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The Lord Reigns: Let the Earth Rejoice (Psalm 97) | Charles Spurgeon · Reformed Thinking

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Well hello and welcome back. This is reformed thinking.
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I am so glad you decided to set aside some time to just sit down
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and join us today. We are back at the Table, 2
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friends, 2 believers trying to get our heads around the truth
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of scripture. Yeah, it is.
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It is really good to be back. And we do that, as always,
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standing on the shoulders of the giants who came before us, the
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Protestant Reformation and the confessions that came out of.
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It right. The Westminster Confession being
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our our guidepost here and we have quite the task ahead of us
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today. We really do.
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We are pulling a very heavy volume off the shelf.
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We are opening up Charles Spurgeon's The Treasury of
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David. Which is just such a gift to the
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church. I mean, it's not just Spurgeon
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giving us his own thoughts, though those are obviously
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valuable enough on their own. Oh, absolutely.
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He acts as a curator. He pulls in Augustine.
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He pulls in John Calvin, the Puritans like John Owen, and
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Richard Sibbs. It is like a choir of the
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greatest theological minds in history, all singing the same
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song. And the song they're singing
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today is Psalm 97. Now, before we get into the
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text, I want to set the stage a bit for you.
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We live in a time that feels, well, it feels shaky.
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Yeah, that is one word for. It you turn on the news and it
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is political upheaval, rumors of wars, economic instability,
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there is this low level hum of anxiety that just seems to sit
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in the background of modern life.
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It's the background radiation of the 21st century, just always
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buzzing. Right, always there.
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And the mission for this deep dive into the source material is
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to see if this ancient text, this poem written thousands of
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years ago, can it address that specific anxiety?
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We are looking at the absolute sovereignty of God.
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But not just as a dry doctrine for a seminary classroom.
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We want to see how the phrase the Lord Reyneth changes how a
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person actually sleeps at night. From the Cosmic Throne right
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down to the pillow you rest your head on.
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I love that. So let's jump right into it.
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Section 1 The Psalm opens with a thesis statement right in verse
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one. The Lord Reyneth.
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Spurgeon calls this the watchword of the Psalm.
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He does think about a military watchword.
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It is the phrase you use to identify yourself in the dark,
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to prove you are a friend and not an enemy.
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Right to clear the perimeter. For the Christian, the Lord
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reigneth is our identity. It is the core of the gospel
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proclamation. If you strip away all the
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secondary issues, the absolute foundation of the Kingdom is
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that Jesus Christ has come. All authority is His, and He is
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the King. But Spurgeon points out a very
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interesting dynamic here. He says this phrase acts like a
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separator. It divides the room.
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He writes that Saints draw comfort from these words, but
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rebels Cavill at them. Cavill.
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Now that is a great word. It really is.
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It means to make petty objections.
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The rebellious heart hears that God is in charge and immediately
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gets defensive. They say, well, what about my
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freedom? What about my rights if he is in
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charge? Why is this specific thing
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happening to me? It feels like a threat to their
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autonomy. Because they are comparing his
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reign to human reigns. And that is a fair fear if we
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are talking about humans. I mean, history is basically a
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catalog of bad kings. Spot on.
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Human reigns have produced injustice, oppression,
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bloodshed, terror. So when a Sinner hears the Lord
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reigneth, they project all that human tyranny onto God.
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They think if he has absolute control I am in massive danger.
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But the psalmist says the opposite.
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He says, the Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice.
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Because the reign of Jehovah is the hope of mankind.
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When the race yields to it, paradise is restored.
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There is a story in the source material that I think perfectly
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captures this shift from anxiety to rest.
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It involves a man named Bolstrode Whitelock.
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Bolstrode, Whitelock. You don't hear a name like that
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everyday. We really should bring it back,
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but he was a very significant figure.
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He was Oliver Cromwell's envoy to Sweden in 1653.
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Now we need to contextualize that date for a second 1653.
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This is an incredibly chaotic time.
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The English Civil War has torn the country apart.
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The king has been executed, Cromwell is in charge, but the
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government is fragile to say the least.
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Everyone is watching them. Right.
