Rejoicing in The Sovereignty of God
In
The Psalmist speaks of God’s destruction of His enemies. He declares that God is glorious in His power as He conquers the wicked. In fact, those who were aware of God’s movings stood still in awe, fear, and adoration as He worked His work of judgment. The Psalmist seems to revel in the glorious and fearful work of God. He states that even the wrath of man shall praise God. While this is so, God is sovereign over the wrath of man and restrains it. Mankind is then called to worship the Lord who deserves our fear.
Our text seems to be a severe and fearful text. Indeed it is. On the other hand, those things which are fearful in God are the very attributes that effect our salvation. God’s judgment is not against, but for, His people who love and worship Him. For this cause we should delight and rejoice in God’s sovereignty.
Our text presents three things about which the sovereignty of God gives us to rejoice: judgment, salvation, and His sovereign restraining of sinner’s wrath.
While it seems somewhat strange to rejoice in the judgment of God, let us remember that a Biblical approach does indeed tell us that judgment will be great cause for God’s people to rejoice. “Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people.” (Deut 32:43) (KJV) In this verse we find that we are commanded to rejoice in the judgment of God, because He will execute vengeance upon those who are the enemies of God and of His people. “O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah.” (Ps 67:4) (KJV) The whole world will find reason to rejoice when God judges the earth and rules in His righteous kingdom as King of kings and Lord of lords.
We then find that our text speaks of rejoicing in the salvation of the Lord. The Psalmist stated that God arose to judgment to save the meek of the earth. The effect of Divine judgment is salvation for God’s people, according to the aforementioned verses. Certainly the salvation which is given to us freely by our Lord is cause for rejoicing in Him. The Lord alone is sovereign in salvation. The Psalmist said, “I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me. Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living. I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted: I said in my haste, All men are liars. What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people.” (Ps 116:1-14) (KJV) The reason this man could write this Psalm of praise was because he was glad and rejoiced in the free salvation that was given to him by the Lord. Again, the Psalmist said, “I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore. For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.” (Ps 86:12,13) (KJV) As the children of God we should certainly rejoice in the fact that God has the power to deliver us from eternal damnation and give us eternal life.
Finally, our text calls for us to
rejoice in the fact that God uses the sin of wicked men to His glory, and
restrains the rest. Do you recall the
life of Joseph; how his brothers sold him into slavery, he was sold into
How
Do We Rejoice in The Lord?
Before we proceed further we must determine how we are to rejoice in the Lord and His sovereignty. At this point we shall only see a general overview. This general overview, however, sets the tone for all that shall follow.
The Psalmist gives us our best
instruction when he said, “Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou
dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall
give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in
him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as
the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.
Rest in the LORD, and wait
patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way,
because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Cease
from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any
wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that
wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.” (Ps 37:3-9) (KJV) To delight in the Lord is to recognize His
control over all things, give our lives and our all into His hand, trust Him,
wait patiently for Him to work, and refuse to try to take charge for our own
selves. This is delighting in the Lord,
because we have great joy in God’s wisdom and ability to work for our good and
His glory.
God
The Giver of Life
How can we find joy in God’s
sovereignty? God is the giver of life,
so we can trust Him with our care and sustenance. Only the LORD has the power of life and
death: “See now that I, even I, am
he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal:
neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand. For I
lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.” (Deut 32:39,40) (KJV) The
glory of God is to be seen in the fact that He is unique in having the power of
life and death. We should worship Him
because of this power. We can also trust
Him for this reason. “And fear not
them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear
him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matt
Delighting
in Divine Chastisement
Of all the things that one could think of enjoying, Divine chastisement would seldom if ever make the list. Why? I believe it is because we perceive it to be grievous instead of joyous. God, however, is sovereign and has a wonderful purpose in His chastening of us. “We have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” (Heb 12:9-11) (KJV) The end result of chastening is holiness. Those who experience chastening are being conformed to the image of God. He is making us more like Himself! This chastening leads to righteousness and peace. It is no surprise, then, that the Psalmist said, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.” (Ps 119:71) (KJV) Having been created for the glory of God, we must certainly rejoice as He works in our lives to make us into servants who will give even more glory to Him.
Delighting
in God’s Direction
God knows what tomorrow holds. That doesn’t seem surprising to find that someone believes that, does it? Unfortunately, this belief is being mocked today by many who call themselves Christians. God does know the future, though. He declares the end from the beginning (See Isa 46:9-11). God also has a plan for the lives of His people. Most of us believe that, too. When we begin to seek guidance concerning a particular issue, however, we run into the proverbial road block. How can we find pleasure in the guidance of God when we cannot even determine what He wants us to do? Actually, that is where delight comes into play. We know that God wants to glorify Himself by blessing us. That being so, He has no desire to withhold, or hide, His will from us. In fact, we learn God’s will when we delight in His guidance. Solomon said, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Prov 3:5,6) (KJV) When we enjoy God enough to simply trust in Him instead of trying to work things out alone we find that we have the guidance we desired. “Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.” (Ps 37:3-6) (KJV) Knowing that God is good, wise , and loving, we should joyfully trust in Him to give us the blessing we need. Our anxiety is due to our lack of faith. When we delight in the Lord we have no problem committing our lives and decisions to Him. Then, as we trust Him, we find that He does indeed direct our paths and grant to us the desires of our hearts.
Delighting
in God’s Wisdom
There are probably many more things
that could be covered in a study such as this.
As we conclude this study, let us find delight in the sovereignty of God
by meditating upon His wisdom and praising Him for it. “ O the
depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how
unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For
who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been
his counsellor? Or who hath first
given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of
him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be
glory for ever. Amen.” (Rom 11:33-36) (KJV)
Such sovereign, independent, wisdom that is calculated to bring
glory to God and good to us is indeed to be praised!