#DailyDevotion Jesus Is King! Let The Earth Rejoice!
Psalm 97 The LORD is King. Let the earth rejoice, and the many islands be glad. 2Clouds and darkness are around Him. His throne is built on righteousness and justice. 3Fire goes ahead of Him, burning up His enemies all around.
Pulling imagery from when the LORD descended upon Mt. Sinai and spoke to the Israelites, the psalmist looks into the future when our LORD Jesus Christ is made manifest. Jesus is the LORD who is King. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. When He descends to make manifest His rule the earth and everything in it is glad because He will purify them of the evil mankind has perpetrated upon it.
He will descend from the clouds and darkness surrounds Him as He comes to bring judgment upon the inhabitants of the earth. Jesus’ throne is built on righteousness and justice which He will judge the peoples of the earth. He is the judge of the living and the dead, those who believed in Him and those who rejected Him. Those who oppose His reign, who attack His Church, they will be burned up by His purifying fire. It won’t be a pretty sight.
4His lightnings light up the world — seeing it, the earth trembles. 5The mountains melt like wax as they face the LORD, the Master of the whole earth. 6The heavens tell about His righteousness, and all the people of the world see His glory.
It will be a dreadful day for the inhabitants of the earth who rejected His invitation into His kingdom. As the Israelites heard the thunder and saw the lightning on Mt. Sinai the whole earth will see His glory. The mountains, indeed, will melt like wax before Him. The elements will melt as He purifies everything with fire. Jesus is the LORD, the Master of the whole earth. On this day, we will see the heavens tell of His righteousness and the people of the world will see Jesus’ glory as the Son of God. Better to joyfully bend the knee now and enter His kingdom than to be forced to bend the knee at hand who holds the iron rod. Everyone will acknowledge Him as King on that day.
7All who worship images, and brag about vain idols, will come to a shameful end. All the gods bow down to Him. 8Zion is happy to hear it; Judah’s towns are delighted with Your judgments, O LORD. 9You, O LORD, are high above the earth, very high above all gods.
The peoples of the earth put their faith in false gods which cannot save and cannot deliver them. They will meet a shameful end because their gods are not God at all. They looked to them to provide them with every good. They only deliver everlasting shame and death. The gods of the earth, that is, those who rule over mankind will bow down before Jesus. The Church, Zion, will be delighted with Jesus’ judgments. He is high above the earth and very high above all gods, i.e. those who rule over us and make judgments for us. They will be punished for their wickedness.
10If you love the LORD, hate evil. He who preserves the lives of His devoted ones will rescue them from the hands of the wicked. 11Light dawns for the righteous, and joy for those whose hearts are right. 12Be happy in the LORD, you righteous, and praise Him as you remember how holy He is.
Loving the LORD Jesus Christ and hating evil is the beginning of wisdom. All who devoted their lives to Jesus will be preserved on this day. When Jesus returns to judge the world, light will dawn for us and joy will be ours because Jesus is our righteousness. As those whose righteousness is the LORD’s, we can look forward to this day and praise Him for His holiness.
Almighty God and Father, give us faith to trust in Christ Jesus as the King that we may look with joy to the day of His revelation. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.