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The nations of Europe are eyeing England suspiciously, so
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Whitelock is sent to Sweden to negotiate a treaty that could
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literally determine whether the nation survives or completely
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collapses. That is immense pressure for one
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guy to carry massive. So the story goes that Whitelock
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is at the port town of Harvich. It is the night before he has to
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board the ship. The weather is bad outside.
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The political situation is horse and he is just spiraling.
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He is tossing and turning in bed.
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His mind racing with all the what ifs, he is carrying the
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weight of the whole nation on his chest and back then a
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confidential servant often slept in the same room or the adjacent
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room. The servant hears him sighing
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and groaning. And this servant, who clearly
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had a good relationship with his boss, he speaks up in the dark.
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I love the boldness of this guy. He asked.
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Pray, Sir, will you give me leave to ask you a question?
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Whitelock says yes, and the servant asks, Pray, Sir, do you
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think God governed the world very well before you came into
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it? It is a bit cheeky, isn't it?
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Oh, completely. Whitelock has to answer.
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Undoubtedly. Then the servant drops the
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second question. And pray, Sir, do you think that
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he will govern it quite as well when you are gone out of it?
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Whitelock replies. Certainly.
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And here comes the closer the servant says.
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Then pray, Sir, excuse me, but do not you think you may trust
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him to govern it quite as well as long as you live?
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It is brilliant logic, just undeniable.
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If God handled history before you were born, and he will
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handle it after you die, why is this tiny little slice of time,
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your life suddenly dependent on you, holding it all together?
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The source says Whitelock had absolutely nothing to reply.
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He just turned over and went to. Sleep, that is the theology of
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Psalm 97, applied the doctrine of sovereignty provided a
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literal physical rest for his anxious mind.
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It shows that good theology is not just for the classroom, it
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is for the pillow. It is ground level reality.
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Now moving on in verse one, we have this phrase.
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Let the multitude of the aisles be glad thereof.
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The aisles. Now to the ancient Israelite,
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this didn't mean a tropical vacation spot.
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The term usually referred to maritime regions or any land
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that was reached by ships. So essentially the Gentiles.
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Right, the ends of the earth. Spurgeon makes an observation
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here about missions. He notes that actual islands,
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Great Britain, Polynesia, and Madagascar have often been the
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sites of the greatest Gospel victories.
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He actually calls Britain our own favored land and says Jesus
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deserves to be Lord of the Isles.
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He does, but there's also an allegorical interpretation from
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Augustine that I find intensely moving.
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Augustine suggests that the Isles represent the churches.
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Why Islands? Think about what an island
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actually is. It is a piece of solid ground
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surrounded by the sea. In biblical imagery, the sea
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almost always represents chaos. The restless nations, the
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hostile world. Oh, I see.
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So the church is this solid ground surrounded by the roaring
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ocean of culture, temptation, persecution.
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The waves dash against it constantly.
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They do. The storms howl, but the promise
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is that the island stands fixed, Augustine says.
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The waves break against the island.
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The island is not broken by the waves.
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That is a beautiful image of stability.
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We often feel like the culture is eroding the church or that we
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are just going to be swallowed up by the sea.
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But the Psalm says the Lord reigns over the Isles the island
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holds. It holds because of who the King
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is. And that brings us to Section 2.
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The imagery shifts from the sea to the sky.
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Verse 2 says clouds and darkness around about him.
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The visuals of deity, it feels very Old Testament, very Sinai.
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Oh, it is. The source material highlights
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the biblical patterns of Revelation.
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At Sinai there were thunders, lightnings, thick clouds.
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At Solomon's temple, the glory filled the house, but it was a
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cloud so thick the priest couldn't even minister.
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Even at the transfiguration of Jesus, a bright cloud
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overshadowed them. Spurgeon and Robert Hall as well
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discussed this as a theological paradox.
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They used the term obvolation. Obvolation.
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That is not a word you hear every day.
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It just means availing. The idea is that every
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revelation of God must also be availing.
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Because of our limits as created beings, right?
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Precisely. We are finite creatures.
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If we were to behold infinite splendor without a filter, we
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would be destroyed. It would be like standing on the
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actual surface of the sun. God conceals himself in order to
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reveal Himself safely to us. So the darkness is actually a
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profound mercy. It is a protective filter.
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But there is another layer to this clouds and darkness that
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touches on our daily lives. It speaks to Providence.
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We look at our lives, the confusion, the tragedy, the
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closed doors, and we ask, why is this so dark?
