The Lord Reigns

"The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many islands be glad."  

Psalm 97:1 (NASB)

These are the opening words to Psalm 97 and a consistent theme throughout the Scriptures.  We talk about the reign of God, but I wonder how much we really think about the reign of God.

We have a disadvantage because of most of our political background.  I live in the United States of America.  We elect a new leader every 4 years and our new leader is in very few senses "in charge".  In fact, in terms of reign and rule, we implement a system of checks and balances.  We reject the power of totalitarian rulers.  We look down upon dictators and have little understanding of monarchy.  In fact, in most cases we even misunderstand our own system of government and think we are democratic and have rule by the people.  (What we actually have is a representative republic, but this is not a civics class.)  At the end of the day we have a hard time understanding a system in which we have but one choice - obey or rebel.  

Such is the Theocracy with which God rules.  God is in charge.  I am not in charge.  I do not even get an equal say in the decision making process.  What God says will happen is what is going to happen.  I do not get to dialogue with God in the process of Him making His will.  God reigns.  God is in control.  God is in charge.  

At the core, most of our theology  is deficient and  ascribes God reign and rule when things are going well and then when things go poorly we defend God by claiming human free will.  So God gets credit for all of things that go well but at the end of the days that go poorly we act as though he was not in control of those things.  Or we beg God to show His control in precisely the way we think He ought to.  And when He does not choose our way, we despair.  God reigns.  God is King.  God is Lord.  He is the one to whom our only response is obedience and worship.  

What is surprising is that the reign of God in the Scriptures is reason for gladness and joy!  When we serve a King who is seeking His own glory and honor first we can trust in the character and nature that He has revealed to us.  We can trust that He will do nothing to harm His own glory and therefore we can rely on Him.  Even in the difficulty we know the promises that He has made and that He, as ruler, will never default on.  

So God reigns - let the people be glad!