Latest / Reformed Thinking / The Lord Reigns: Clothed in Majesty (Psalm 93) | Charles Spurgeon

Transcript

The Lord Reigns: Clothed in Majesty (Psalm 93) | Charles Spurgeon · Reformed Thinking

• 0:00
  Welcome to Reformed thinking. It is really good to have you
• 0:03
  with us for another session where we try to get our minds
• 0:06
  aligned with the mind of God as revealed in Scripture.
• 0:09
  It is good to be here and I think that word you just used,
• 0:12
  alignment, is spot on. We spend so much of our week
• 0:15
  just being pulled out of alignment by the world, don't
• 0:17
  we? Oh absolutely we do.
• 0:19
  I mean, if you look at the headlines today or even just
• 0:23
  scroll through your social media feed for 5 minutes, it is so
• 0:26
  easy to feel this overwhelming sense of Vertigo.
• 0:29
  Yeah, word goes good go to describe.
• 0:31
  It right. It feels like the world is just
• 0:33
  spinning totally out of control. We see political turmoil that
• 0:37
  seems to have no bottom, societal shifts that leave us
• 0:40
  dizzy. And on top of that, we all have
• 0:42
  our own personal anxieties that, you know, keep us up at night.
• 0:45
  It is the common condition of man in a fallen world.
• 0:47
  We look for stability in an environment defined by entropy
• 0:51
  and chaos, and when the foundation seem to be shaking,
• 0:54
  the question is always the same. Where do we look for a fixed
• 0:58
  point? Precisely where is the fulcrum
• 1:00
  that does not move? Indeed, and that is why I'm
• 1:04
  really looking forward to what we are doing today.
• 1:06
  We are taking a step back from the noise of the new cycle and
• 1:10
  stepping into the Treasury of David by Charles Spurgeon.
• 1:13
  Which is an incredible resource. It really is.
• 1:16
  Specifically, we are going to look at Psalm 93 today.
• 1:20
  Psalm 93 is a short Psalm, but it is incredibly dense.
• 1:24
  Spurgeon treats it like a diamond, you know.
• 1:26
  It's small, but harder and sharper than anything else
• 1:29
  around it. It cuts right through the glass
• 1:32
  of our fragility. So the mission for this session
• 1:34
  is simple. We want to extract the gold from
• 1:37
  Spurgeon's commentary and also look at some of the other
• 1:39
  theologians he references, men like Alfred Etter, Time and
• 1:43
  Venema. Excellent choices.
• 1:44
  We want to get to the bottom of the doctrine of omnipotent
• 1:47
  sovereignty because Spurgeon calls this the sweeter and sure
• 1:50
  consolation. Sweeter and sure consolation.
• 1:53
  That is the phrase that anchors our whole study today.
• 1:56
  You know the Psalm has No title, and we do not actually know who
• 1:59
  the author was, but the subject is written in bold letters right
• 2:02
  in the first line. The Lord reigneth.
• 2:04
  That is the thesis statement. Spurgeon suggests that
• 2:07
  historically, this might have been written when the nation of
• 2:10
  Israel was in grave danger from its enemies.
• 2:12
  So the political situation was likely dire.
• 2:14
  Very dire. The people of God needed to be
• 2:17
  encouraged, and the encouragement wasn't don't
• 2:19
  worry, our army is strong or we have a great political strategy.
• 2:23
  The encouragement was strictly theological.
• 2:25
  Jehovah is king. It is a totally counterintuitive
• 2:28
  move. I mean, usually when we are in
• 2:30
  trouble, we look for pragmatic solutions.
• 2:32
  We want a plan, we want a budget, we want a timeline.
• 2:35
  But the psalmist gives us a doctrine.
• 2:37
  Because a plan can fail. A doctrine, if it is true,
• 2:40
  cannot fail. A plan is contingent on human
• 2:43
  ability. A doctrine rests on the nature
• 2:45
  of God. Let's look at verse one.