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If God is good, why can't see the plan?
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We want clear skies constantly. We want the road map handed to
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us. But the source explains that in
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Providence, God is often working out designs of pure love, but he
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conceals the purpose until the end.
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There is a quote in the notes that says it is the glory of God
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to conceal a thing. And it is the humility of man to
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accept that concealment. We have this terrible tendency
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to want to arraign the Most High before the bar of human reason.
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We put him on trial. We do.
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We demand he explain his dark provinces, but the text points
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out that clouds around about him.
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We are not qualified to audit his books.
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But the comfort is there too, because even when the cloud is
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completely dark, the Lord is within it.
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He hasn't left, He's just veiled from our sight.
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That is the anchor for the believer, and that anchor holds
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because of the very next line. Righteousness and judgement are
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the habitation of His throne. I really appreciated the
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distinction the source made here between an autocrat and a
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despot. These words sound similar in
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modern politics, but theologically they are worlds
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apart. It is a crucial distinction.
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Jehovah is an autocrat that comes from the Greek autos
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meaning self and Kratos meaning might or dominion.
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It means he possesses absolute independent authority.
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He doesn't answer to voters. No, he doesn't rely on a
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parliament. He is completely
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self-sufficient. But he is not a destit.
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Definitely not. A despot acts tyrannically.
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A despot is erratic, unprincipled, acting on wild
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whims. God's absolute rule is safe
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because it is in the hands of one who cannot air or act
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unrighteously. He is bound by his own perfect
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character. Samuel Slater had a beautiful
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insight on this in the commentaries.
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He said that if the world were to begin again, God would not
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alter a single title of history. That is a staggering view of
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Providence. Slater compares the dark
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passages of Providence, the things we struggle so hard to
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understand, to well placed shades in a painting.
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Like in a Kira Skiro painting. Heavy contrast.
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Exactly that without the dark shades, the beauty of the light
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wouldn't be as visible. God's judgement and even the
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suffering He allows sets off the beauty of His work.
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It is a masterpiece, but we are often standing way too close to
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the canvas to see the whole picture.
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We just see the black paint. It changes how you view your own
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suffering entirely. It is not a mistake, it is a
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well placed shade by the master artist.
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And that righteousness is administered through what the
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source calls the four Thrones of God.
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This comes from Samuel Davies. In Section 3 he breaks down how
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the Lord reigns. It is a very systematic look at
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divine government. It is helpful to categorize it.
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The first is the throne of legislation.
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God acting as the Supreme Lawgiver.
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And Davies points out that we should rejoice in this.
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Imagine a universe where there was a Creator.
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He never told us what he wanted. We would be in constant anxiety,
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just guessing at the rules. But God has spoken.
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He has not left humanity and perplexity about duty.
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And unlike human laws, which only police outward behavior,
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God's laws reach the inner man. They touch the heart itself.
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Right second is the Throne of Providence.
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This is God governing all creatures and all actions.
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He is making the wrath of man to praise Him.
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He is managing the chaotic affairs of nations to suit his
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own ends. Then there's the third throne,
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the one we run to when we fail the 1st 2:00.
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The throne of grace. This is the mediatorial
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government of Messiah. For the guilty Sinner, the first
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two Thrones, Law and Providence, can be utterly terrifying.
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The law condemns US. Providence might crush us.
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But the throne of grace. That is where the king holds out
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the golden scepter. This is where we find mercy.
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And finally. The throne of judgement.
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This is the future final universal judgement, where God's
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rectitude is fully vindicated before all creation.
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It is the guarantee that every single wrong will be made right.
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So when we say the Lord reigneth, we are referring to
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all four of these aspects. Law, Providence, Grace,
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Judgement. That is such a helpful
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framework. Now as we move to Section 4 and
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verse 3, the imagery becomes very dynamic.
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King is on the move. A fire goeth before him.
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This is the advance guard. The imagery is of an eastern
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monarch or a judge traveling in state.
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He has these javelin man clearing the way before him.
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You cannot approach the king without dealing with the fire
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first. Spurgeon in August didn't point
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out the dual nature of this fire.
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It acts in 2 completely different ways, Yeah.
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On one hand, it is wrath. It is omnipotence consuming
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opposition. We are brought to mind that
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while God is long-suffering, when he eventually moves in
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judgement, he makes short work of the unrighteous.
