Psalm 93
TRANSCRIPT
About three days ago on the 8th of September 2022, it was one of the saddest days for Great Britain and to a certain extent, the whole world at large because Queen Elizabeth II has passed away. She reigned for seventy years, one of the longest reigning monarchs in the history of mankind, second only to Louis XIV of France, who reigned seventy-two years. Although gone were the days where kings and queens actually exercise authority, today many nations would have presidents or prime ministers who act as kings.
However, Queen Elizabeth II have achieved many remarkable deeds during her seventy years reign. She stood with her people through good times and bad times. As I watch the news, many political leaders, famous celebrities, ordinary men and women gave wonderful tributes to express their appreciation for all the things she had done. They used words to describe her like “dignified,” “trustworthy,” “faithful,” “full of empathy,” even words with biblical meaning like “steadfastness.”
Indeed, an amazing queen but she had passes away. Now King Charles III will be the new king. He will take over the throne but he will also pass on and then Prince William will be the next king, the list will go on and on. The world has seen many kings, but there is one King who reigns forever. One King who never dies, who is all-powerful, all knowing and we are always in His presence.
A King who is known as the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords and His name is Jesus Christ. As Bethel BP Church celebrates her thirty-sixth anniversary, we want to remember our King who has always been with us. He is the one who has brought us to where we are today. Our church, our ministries, our families, our lives, we owe out existence to Him and Him alone. We may forget everyone else, but we must never forget our Lord Jesus, our King.
I. His Majesty
The title of our message is: “The Lord Is King.” We will be considering Psalm 93, and we want to learn some of the characteristics of our King. Our first point is: “His Majesty.” Verse 1 tells us, “The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty.” The Lord reigneth means the Lord rules. Today we see how wickedness is increasing day by day. This evil world system is controlled by Satan and his influence is everywhere – in the media, entertainment, in the religious systems, in the mentality, ideology, value systems of this world and so forth.
Nonetheless, the Lord is still in sovereign control. The Lord could have destroyed mankind the moment they rebelled against Him, but He is so patient. As 2 Peter 3 verse 9 tells us, “but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” One day our Lord Jesus will return. He will defeat Satan and all those who rebel against Him and He will rule this earth together with all His glorified saints for one thousand years known as the millennial kingdom.
He is clothed with majesty is a picture of a king ascending unto his throne in the most glorious fashion, with smoke arising. Even though God has always been on His throne, in His majesty on high, but most people are not able to see it. They do not want to acknowledge Him. They deny Him, but the day will come when all the sinners who have rejected Jesus will stand before Him in the Great White Throne Judgment. They will be judged for their sins and be thrown into the eternal Lake of Fire – a place the Bible says, “the fire never stops burning.”
About twelve years before the Reformation in 1505, Martin Luther the reformer was caught in the middle of a storm of lightning. He was very afraid, but instead of looking up to the Almighty God, he looked up to the saints for help. Luther cried out, “Help me Saint Anne, I will become a monk.” So that same year, he became a monk as he had promised. He observed all the rules of the monastery. He was very rigid trying to obtain his own righteousness, but the day came when he brought forward his offering for his first mass right before the Living and True Eternal God.
He realised how unworthy he was to approach a Holy and Righteous God. This is what Martin Luther said, “With what tongues shall I address His Majesty?” He did not know how to address God who is with such Majesty. ‘How could I with such lips? Sinful lips be able to address this God with such Majesty.’ He realised there was a great barrier between him and God – a great barrier between the perfect holiness of God and his own immorality, and all his righteousness were but filthy rags. Luther began to see that all his good works, all his penance; all his efforts could not save him.
But from Romans 1 verse 17, God called out to him, ‘you can never approach my throne of majesty by your own efforts. You can only approach me by my only begotten Son as it is written, the just shall live by faith.’ And through the Lord Jesus Christ, Martin Luther cried out to God.
My friends, Jesus Christ who was of such great majesty, yet He chose to come into this world and live as a man, ultimately to die on the cross shedding His precious blood to save as many as would turn to Him for salvation, so that they can be the children of God. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John14:6) Have you believe in Jesus? If you reject Jesus, you reject the only way to salvation.
II. His Power
Our second point is: “His Power.” The second part of verse 1 says, “the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself:” Here is a picture of a warrior clothed in battle gears ready to fight. Our Lord Jesus came. He fought and defeated sin and death on the cross of Calvary. Just before he died, he cried out, “It is finished.” What is finished? The work of salvation is finished. You and I cannot add on to His finished work of salvation. All we need to do is to believe that we cannot save ourselves - we are totally depraved. Jesus alone can save us through His finished work, through His death, through the shedding of His precious blood – He had paid the penalty of our sins. Satan cannot do anything against the cross, but what he would do is that he would try his very best to stop as many people as possible to believe in Jesus Christ.