• 2:47
  The Lord reigneth. Spurgeon highlights this
• 2:50
  wonderful image of the Eternal King sitting in supreme serenity
• 2:53
  above the clouds. Supreme Serenity.
• 2:55
  Yeah, it's such a stark contrast to how we usually picture
• 2:58
  leadership today, which is often frantic and reactive.
• 3:01
  Right. It seems like modern leadership
• 3:03
  is defined by how fast you can react to a crisis.
• 3:07
  But this image is of a king who is not reacting at all.
• 3:10
  He is acting, not reacting, and there is a nuance in the text
• 3:13
  that is fascinating. The phrasing suggests that God,
• 3:17
  for a time, might have appeared to vacate the throne, at least
• 3:20
  of the human eye. Things look chaotic.
• 3:22
  But then suddenly he puts on his regal apparel.
• 3:27
  He asserts his dominion. So it is not that he wasn't king
• 3:30
  before, but now he is making it obvious.
• 3:32
  Precisely. It is a revelation of kingship.
• 3:35
  He reveals his glory and the text says he is clothed with
• 3:38
  majesty. Now we need to be careful here.
• 3:40
  When a human king is clothed with majesty, he put on a robe,
• 3:44
  a crown, maybe hold the scepter. Right, those are emblems.
• 3:47
  Exactly. They are costumes of dominion.
• 3:49
  If you take the robe and crown off a human king, he looks just
• 3:53
  like any other man. He shivers in the cold like
• 3:55
  anyone else. That is the point.
• 3:57
  But Spurgeon knows that with God it is different.
• 4:00
  He is not clothed with the emblems of majesty, He is
• 4:03
  clothed with majesty itself. Reality versus semblance.
• 4:07
  A human king looks like a king because of what he wears.
• 4:10
  God is king because of what he is.
• 4:12
  That is a distinction I hadn't thought of.
• 4:14
  So the majesty isn't an accessory.
• 4:16
  It is essential in nature, in Providence, in salvation.
• 4:20
  He is infinite in majesty. It is his substance.
• 4:25
  And the Psalm goes on to say, He is clothed with strength,
• 4:28
  wherewith he hath girded himself.
• 4:29
  I appreciate that metaphor of the girdle.
• 4:31
  In the ancient world. You girded yourself when you
• 4:33
  were getting ready to work or to fight.
• 4:35
  Correct. That is correct, and it implies
• 4:37
  action. God is always strong, but here
• 4:39
  he is displaying His strength in a special manner.
• 4:42
  He is preparing for conflict. He is girded with omnipotence.
• 4:46
  And I think we should bring in the note from Venema.
• 4:48
  Here he points out that the name used is Jehovah.
• 4:51
  The covenant name the great I am in.
• 4:53
  Yes, and Venema argues that this name implies veracity, grace and
• 4:57
  justice. So when we say Jehovah reigns,
• 5:00
  we aren't just saying a strong force is in charge.
• 5:03
  Because that could be terrifying.
• 5:04
  A tyrant has strength. Exactly.
• 5:06
  We are saying the God of truth, the God of grace, and the God of
• 5:08
  justice is in charge. His reign is absolute over the
• 5:11
  universe, but it is specific over the Church.
• 5:13
  That brings a lot of comfort. It is not a blind energy
• 5:16
  reigning, it is Jehovah. But the verse continues with the
• 5:19
  cause and effect statement that I think is really relevant to
• 5:22
  our discussion about anxiety. It says the world also
• 5:26
  established that it cannot be moved.
• 5:28
  The logic is inescapable. Because Jehovah reigns, the
• 5:33
  world is established. If you take away the reign of
• 5:36
  God, you take away the stability of the world.
• 5:38
  Spurgeon has some very sharp social commentary on this.
• 5:41
  He says atheism is the mother of anarchy.
• 5:44
  That is a strong statement. It is, but follow his reasoning.