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They're just chaffed before the flame.
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But on the other hand, it is grace.
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Think of Pentecost, the tongues of fire.
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This is the gospel burning its way through superstition,
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unbelief, indifference. It consumes the dross to save
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the gold. I loved the insight from Bernard
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here. He says the fervor of holy
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desire is a fire that precedes the Lord's arrival in a soul.
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It is a brilliant psychological observation, Bernard says.
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This fire burns up the mildew of sin to make the heart ready.
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Think about times of spiritual renewal in your own life.
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Before the peace comes. There is often a burning, a deep
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conviction, A restlessness, a total dissatisfaction with the
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world. Like a fever that has to break.
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That is the fire clearing the way for the king to take up
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residence. And following the fire is the
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illumination. Verse 4 says his lightnings
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enlighten the world. This speaks to the suddenness
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and the sheer width of the Gospels spread.
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If you look at the Apostolic times, the word didn't just
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trickle out slowly, it flashed. It went from one end of the
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heavens to the other. It was incredibly fast.
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I mean from Jerusalem to Rome in a single generation.
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And the reaction, the text says, was that the earth saw and
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trembled. It turned the world upside down.
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Philosophers, priests, Princess, they were all confounded by this
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Thunderbolt of truth. It wasn't just a gradual
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philosophical debate over centuries, it was a strike of
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lightning that completely shattered the status quo.
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And that striking force leads us to the response of nature and
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nations in Section 5. Verse 5 says the hills melted
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like wax at the presence of the Lord.
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This is honestly one of my favorite images in the whole
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Psalm. What do the hills represent here
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specifically? Symbolically, hills represent
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the height of human pride. They represent established
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kingdoms, colossal systems of error, anything that exalts
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itself against the knowledge of God, things that look totally
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permanent to us. And wax represents their
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instability. The contrast is the key.
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The source makes a brilliant point here.
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Men cannot move hills without incredible toil.
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We have to dig tunnels, use dynamite, build massive roads.
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It takes years of Labor, but God removes obstacles by His mere
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presence. He doesn't have to strike them,
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he just has to be there. Absolutely, and that is such a
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comforting application for the individual believer.
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We all have hills of difficulty in our lives, or perhaps hills
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of lust within our own nature that feel completely immovable.
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We try to climb them or dig through them with self help and
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sheer willpower. And we usually fail miserably.
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But the promise is that the presence of Jesus melts the
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heart to penitence and obedience, just like soft wax.
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The hardness of the human heart simply cannot withstand the
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proximity of the Divine Presence.
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Verse 6 continues this public demonstration.
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The heavens declare his righteousness.
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Musculus points out that this is a totally public demonstration.
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It is not done in a dark corner. Not only do the wicked see it
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and panic, but all the people, the righteous, see it for
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edification. The universe itself is
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conscripted to act as a herald to preach the righteousness of
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Jehovah. Which naturally leads to a
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conflict with false systems. You can't have the true God
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revealing Himself without exposing the fakes.
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Section Silts addresses the war on idolatry.
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Verse 7 says confounded be all they that serve graven images.
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Spurgeon has a bit of wit here. He says a man who worships an
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image is himself the image of a man, meaning his senses have
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completely left him. It is absurd when you think
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about it, worshipping something you made with your own hands.
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It's the absolute height of folly.
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You carve a block of wood, and then you ask it to save you.
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And the prophecy is that shame shall cover the faces of
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idolaters. But then we get this sweeping
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command in the text. Worship him, all ye gods.
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Now this requires some digging. John Owen, the great Puritan
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theologian, does a massive analysis here on the word Lohim.
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Who are these gods being commanded to worship?
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Right, Owen breaks it down systematically.
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First, are they heathen idols? No, because idols are nothings
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they can't worship. You can't command a stone block
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to bow down. Exactly.
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Second, are they magistrates? Sometimes in Scripture,
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magistrates are called Elohim because they hold a position of
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human judgement. But Owen argues the context here
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suggests something way higher. This is a cosmic scene, not a
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local courtroom. So what is his conclusion?
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They are angels. And there is a specific biblical
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cross reference that supports this.
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Yes, Hebrews chapter one, verse 6.
