Stability in Turbulent Times (Psa 93)
D. Scott Meadows
Archimedes (ancient Gk. engineer associated with the lever) said, “Give me a place to stand, and I shall move the world.” A stable base is crucial. We need solid rock beneath our feet to live as we should in the world. But turbulent times are unsettling God’s people. It feels like things are spinning out of control. We worry and fret and even question the validity of our faith. Pandemic, dysfunctional government, violence in the streets. No one is unaffected. Even formerly peaceful families and churches suffer debates, sometimes heated, about many things. What is going on? Will it never end? We need the message of Psa 93 more than ever. In it we hear the Lord’s voice saying, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14.27). He is our Rock, Foundation. Read aloud Psa 93.
“LORD” (5x in 5 vss.) designates the true God vs. idols. “Reigneth” = to rule as a king or supreme ruler: God in total control. To be “clothed” (2x) with “majesty” and “strength” is a dress metaphor = incomprehensible impressiveness and almightiness, the one King of kings, the King of all creation (see Isa 40.15, 17). To see Him in a vision is a breathtaking experience, so overwhelming a man cannot stand (Ezek 1.28). “Girdeth Himself” (rather than another clothing Him) implies self-existence: the Being whose very nature is to be, and to be all that He is, and that eternally, unchangeably, as one, simple Being, “without body, parts, or passions” (2LCF 2.1). All that God is, He is in and of Himself. He derives nothing from any other, nor is He affected by any other, to be any other way than He is eternally! See Psa 145.3, “greatness, in his being, majesty, and glory, and all perfections” (Poole) are all “unsearchable” or “past finding out.”
One author famously said “your God is too small.” We must be absolutely overawed with the the LORD’s greatness and power in these turbulent times or we will lose our peace of mind and hope of salvation. Losing it is a telltale sign of forgetting or doubting Him. Do you truly believe in “providence,” that all creatures and all their actions are preserved and controlled by God in His perfect holiness, wisdom, and power? (WSC #11). This reigning LORD is the foundation of all stability. Worshipping Him with this knowledge and faith is foundational to all spiritual peace.
II. A Stable World Because of a Stable Throne (1c-2)
Psa 93 connects these two (world/throne). “Also—established is the world, unmoved” (YLT). What? “The world” designates creation, dependent beings ad extra, outside of and distinct from God. Is anything more unstable than the world—ever changing, turbulent, disordered, decaying, chaotic? How, then, can it be declared established and unmoveable? By faith we confess that its actual state is under perfect divine management and heading relentlessly to its precise and appointed end, the ultimate purpose for which God created it in the first place. “Is established” (passive) —> God establishes the world and absolutely nothing can derail the world from His purpose. That is because Jehovah’s throne is established of old (eternally, without beginning), “Thou art from everlasting”—human language serving beyond its ability to describe the uncreated Eternal One.
Scripture teaches the full deity of Jesus Christ in saying explicitly the exact same things about Him as Jehovah (Rev 17.14; 1.17, 18; Col 1.16, 17) because Jesus is Jehovah Incarnate, very God and very man in one Person.
Oh, what comfort to know that our Savior Jesus is the Almighty King!
III. A Temporary Turbulence Because of a Superior Strength (3, 4)
The image is the frightening, stormy sea. “Floods” are large quantities of water (lit., “rivers”). Repetition 3x is maximum emphasis. Personified with a “voice,” very loud (scientists confirm this). “Lifted up” [alt. “roared] their voice. Symbolic of other powers under God, esp. as threatening to God’s people like nations, kings, gods, demons, etc. (sinister things). This language vividly admits of all kinds of tumult in the real world.
As disturbing as it all is, God remains vastly superior. He is “the LORD on high,” far higher than the “lifted up” waves. He is “mightier . . . than the mighty waves of the sea.” His voice/Word is louder (more effective, determinative) than the roaring of the sea (cf. Psa 29.3–10).
Conclusion: All present turbulence is God’s plan for now and will finally be banished from the age to come. John saw, before the throne of God, “a sea of glass like unto crystal” (Rev 4.6), perfectly stilled by the conquering King. “The ‘sea’ is also associated with the idea of evil. [One] has argued that here it connotes cosmic evil, since it often has such a nuance in the OT and sometimes elsewhere in Revelation” (Beale, in loc.). Such imagery deepens our grasp of Jesus stilling the sea (Mark 4.39–41).
Dear Christian, all that troubles you is short-lived, soon to pass away, because the LORD is mightier than all of it.
IV. An Eternal Kingdom According to a Trustworthy Word (5)
“Testimonies” means solemn statements made under oath or as part of a covenant. For us now, “thy testimonies” is Scripture, the very word of God. Two words “very sure” mean powerfully firm, reliable, faithful, permanent. Wycliffe’s translation (modernized): “Thy witnessings have been made believable full much.” Nothing is more credible than God’s Word!
What does His Word promise? “Holiness is the beauty of thy temple while time shall last, O LORD” (alt.)—that is, forever. Rev 21-22 elaborates!
⇨ Application: Turbulent times call for faith in a tried and true Savior, even Jesus Christ our Lord, the Rock of God’s people in all generations. Non-Christians, flee to Him! Fellow-believers, cling to Him! Amen. Ω
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The following books by D. Scott Meadows are available at Trinity Book Service and Cristianismo Histórico:
Ebook: God’s Astounding Grace | D. Scott Meadows
Ebook: A Call to Pure Worship | D. Scott Meadows