• 5:47
  He argues that without God, society becomes, as he puts it,
• 5:51
  a football, the basis of mankind.
• 5:53
  Football. Yes.
• 5:55
  If there is no higher moral law, no sovereign governor, then
• 5:59
  brute force is the only thing that matters, and whoever is the
• 6:02
  most ruthless gets to kick the football.
• 6:04
  That is a terrifying image society as a football being
• 6:07
  kicked around by the worst people.
• 6:08
  And we see that in history, don't we?
• 6:10
  When the concept of a sovereign God is removed, the state
• 6:13
  becomes God or the dictator becomes God.
• 6:15
  And those little gods are cruel. But Spurgeon goes even deeper
• 6:19
  than sociology. He goes to physics.
• 6:22
  He says that even the globe itself is held in its orbit by
• 6:25
  the Lord. If God didn't hold it, the earth
• 6:28
  would fly through space like Thistle down across the common.
• 6:31
  Thistle down, just a weed seed blowing in the wind.
• 6:34
  That is what our planet is, without the sustaining strength
• 6:36
  of God. It is a sobering thought
• 6:38
  regarding our fragility. We often think the laws of
• 6:41
  nature are these independent, self-sustaining machines.
• 6:44
  We think gravity just works because it works.
• 6:47
  Right, like a clockwork universe.
• 6:49
  But the reformed view, and certainly Edertheim's view is
• 6:52
  that pre established law and personal government go hand in
• 6:55
  hand. God isn't an absentee landlord.
• 6:58
  He is actively upholding the world he created by the word of
• 7:01
  His strength. There is a note from Fawcett in
• 7:03
  the source material that really struck me.
• 7:05
  He talks about the counter proclamation.
• 7:08
  Yes, this is very insightful. You see the world system weather
• 7:13
  is Assyria in the ancient days, or the Antichrist in the last
• 7:16
  days, or just the secular spirit of our own age is always
• 7:19
  screaming a proclamation. The world screams the Assyrian
• 7:23
  reigneth, or man reigneth, or money reigneth.
• 7:27
  It is a loud scream. It is everywhere.
• 7:29
  It is deafening. It dominates our media.
• 7:32
  But Psalm 93 is God's counter proclamation against all the
• 7:36
  arrogance of the world systems. The Holy Spirit simply says the
• 7:39
  Lord reigneth. I love that it is the ultimate
• 7:41
  reality check. The world system might have its
• 7:44
  little moment, but it is a lie. The truth is the Lord.
• 7:48
  And that leads perfectly into verse 2 because it addresses the
• 7:51
  timing of this reign. Thy throne is established of
• 7:53
  old. Thou art from everlasting.
• 7:55
  I think for us, living in a democracy where leadership
• 7:57
  changes every few years, it is hard to grasp the concept of an
• 8:01
  eternal throne. We are used to upstarts.
• 8:03
  We are used to regimes that come and go.
• 8:05
  But Spurgeon invites us to compare God's throne with
• 8:08
  earthly dynasties. He calls the earthly dynasties
• 8:10
  the bubble on the breaker. A bubble on a breaking wave,
• 8:13
  born an instant ago and gone as soon as it is seen.
• 8:16
  Think about the Roman Empire or the British Empire or the Third
• 8:19
  Reich. In the scope of eternity, they
• 8:22
  are just bubbles. They pop and they are gone, but
• 8:25
  God's throne is established to fold.
• 8:27
  The Hebrew there implies from then.
• 8:30
  From when? From eternity without beginning,
• 8:33
  before time was the throne was set up, and it continues until
• 8:37
  then, eternity without end. So what does that mean for the
• 8:40
  believer today? When you are sitting in traffic
• 8:43
  worrying about the economy or a medical diagnosis, how does an
• 8:47
  eternal throne help you? It means we are citizens of a
• 8:50
  government that cannot collapse. We live under an immortal ruler.