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The author of Hebrews quotes this very Psalm.
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But all the angels of God worship him and applies it
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directly to Jesus Christ. So the theological implication
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of that is massive. It is a bedrock truth that
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proves the deity of Christ. If the highest created powers,
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the angels themselves who dwell in the heavenlies, must
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recognize the supremacy of the sun, then the sun cannot
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possibly be a creature, He must be God.
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But there is also a poetic sense in which the false gods of the
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nations are brought low. The source gives us this vivid
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visualization. Jove doing homage to Jehovah.
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Thor laying down his hammer at the foot of the cross.
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That is a striking image, all the myths and false rulers of
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the world realizing they are just vaporous shadows bowing
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before the Carpenter of Nazareth.
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Who is the actual King of Glory? Amen to that.
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Now while the idols are confounded, the reaction of the
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church is very different. Section 7 verse 8 says Zion
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heard and was glad. Here we have a sharp contrast.
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The earth trembles. The idolaters are confounded,
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but Zion, the church, is glad. Calvin has a really specific
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note on the word heard. He asks why heard and not seen.
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It is because of the age we currently live in.
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We walk by faith, not by sight. The gospel is spread to distant
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quarters by report, by preaching.
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We haven't seen the final victory with our physical eyes
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yet. We haven't seen the final
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judgement, but we have heard the report from the front lines.
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And we believe the report. And believing, we rejoice.
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We anticipate the blessing by hope before the full vision
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arrives. The nature of that joy is
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described as unalloyed delight. It is the pure joy of seeing God
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exalted. The believer is glad when false
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systems are broken. The source compares this to the
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custom of Judea, the women singing and dancing after
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David's victory over Goliath. It is a vicarious victory.
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Yes, the women of Judah didn't go out and kill the giant.
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David did. But his victory guaranteed their
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safety. In the exact same way Christ
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defeats the powers of darkness and the Church.
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The daughters of Judah rejoice entirely in his triumph.
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Now this joy leads to a specific ethical demand on our lives.
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We are not just passive observers, we are participants.
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Section 8 verse 10 says You that love the Lord hate evil.
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This is the ethics of love. You simply cannot love God
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without hating what he hates. The 2 are completely
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inseparable. If you are indifferent to idol,
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your love for God is highly suspect.
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Richard Sibbs provides a diagnostic here for true hatred
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of sin. I think this is so helpful for
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self examination to see if we really hate sin or if we just
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hate the consequences of getting caught.
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It is tough medicine to swallow. Sibbs gives us 4 specific marks.
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First, true hatred must be universal.
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You must hate all sin, not just the ones that are inconvenient
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or socially embarrassing. You can't hate your neighbor's
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pride but coddle your own private greed.
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Right, it has to be across the board 2nd.
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It must be fixed. There is no passing it.
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You don't make a truce with sin. You don't say, well, I'll be
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holy on Sunday, but Friday night is mine.
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It is a permanent, unrelenting war.
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It must be implacable. It is more rooted than mere
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anger. Anger can subside over time.
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Hatred of evil persists. It is a settled stance of the
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soul against rebellion. And the fourth one really struck
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me when I read it. It must start with self, Sib
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says. You must hate the toad in your
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own bosom. It is incredibly easy to hate
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evil and others in the culture, in the opposing political party.
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But true hatred of evil starts by looking at the corruption in
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your own heart. Hating the toad in your own
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bosom, that is convicting. But there is a protection
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promise right after that. In verse 10, He preserveth the
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souls of his Saints. We need to be very precise here.
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The source makes a sharp distinction between body and
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soul. God may leave the bodies of
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persecuted Saints in the hands of the wicked.
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We know this from history. Martyrs have died.
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Christians get sick, but he never ever leaves their souls.
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Musculus makes a distinction between preservation and
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deliverance. Yes, preservation is keeping
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them from falling away from the faith.
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Deliverance is rescuing them from the peril itself.
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God always preserves the soul. He sometimes delivers the body,
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but the soul is completely safe in His hand.
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No one can pluck them out. That brings us to section 9 and
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honestly perhaps the most beautiful metaphor in the entire
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Psalm. Verse 11 says light is sown for
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the righteous. The agricultural image light is
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treated like a literal seed. Which means there is a waiting
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period involved. The seed lies concealed in the
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dark furrow under the cheerless clod of dirt.
