The Lord is king! He is robed in majesty. Indeed, the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength. The world stands firmand cannot be shaken. Your throne, O Lord, has stood from time immemorial. You yourself are from the everlasting past. The floods have risen up, O Lord. The floods have roared like thunder; the floods have lifted their pounding waves. But mightier than the violent raging of the seas, mightier than the breakers on the shore— the Lord above is mightier than these! Your royal laws cannot be changed. Your reign, O Lord, is holy forever and ever.
One of the confusing moments of Jesus’ trial is when Pilate turned to the crowds and said “I find no fault in this would be king.” That part seems hopeful, as if Jesus is about to be released, but then the crowd changes their tactics and screams “we have no king but Caesar!” The irony of this crowd shouting for the authority of Caesar is beyond crazy, but it was that statement that changed trial into sentencing.
The crowd said that if Pilate released Jesus then the governor was no “friend of Caesars.” Being a friend to Caesar, the king of the “civilized world,” was possibly the most important designation any leader needed in order to remain in the good graces of Rome. The nation of Rome had just lived through a violent “not a friend of caesar’s” uprising and to have your allegiance questioned was to have yourself move from trial to sentencing.
I don’t know what it’s like to live with a King or Queen. Several years ago, I was invited to watch the Queen of England give her Christmas Day address. I was told that most of the nation tunes in to hear her send greetings. I was mesmerized. I know friends who were equally gripped by the weddings and birth announcements of the royals. We don’t have coronations here, but we do have inaugurations and they seem to be a pretty big deal for those in authority.
Over and over in scripture, we read words similar to what we find in Psalm 93. God is repeatedly described as the King of the universe, who’s majesty and glory dwarfs any would-be imposter who sits on a man-made throne. Other kings think they have authority, but it is God who holds the world firm, whose might is greater than even the most powerful storm. This God has no need of armies and weapons, for God’s very arm is all the strength needed.
If I’m honest, I don’t quite know what to do with this language. With no king and with the ability to vote out a president (or any other elected official), I don’t have a long-standing fear that a leader could ignore my voice. It’s actually having a voice- the ability to make a difference and vote, that is the real power. God as my King has always felt more poetic than reality, and I fear I may suffer as a result.
I love that the only political system ever mentioned in scripture begins with “I am the Lord your God and you shall have no other Gods but me.” Call it theocracy if you wish, but even that can envision some monarch who rules with some mighty heavy hand. But those words of authority are much more invitational than they are words of warning and retribution. This is a God who wants to be close – wants to be “your God” – not a being who rules at a distance or through a puppet high priest or earthly king. This God wants to be close and not just to the nation but to us as a people.
The favorite description of God right now is that of Love. God is Love – it’s biblical – pops right out of I John 4. But I wonder if the picture of our God of Love is tinted by an other-godly description of Love? The tint of love we are most familiar with is an “unbending acceptance of my choices, no matter what.” Is that really love? The end of Psalm 93, speaks of God being “holy forever and ever” (vs 5, NLT). This will be provocative, but I’m beginning to question if you can have real “love without holiness.” Is love without some standard of purity really love at all?
The fact that God is described as King robed in holiness, glory, and majesty is something that ought to make me pause. Isaiah was so stunned by the majesty of God that he fell like a dead man (Isaiah 6). Throughout the history of Israel, we see what happens when God’s authority is treated contemptuously. We see when a soft “anything goes” love is embraced over a holy and wholly (or complete) loving God. If you don’t remember – those rejections are called rebellion and rebellion is equaled to divination and witchcraft.
I can’t comprehend what it is like to live under the rule of a King, and I’m thankful for the freedoms I live under and the choices we have when we go to the polls and elect officials. So embracing God as King takes some work on my part. I’m easily swayed to my preferences and “wants” rather than being in awe of the majesty, glory, and holiness of God. And yet, when I do, when I choose to sit in this place of God’s bigness something amazing happens.
When I submit “me” to the authority of the King of creation, I am not just invited into some pomp and circumstance, but into knowing the personal wholly or completely holy love of God. I’m invited to let the dark parts of me be consumed in the fire of God’s beauty and glory. I’m invited to be more than my preferences and my selfish choices (choices by the way which often aren’t the best for me or for those I love). But when I find my way to the King who is “the Lord our God,” I am not treated as a subject or spectator but as a family member.
Psalm 93 invites me to remember this King who can’t be pocketed and controlled but who is inbounding in love for me. The storms of life are no match for his decree. The waves that rock my day are nothing compared to the majesty of his whisper. His commands and laws aren’t subject to my whims and my unholy love but are bound invitations to be more than a pauper with a tyrant king, but a coheir of the kingdom, adopted into royalty and made pure as He is.
The Eternal reigns, clothed in majesty; He is dressed in power; He has surrounded Himself with strength. He has established the world, and it will never be toppled. Your throne was established from the beginning of the world, O God, and You are everlasting. The waters have risen, O Eternal One; the sound of pounding waves is deafening. The waters have roared with power. More powerful than the thunder of mighty rivers, more powerful than the mighty waves in the ocean is the Eternal on high! Your teachings are true; Your decrees sure. Sacredness adorns Your house, O Eternal One, forevermore. (The Voice translation of Psalm 93)
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