• 8:53
  The Kingdom of God cannot be shaken by the rebellions of
• 8:56
  mortals. Lorinus, another commentator in
• 8:58
  the treasury, adds a brilliant theological point here.
• 9:01
  He says that God did not need creation to acquire perfection
• 9:05
  or dignity. Right, He didn't become king
• 9:07
  because he made a world to rule over.
• 9:09
  Indeed, he remained the same in himself before the world was
• 9:13
  formed. He doesn't need us.
• 9:15
  He doesn't need the world to be who he is.
• 9:18
  His authority is intrinsic, not derived, and that makes his
• 9:21
  throne immovable. If his kingship depended on us,
• 9:25
  it would be shaky because we are shaky, but since it depends only
• 9:29
  on him, it is fixed. But, and here's the but, even
• 9:33
  though the throne is fixed, it doesn't mean there is no
• 9:34
  conflict. First 3 introduces the
• 9:37
  antagonists. The floods have lifted up, O
• 9:39
  Lord. The floods have lifted up their
• 9:41
  voice. The floods lift up their waves.
• 9:44
  The metaphor of the sea. Throughout Scripture, the sea
• 9:48
  often represents chaos, the nation's the restless, raging
• 9:51
  force of uncodly humanity. Here the word floods is
• 9:55
  capitalized. These are men raging like angry
• 9:57
  waves. Spurgeon makes a distinction
• 9:59
  here between the voice and the waves.
• 10:01
  Let's unpack that for a second. He does.
• 10:03
  The floods have lifted up their voice that represents the
• 10:05
  furious words, the blasphemy, the threats.
• 10:07
  It is the noise of the enemy. But then it says the floods lift
• 10:11
  up their waves. That represents the acts of
• 10:13
  violence. So it moves from speech to
• 10:15
  action. Exactly.
• 10:17
  It is one thing to hear someone threaten you, it is another do
• 10:20
  you see them coming at you with a weapon?
• 10:22
  So we have noise and we have violence.
• 10:24
  And notice the repetition. It is said three times the
• 10:27
  floods have lifted up. The floods have lifted up their
• 10:29
  voice, the floods lift up their waves.
• 10:31
  This suggests the frequency and the intensity of the assault.
• 10:35
  It is not a one time event. The enemies of God are
• 10:38
  constantly assaulting His government.
• 10:40
  There is a comparison in the notes to Virgil's Aeneid.
• 10:44
  Yes, Morris brings this in. It is a classic literary
• 10:47
  connection. Virgil describes the Grecian
• 10:50
  army breaking into Troy like a foaming flood, sweeping away the
• 10:54
  cattle and the cots, the cottages.
• 10:56
  It destroys everything in his path.
• 10:57
  A total wipeout. Yes, that is what the enemies of
• 11:00
  the church try to do. They want to sweep away the
• 11:02
  structure of God's Kingdom. It feels like that sometimes,
• 11:05
  doesn't it? It feels like the cultural flood
• 11:07
  is sweeping away everything we hold dear.
• 11:09
  But I want to look at the reaction of the psalmist, or
• 11:11
  rather what he does not do. This is critical.
• 11:14
  What does he not do? He doesn't start arguing with
• 11:16
  the waves. He does not waste his breath
• 11:18
  talking to the floods. That is a lesson for us.
• 11:21
  How often do we get caught up in arguing with the culture trying
• 11:24
  to shout down the waves? Too often we get on the Internet
• 11:27
  and try to scream at the ocean. It is futile.
• 11:30
  The psalmist turns to the Lord. Like King Hezekiah.
• 11:34
  When he received that threatening letter from the
• 11:36
  Assyrians, he went into the temple and spread it out before
• 11:38
  the Lord. He didn't send an angry
• 11:40
  messenger back to the Assyrians. He went to the throne.
• 11:44
  He went to the throne that is established of old.
• 11:46
  Yes, he knows where the real strength lies.