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It does. It implies burial.
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When you plant a seed, it looks exactly like you were burying
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it. It is dark, it looks like death,
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and this speaks to the experience of the Christian who
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feels they are in total darkness.
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The light has been sown, it is underground, it is germinating.
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It is not dead, it is growing out of sight.
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There is a scientific illustration from Hugh McMillan
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in the source material that explains this concept of dark
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light. It is fascinating.
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He talks about the spectrum of the sun and fraud Hoffer's
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lines. When you look at the spectrum of
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sunlight through a prism, there are bright bands of color, but
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there are also dark lines, distinct breaks in the light.
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And McMillan says those dark lines are crucial.
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Scientists tell us that we learned vastly more about the
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chemical composition of the universe from those dark lines
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and from the bright bands. The spiritual application is
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that our spiritual discernment often grows to the dark,
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distinct process of doubting and difficulty.
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We learn more of God in the dark lines of our life than in the
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bright bands of easy success. John Barlow adds a list of
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secret harvests to this things that are hidden right now, just
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like the sown seed. He lists the decree of God that
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is a hidden depth we can't fully see yet.
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Regeneration. Nicodemus couldn't understand it
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because it was hidden in the heart.
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Peace of conscience, the world can't see that peace.
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And finally, the glory hid with Christ in heaven.
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Right leads to light. The harvest is absolutely
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certain. It is the winter might be long,
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but the spring is coming. And this brings us to the final
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exhortation in section 10, verse 12.
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Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous.
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But notice the restriction there.
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This joy is only for the upright in heart.
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It completely bars out the hypocrite.
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If you aren't fighting that war against the toad in your bosom,
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this comfort isn't for you. And the specific focus of
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Thanksgiving is really interesting at the remembrance
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of His Holiness. Why holiness?
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Why not His love or His grace? That is the big question.
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Usually holiness is the scary attribute that makes us tremble.
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But here we rejoice in it because holiness is the perfect
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harmony of all God's attributes. And as Chalmers notes, holiness
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ensures that evil cannot dwell with God forever.
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Therefore, the world will eventually be delivered from
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wickedness. So we rejoice in His Holiness
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because it is the rock solid guarantee that evil has an
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expiration date. Precisely.
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It is the terror of the wicked, but the absolute guarantee of
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the Saint. It means the rescue is coming
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and it cannot be stopped. Henry Grove gives us a
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definition of rejoicing in the Lord that I think acts as a
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really good filter for. Us, he says.
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It's not just rejoicing in God's gifts, but in his very existence
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and perfections, and it acts as a filter.
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We enjoy creative things, family, work, food, but we do
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not lose ourselves in the maze of delight.
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Our principal happiness is lodged entirely in the Creator
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Himself. We don't get lost in the maze.
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I like that phrasing it. Keeps our priorities perfectly
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aligned. So to summarize this deep dive
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into Psalm 97, the stated mission of the Psalm is to
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establish the heart in the absolute certainty of God's
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reign. We have moved from the terror of
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the storm and the melting hills to the quiet confidence of the
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seeds sown in the ground. It is a progression from a
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cosmic majesty down to the personal reality.
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And it answers that initial question we started with How do
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we sleep at night? We sleep because the Lord reigns
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and because light is sown for us, even if we cannot see it
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breaking the soil just yet. I want to leave you with a final
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thought today, connecting a couple of threads we have
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discussed. We talked about the aisles,
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those isolated, battered places facing the roaring sea.
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And we talked about the Sone light, the seed hidden in the
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dark furrow, right? If God's reign is absolute, even
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over the aisles, then perhaps the island in your life, that
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specific place where you feel abandoned, isolated and battered
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by the waves, is exactly where the light is currently being
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sown underground. It feels like a burial, but it
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is actually a planting. That is the truth to hold on to.
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The isolation is the very soil for the light.
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I would encourage everyone listening to open your Bibles to
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Psalm 97 this week. Read it slowly.
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Read the Treasury of David if you can get your hands on a
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copy. Let these truths settle down
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into your soul. It will change how you view the
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world around you and how you view your God.
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Thank you for joining us for this deep dive on reformed
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thinking. It has been a pleasure.
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Until next time, may you find rest in the reign of the Lord.