The Lord Upon His Throne

THE LORD UPON HIS THRONE.

Psalm 93.

This Psalm is about, first and foremost, the Creator God upon His throne. He is “robed with majesty” (Psalm 93:1). He has also, incidentally, “established” the created order.

However, we are not to worship the creation (I interject), as it is only the Creator who is “from all eternity” (Psalm 93:2). There may be aspects of creation which man considers ‘awesome’ - such as the “floods” / seas / literally “rivers” (Psalm 93:3) - but the Creator is without a doubt greater than His creation (Psalm 93:4). Israel was aware of this, having seen His mastery of both the Red Sea, and the River Jordan.

The permanence of the LORD guarantees the permanence of His order. We see this elsewhere in the Bible: ‘The heavens declare the glory of God’ (Psalm 19:1); ‘The law of the LORD is perfect’ (Psalm 19:7); ‘The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring for ever’ (Psalm 19:9). Result: “holiness adorns your house for ever” (Psalm 93:5).

Jesus spoke of ‘a certain nobleman’ who ‘went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return’ (Luke 19:12). Some of the subjects of this nobleman sent a message after him, saying, ‘We will not have this man to reign over us’ (Luke 19:14). Some of Jesus’ hearers may have thought that the ‘nobleman’ represented Herod: but in fact, he represented Jesus.

Forty days after His resurrection, Jesus was taken up in a cloud, and received out of the sight of His disciples (Acts 1:9). This is an earth’s-eye view of the ascension. The disciples were reassured of Jesus’ return (Acts 1:11; cf. Matthew 24:30; Revelation 1:7).

Meanwhile, Jesus was received into heaven to take His seat at the right hand of God (Psalm 110:1). The prophet Daniel was allowed a glimpse of this awesome moment from the perspective of heaven (Daniel 7:13-14).

When the work of new creation (which began with Jesus’ resurrection) is completed, there is another enthronement to come (Revelation 11:15). As we sing, ‘Every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord’ (cf. Philippians 2:10-11). However, be warned: those servants in Jesus’ parable who refused to have their lord to reign over them were dealt with accordingly (Luke 19:27).

In the meantime, the Lord is upon His throne (Psalm 93:1), and reigns for ever (Psalm 93:5).