stage. And we pray that you would be with him and his wife now as they plan to return to Scotland. We pray that you would bless them and that you would lead them to the place where you have for them to serve you. And we pray too that you would be with Sylvester as he continues his studies this summer and for another year. That you would help him as he continues to work as a pastor in the Gambia. Father, we pray that you would continue to use him mightily. And we pray that through him, many others would come to hear the truth of the gospel, that your kingdom that would be built up. Father, we pray that you would be with us this evening as we come to your word. We ask that you would help us to understand it, that you would, Father, that you would use it to touch us, that you would use it to change us, that you would make us more and more into the people that you want us to be, for your honor and your glory. In Jesus' name, amen. When you think of God reigning, what picture do you have in your mind? Many of us, when we think of God reigning, whether we want it or not, we have a picture of an old man with white hair, and a white beard sitting on a throne. What does God reigning look like? The Bible teaches that he is seated on a throne. But it also teaches us much else about what his reign looks like and how it affects things here on earth. This evening we're considering Psalm 97. And Psalm 97 begins by declaring, the Lord reigns. And then it calls everyone to rejoice in that fact. The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice. Let the many coastlands be glad. And the rest of the psalm tells us three things about the Lord's reign. First, creation trembles at the Lord's reign. Now we see that in verses two to six. You'll remember from the old movies. Suddenly, during the movie, clouds gather, it gets dark, It starts to rain. Then the ground starts trembling. And then there's a Tyrannosaurus Rex attacking the people. The scene is built up. The clouds and the rain and the darkness and the earth shaking is to give you a sense of the power and the terror of what's happening. And in these verses we see something of the power and the awesomeness of God. We see clouds and thick darkness. In verse 2, clouds and thick darkness are all around him. It's like a storm is gathering, it's threatening. We go on to read of God's enemies. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. He burns up his adversaries all around. We also read of the earth trembling at the end of verse four. It's like an earthquake. There's fire at the start of verse 3. Verse 5, the mountains melt like wax. It seems maybe something like a volcano. And that is what it was like when God came down and spoke to his people on Mount Sinai. after he'd taken them out of the land of Egypt. In Exodus chapter 19, verse 18, it says, now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln and the whole mountain trembled greatly. The scene is described in Deuteronomy 4 verse 11. And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud and gloom. Creation, the physical creation trembles at the Lord's presence, at the Lord's reign. It is seen in the earth and even in the heavens. Verse six, the heavens proclaim His righteousness and all the people see His glory. When you think of the Lord reigning, what picture do you have in your mind? Do you have this picture? Of the whole of creation trembling and shaking at his presence. That's the picture that we're given here. That's the first thing the psalm tells us about the Lord's reign. Creation trembles at the Lord's reign. But what does his reign itself actually look like? Secondly, we see Christ brings the Lord's reign. We see that in verse seven. Verse seven says, all worshipers of images are put to shame, who make their boast in worthless idols, Worship him, all you gods. That last line, worship him, all you gods, is translated in the Greek translation of the Old Testament as worship him, all you, his angels. And the writer of the book of Hebrews in the New Testament draws on that verse, on that Greek translation, and also a very similar verse in Deuteronomy. And he says in Hebrews 1 verse 6, and again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, let all God's angels worship him. when he brings the firstborn into the world, when God brings Jesus into the world, he says, and he quotes this verse, let all God's angels worship him. So the writer to the Hebrews tells us that this verse, Psalm 97, verse seven, is speaking of what happened when Jesus came into the world. And so probably the whole psalm is speaking of what happened when Jesus came into the world. And that fits with the theme of the psalm. The theme of the psalm is the Lord reigns. When Jesus came into the world he told us The kingdom of God is at hand. The kingdom of God is near. When Jesus came into the world, he brought God's kingdom near to us. He brought God's reign near to us. In Jesus, we see God's reign in a way that we couldn't see it before. In Jesus, we see God's reign in a way we couldn't see it before. When they sent the Perseverance rover to Mars, they were able to see Mars in a way that they couldn't see it before. And when God sent Jesus to Earth, we were able to see God's reign in a way that we couldn't see it before. In Jesus, we see God's power over nature, as he walks on water, as he calms the storm, as he feeds the 5,000. And we see his power over sickness, over death, as he heals the sick and raises the dead. We see his power over the demons as he casts them out. We see God reigning in Jesus. When you think of God reigning, what picture do you have in your mind? When we think of God reigning, one