What Satan would do is to do everything he can to stop the believer from living a life to honour and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. Although Satan is powerful, but he is nothing in comparison to God. If we are true believers, we can never lose our salvation. Why? Because Jesus himself said in John 10 verse 28, “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” Not Satan, not you and me. No one is stronger than God. No one is able to pluck the salvation of a sinner out of the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Today Jesus lives in us. He wants us to follow His example. He wants us to be clothed with the armour of God. He wants us to fight the good fight of faith against sin, Satan and the world. Every day we wake up not just to live another day. We wake up ready to fight a new spiritual battle in the decisions we make, in the challenges and issues we face, in the troubles, trials and temptations to life. Our husbands have to go to work – there are great temptations out there. Our wives have to take care of the children- there are great struggles and difficulties. Our children have to go to school – there are all kinds of sin and immortalities; premarital sex, drugs, alcohol you name it, they have it.
We are living in perilous times. How can we be victorious? Well we can be victorious not because we are capable, smart or clever. But we trust and believe our Lord who is all-powerful. 1 John chapter 4 verse 4 says, “Ye are of God,” which means you belong to God, “little children, and have overcome them:” Why? “Because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” We praise and thank God that our Lord Jesus is so powerful - that you and I can be victorious as we live our days on this earth.
III. His Eternality
Our third point is: “His eternality.” Look at the last part of verse 1, “the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.” This world was created by God. After God created this world, He stablished it, which means he established it. He set it in order. Nothing and no one can destroy it except God himself. Have you ever woken up in the morning and you were doubtful? You ran over to look out of the window to see if the world - the earth is still there. No, you would never do that, because you know the earth is still there - just as it was.
Yesterday night before you went to sleep, you trust the weatherman who is able to tell you exactly what time the sun will rise, when the rain would come, right? You trust the calendar, which is able to tell you the seasons, when spring will begin, when summer will come, followed by autumn and finally winter. We take all these things for granted because somehow we know that this is a dependable world.
My friends, this is a dependable world because God is in control. God stablished it, sets it in order so much so that it cannot be moved. But we also know that everything in this world is dying, including the earth. The sea is slowly receding. The mountains are eroding. The sun is cooling and eventually it will die out. We human beings are in a state of constant change. We are young at one moment and then we grow old. Many of us would say, “We grow old so quickly.”
About ten years ago our church started to have mission trips to Myanmar to visit our missionaries. Those brethren who used to join me in the mission trips – they have grown old. And they said to me, “Pastor, we may not be able to join you in future mission trips again. You may have to look for younger brethren to take over the mission trips.” Pastors, preachers and Sunday school teachers will come and go, and then God will raise up other labourers to take their place. Parents will live and die. And then children will grow up to be parents; they too would live and die.
But there is One who reigns forever. His throne is for all eternity. Verse 2 tells us, “Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting.” After the death of Queen Elizabeth II I listened to the speech of King Charles III. He said this, “I knew this day will come.” Indeed some people are born into power and they inherit the position of authority. Others win authorities by defeating an enemy and take over whatever the enemy had established. But the Lord did not come into power and ascend unto His throne like earthly kings.
His authority is everlasting. It has no beginning and it will have no end. No one gives it to Him and no one can take it away from Him. Some people ask what is the most difficult doctrine in the Bible? What is the most difficult teaching in the Bible? Is it the doctrine of election? Predestination? Trinity? Or Heaven and Hell? Do you realise that every teaching in the Bible is difficult.
Take a moment and consider this word ‘eternal.’ Can you name me something in this world that is eternal? Something that is everlasting forever? The mountain is not eternal. The ocean is not eternal. The universe is not eternal. There is not a single thing on this earth that we can see with our eyes that is eternal. Yet we use this word so casually – ‘God is eternal’ or ‘we have eternal life.’
Without faith, it is impossible to please God. It is impossible to understand and accept the teachings of the Bible. A moment ago the Psalmist just said that this world is stablished by God. It is set in order by Him. It cannot be moved. But it was as if he was anticipating that some people would say, ‘what about the chaos in this world? What about the calamities like the floods in this world?’ Therefore he went onto say in verse 3, “The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves.”
When God created this world, there were no floods. There was not even rain. Rain came only in the time of Noah. No earthquakes, no calamities, no pestilences, no diseases – everything was good. But when man fell into sin, this became a sin cursed world. And ever since then there were calamities that would come upon this earth from time to time. Floods are devastating disasters. In the recent flood in Pakistan, it was reported that one third of the entire country was submerged in water. One third of the entire Pakistan was submerged in water.
