The Lord is King

Meditations on Christ in the Psalms 

November 16, 2022

The Lord is King

The Lord is king!

    Let the earth rejoice!

    Let the farthest coastlands be glad.

Psalm 97:1

When preparing sermons, preachers are taught to answer two basic questions: What? And so what? First, what does the text say? Next, what does the text mean to me? How does it apply to my life today? The psalmist in Psalm 97 followed this pattern. He answered the first question using a confession of faith: “The Lord is King!” (v.1a) The psalmist continues confessing God’s nature for six verses and then answers the second question by stating several implications of God’s reign and concluding with: “May all who are godly rejoice in the Lord and praise his holy name!” (v.12)

Psalm 97 is an invitation to the followers of Jesus to respond to the confession: “The Lord is King!” Our response is difficult to formulate because we have been conditioned to think in terms of, “God is my co-pilot,” rather than “The Lord is King!” We talk about entering a relationship with God as though God is our co-equal, but the text of Psalm 97 says, “The Lord is King!”

In responding to this psalm, I remember the New Testament affirms that Jesus came to establish the Kingdom of God, as the angel Gabriel announced to Mary: “And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end’” (Luke 1:31-33 NRSV).

When Jesus began his ministry, he affirmed his mission was about the Kingdom of God by bracketing the Beatitudes with promises of His Kingdom:

“God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him,

    for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right,

    for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.”

(Matthew 5: 3, 10)

My Takeaway: We are conditioned by our culture to think in terms of the decisions and choices we get to make. However, when I am tempted to think that I decided to be a part of Jesus’ Kingdom, Jesus reminds me, “You didn’t choose me. I chose you” (John 15:16a).

“The Lord is King!”

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2022 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.