of the things we should think of is Jesus and how he demonstrates his power, how he demonstrates God's reign. It says, worship him All you His angels, worship Him. Do you? Do you worship Him? Do you acknowledge that Jesus is God? Do you bow before Him? Do you recognize that Jesus is the King God sent? That he reigns over this earth? Do you recognize that he's the King of your life? Do you submit to him as your King? Do you live his way? doing as He wants, as He tells us in His Word? Or do you continue to try to run your life your way? Have you come before God and told Him that you're sorry for rebelling against Him for so long? Have you pleaded with Him to forgive you because of Jesus dying on the cross. If you do, He will. Creation trembles at the Lord's reign. Christ brings the Lord's reign. What can we see of that now? Thirdly, Christians rejoice in the Lord's reign. Verses eight to 12. When a football team wins the league or the cup, you can see it in their fans. If you see them walking away from the stadium afterwards, you don't need to ask who won. You can see it, it's obvious. And there should be something of that in us. It should be obvious that our God reigns. People should be able to see it in us. And that runs throughout the psalm, verse 1. It says, let the Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice. Let the many coastlands be glad. Again, in verse eight, you have rejoicing and being glad. Zion hears and is glad. The daughters of Judah rejoice. Again, at the end of the psalm in verse 12, we're commanded, rejoice in the Lord, you his righteous. Christians rejoice. in the Lord's reign. We rejoice, we're told, at the end of verse eight, because of your judgments, O Lord. Verse 10, he preserves the lives of his saints. He delivers them from the hand of the wicked. We rejoice in the fact that our God reigns, and that he's in control, and that he looks after us, that he rescues us. What does God reigning look like? We see God reigning in Him caring for His people, in Him protecting us and preserving us and keeping us. You who love the Lord, hate evil. Verse 10, that love and hatred Opposites, they're being contrasted here. If we truly love the Lord, we must hate everything that is against the Lord. Everything evil. We are to rejoice in the Lord. Christians are not meant to be a miserable bunch. Sadly, often that's how we're known, but that's not what it should be like. We're not to walk around with long faces. We're not to always be moaning and complaining. Yes, yes, we face Difficulties in life, like everyone else, we're not always to have a silly grin on our face. But even in those sorrows there is to be a true joy within us. We're not always to be negative. Are you too negative? What impression does that give people? of your God. Often we're so caught up in the busyness of daily lives that we lose sight of the fact that God is in control. We lose sight of the fact that God reigns. And so we need to take time each day to stop and to think about God. It's as we hear about God, verse eight tells us, Zion hears and is glad. It's as we hear about God, about what he's like, about what he's done, that we are filled with joy in him. It's as we hear that God reigns, it's as we hear that he rescues his people from their enemies, that he fills our hearts with confidence in him, with joy in him. In fact, The more that we think about the fact that God reigns, and the more that we think about the fact that God is in control, the more that we think about the fact that He does this for us, that the whole world is in His hands, and that we are in His hands, The more we fill our minds with that, the more we will be filled with gladness and with joy in Him. God is so, so good to us. He protects us. He keeps us. It's not just about us trying to hold on to Him and get to Him and keep with Him. He saves us and He holds us and He keeps us and protects us. He gives us everything that we need. Zion hears and is glad. When do you hear about God reigning? You hear about it as His Word is preached. You hear about it as you read God's Word yourself. How could you hear about that more often? Could you read a bit more of God's Word each day? Could you think about it a bit more deeply? Could you savor it a bit more? Could you give yourself more to delighting in it? Just to sit there and rejoice in what God has done for you. Think of God's I think even of the glimpses of what we see in creation. This God is for us. This God will help us. I think of what he's done for us in Christ. Think of how Jesus brought his kingdom, the kingdom of God to us. Think of how Jesus brought us into his kingdom. Think of what he will do for us. How he will keep us through this life. How he will bring us ultimately to be in his presence in glory. Rejoice in the Lord. In the Lord. Not just in the good things that he does for us, but in the God, the good God who does those things. This is something that we should come back to time and again. How often do you check your phone during the day? How often do you check in with God during the day? How often do you remind yourself that our God reigns? That He is in control. And give thanks to God. That's how this psalm ends. Give thanks to His holy name. Each day as you pray, make a point of thanking God. Of thanking Him for who He is and for all that He does for us. What does the Lord reigning look like? Creation trembles at the Lord's reign. Christ brings the Lord's reign. And Christians rejoice in the Lord's reign. Yes, God is sitting on a throne in heaven. But his reign affects everything here on earth as well. Will you remember that this week? And rejoice in it. Let's pray.