When the flood descends upon a village or when the tsunami sweeps inland, taking everything in its path – it is like a roar. It is the power of chaos. That is the meaning of “the floods have lifted up their voice.” Does that mean that God is not in control? Most certainly not. He allow these things to happen with reasons beyond our understanding. Our finite minds cannot comprehend. God said in Isaiah 55 verse 8 and 9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Psalmist went on to say in verse 4, “The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.” No doubt the calamities in this world can be most frightening. But we must understand that God is mightier than all the calamities in this world put together. In the gospel of Luke chapter 8, there was a classic example of the power of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I think most of you would be very familiar with this passage. One day Jesus went into a boat with His disciples and he said to them, let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they started to sail across the lake, but as they sailed Jesus fell asleep. And there came a huge storm. The boat was filled with water. They were in trouble. The disciples came to Jesus and said, “Master, Master. We are all going to die.”
Jesus simply woke up. He rebuked the wind and the waves, and they stopped. And everything was calm. And he said unto them, “Where is your faith?” They were all afraid. And they said to one another, “What manner of man is this? For he is even able to command the wind and the waves and they obeyed Him.” The storm was real. The wind was strong. The water was seeping into the boat. They were sinking. They believed that they were drowning in the sea. How could they not be frightened?
But remember, Jesus had already told them, “Let us go over unto the other side of the lake.” Will He not be faithful to bring them unto the other side? And remember another thing – the Lord Jesus himself was also in the boat. The fact that the disciples said this, “What manner of man is this?” tells us that their knowledge of Jesus Christ was so lacking.
The Creator of the Heavens and the Earth was in the same boat sailing together with them. Yet they were afraid. So what was the problem? The problem was when the disciples had forgotten what the Lord has said. The problems was when the disciples took their eyes away from the Lord and their knowledge of Jesus Christ was so lacking. The only natural thing they would do was to just focus on the trouble. And when they only focus on the trouble without the Lord Jesus Christ - they were overwhelmed.
This is the same problem with every one of us. It is easy for us to say we trust in the Lord in good times. But do we still trust in the Lord in the darkest moments of our lives? When we take our eyes away from God and His word. When our knowledge of Jesus Christ is so lacking, we will be overwhelmed by the storms of life. Whatever it may be. It could be the loss of our loved ones. It could be the loss of our jobs. It could be relationship problems. It could be financial issues. We will be overwhelmed. Those are real experiences. Those are painful experiences. When they come, we will be overwhelmed.
My friends, we must always remember that our eyes must always be focused on our Lord, our King. Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. He will never forget us neither will he forsake us. He will always be in the vessel sailing together with us through the storms of life. Whatever you are going through this morning. May be you have just received some devastating news about your medical condition, or you have just received some reports about your children. Or you are facing some horrendous issues that words cannot express.
Remember Jesus is always with you. He will sail with you through the storms of life. You know our children used to sing, “With Christ in the vessel, I can smile at the storm. With Christ in the vessel, I can smile at the storm.” There will never be a moment when our Lord Jesus is not with us. He promised us that He will take us to the other – to Heaven. Will he not keep His promise? Surely He will.
In John chapter 14 Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” Will He not come for you? Surely He will.
IV. His Word
Our final point is: “His Word.” Verse 5, “Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O LORD, for ever.” “Thy testimonies” is a reference to the Scriptures, the Word of God, the Bible. In other words, the Word of God is sure. It is certain. It is steadfast. Whatever God says will surely come to past. You and I can trust and believe every word in the Scriptures because it will never change.
“Holiness becometh thine house” means holiness is fitting to the house of God. Holiness is compatible with God’s house. It is right that God’s house should always be holy. If you remember there was a time, an occasion in the gospels where our Lord Jesus was so angry when the moneychangers and merchants, they had made the temple of God into a place whereby they could make more money. He threw them out of the temple and Jesus said, “It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves” Matthew 21 verse 13.
But do you realise that God has ordained that the believers – you and me would be His house. You and me would be His temple. 1 Corinthians 6 verse 19 says this, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God,” do you not know? “and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.”
Think about this: every believer is a temple of God, because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And if every believer is a temple of God, when all the believers come together as a church to worship God, to serve Him, to glorify Him. Can you ever fathom what it would be like? But as a believer we all know that there were times when we did not obey His Word. We did not live our lives according to His truth. And we were not holy. God forgives us.
As a church, thirty-six years have come and gone. We confess that there were times where we did not obey His Word too. We did not do things according to His truth. We did things in the church according to our own passions, according to our own desires. We fear man more than we fear God, and we were not holy. God forgives us. That was the reason why there was so much troubles, divisions. The Lord be merciful. We repent and we ask the Lord to forgive us. And we tell the Lord, “Thy testimonies are very sure.”
The Word of God is certain. The Word of God is steadfast. The Word of God will never change. We have seen your majesty. You are our King. We have experienced your power. We know you are eternal, everlasting. You have no beginning and there will be also no end. You reign forever. Kings and queens will come and go but You reign forever.
Our church, our lives, our families, our children must live according to Your word. That is the only way we can be holy. That is the only way you and I can be fitting as the temple of God. So we ask the Lord, ‘help us. Help us as Thou has helped us in past years. As long as our Lord Jesus would tarry in His return, as long as we still have breath in our lungs to breathe. Help us to live our lives according to Thy truth, according to Thy word. So that the day will come when we draw our last breath, we see the Lord Jesus face to face - Our Eternal King. And He will say to us, come Thou good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord.’
I pray that all of us here will desire to here this of our Lord, “Come, thou good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord.” A blessed thirty-six anniversary to everyone of you.
Let us pray. Father in Heaven, we thank Thee for Thy word. We thank Thee for Psalm 93, whereby we can draw spiritual lessons especially learning some of the characteristics of our King. Indeed Jesus is our Saviour. He is our Lord and our King. We want to make Him the president of our lives. We have seen His majesty. There is no one like Him. We have experienced His power working in our lives to save us, to sanctify us at every step of the way.
We have also understood that He alone is eternal. He is the Alpha and the Omega. And His Word is certain. We need His Word at every moment of our lives to help us, to live as true temples of God – glorifying Him in holiness. Helps us that we will not stray from His Word. As a church we beseech Thee, that Bethel BP Church will always be a church that will be grounded and founded in the Word of God. All to the glory of Thy precious name. We give Thee thanks and we pray all this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
THE BOOK OF PSALMSWonderful Words of LifeWonderful Words of LifePsalm 1:1-3
Having Confidence In Times Of TroubleHaving Confidence In Times Of TroublePsalm 3
Pray with Your Eyes OpenPray with Your Eyes OpenPsalm 5:1-12
Message 3: The Test of TrustMessage 3: The Test of TrustPsalm 11:1-7
Morning Devotion 2: Psalm 13Morning Devotion 2: Psalm 13Psalm 13
Message 4: The Life of TrustMessage 4: The Life of TrustPsalm 20:1-9
Learn To Deal With DepressionLearn To Deal With DepressionPsalm 42
Dealing with DepressionDealing with DepressionPsalm 42
God Is Our RefugeGod Is Our RefugePsalm 46
Morning Devotion 3: Psalm 46Morning Devotion 3: Psalm 46Psalm 46
True Confession, Repentance and Restoration [Part 1]True Confession, Repentance and Restoration [Part 1]Psalm 51:1-9
Morning Devotion 1: The Joy of Thy ForgivenessMorning Devotion 1: The Joy of Thy ForgivenessPsalm 51:1-9
True Confession, Repentance and Restoration [Part 2]True Confession, Repentance and Restoration [Part 2]Psalm 51:10-12
The Joy of SalvationThe Joy of SalvationPsalm 51:10-12
Morning Devotion 4: The Joy of Thy SalvationMorning Devotion 4: The Joy of Thy SalvationPsalm 51:10-19
True Confession, Repentance and Restoration [Part 3]True Confession, Repentance and Restoration [Part 3]Psalm 51:13-19
O Come, Let Us Worship the LordO Come, Let Us Worship the LordPsalm 59:1-11
Hear My Cry, O God!Hear My Cry, O God!Psalm 61:1-8
The Man that is Blessed of the LordThe Man that is Blessed of the LordPsalm 65:4
Wilt Thou Not Revive Us Again?Wilt Thou Not Revive Us Again?Psalm 85:1-13
Teach Us to Number Our DaysTeach Us to Number Our DaysPsalm 90:10-12
Morning Devotion 1: Psalm 90:10-12Morning Devotion 1: Psalm 90:10-12Psalm 90:10-12
The Lord Is KingThe Lord Is KingPsalm 93
Christian ParentingChristian ParentingPsalm 127:3-5; Matthew 10:37; Matthew 6:32; Psalm 113:9; Psalm 128:3
Morning Devotion 2: Obedience to God’s WordMorning Devotion 2: Obedience to God’s WordPsalm 119:1-8
Morning Devotion 3: The Cleansing Power of God’s WordMorning Devotion 3: The Cleansing Power of God’s WordPsalm 119:9-16
I Was GladI Was GladPsalm 122:1
Christian ParentingChristian ParentingPsalm 127:3-5; Matthew 10:37; Matthew 6:32; Psalm 113:9; Psalm 128:3
Message 7: What are children for? Heritage of godly seed for Christ!Message 7: What are children for? Heritage of godly seed for Christ!Psalm 127:3, Malachi 2:15, Ephesians 6:4
Christian ParentingChristian ParentingPsalm 127:3-5; Matthew 10:37; Matthew 6:32; Psalm 113:9; Psalm 128:3
A Prayer in the CaveA Prayer in the CavePsalm 142