• 11:49
  And that brings us to verse 4. This is the divine conquest.
• 11:53
  The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters.
• 11:56
  Yeah, than the mighty waves of the sea.
• 11:58
  I love how Spurgeon phrases this.
• 12:00
  He says that to God the utmost force of man is just noise.
• 12:04
  It is a contemptuous description.
• 12:05
  They think they're an irresistible force.
• 12:08
  God hears a noise. He calls it a noise it.
• 12:11
  Reminds me of a parent dealing with a toddler having a tantrum.
• 12:14
  It's loud, it's chaotic, but the parent isn't actually threatened
• 12:18
  by it. That is a fair analogy, but the
• 12:20
  gap between God and man is infinitely greater than a parent
• 12:23
  and a child, Spurgeon says. God cares no more for the plots
• 12:27
  of kings or mobs than for noise upon the sea beach.
• 12:31
  You know when you stand at the ocean, the roar is constant.
• 12:33
  It's loud, but it doesn't hurt the land, it just crashes and
• 12:37
  recedes. There is a specific insight from
• 12:39
  Alfred Edersheim here that I think is the visual key to this
• 12:42
  whole Psalm. He talks about the breaking
• 12:44
  wave. This is the absolute gold for me
• 12:46
  in this entire study. Edersheim points out that the
• 12:50
  Hebrew word used implies a wave that is dashing into foam.
• 12:54
  It is a breaking wave. Now think about that.
• 12:56
  A wave is most terrifying right before it breaks.
• 12:59
  It towers over you. It looks like it is going to
• 13:01
  swallow the ship. It's at its highest point, the
• 13:03
  Crest. Correct.
• 13:05
  But it's utmost nearness is its destruction.
• 13:08
  The moment it reaches its peak, it shatters.
• 13:10
  It breaks at the King's feet. That changes the whole
• 13:12
  perspective for us. The noise we hear, the violence
• 13:15
  we see, it's the sound of the wave breaking.
• 13:17
  It is the sound of its end. Edersham says our greatest
• 13:20
  dangers are just breaking waves. They shatter against the Rock of
• 13:24
  Ages. They might look like they're
• 13:26
  going to engulf us, but God has set a boundary.
• 13:29
  Spurgeon mentions the Atlantic billows.
• 13:31
  Even the strongest storms, the ones that drive with terrific
• 13:33
  force, are restrained. God overrules malice.
• 13:37
  This is a very reformed understanding of Providence.
• 13:40
  God doesn't just watch the storm, He controls it.
• 13:43
  He forbids the waves from touching a hair of the heads of
• 13:45
  his Saints unless it furthers his sovereign will.
• 13:48
  Edersham connects this to the Gospels, specifically the
• 13:52
  calming of the storm. Yes, when Jesus stood up in the
• 13:55
  boat and said peace be still, He was enacting Psalm 93.
• 13:59
  He was asserting His authority over chaos.
• 14:02
  It was a type A foreshadowing of the final consummation where
• 14:05
  Christ will assert His authority over all the chaos of history.
• 14:08
  The chaos will be hushed. So we have this picture of
• 14:10
  absolute dominion. God is mightier than the noise.
• 14:12
  But then in verse 5, the Psalm pivots.
• 14:15
  It moves from dominion to truth. Thy testimonies are very sure.
• 14:19
  This is a crucial pivot. If God were only strong, he
• 14:23
  might be a tyrant, he might be unpredictable, but his throne is
• 14:28
  fixed in Providence and his truth is fixed in revelation.
• 14:32
  Spurgeon contrasts this with human teachings.
• 14:35
  He says other teachings are uncertain.
• 14:37
  Currents of man's opinion, he calls them.
• 14:39
  And aren't we seeing that today? What was considered absolute
• 14:42
  truth 10 years ago is now considered hate speech or
• 14:45
  outdated. The truth of the world changes
• 14:47
  with the season. It's exhausting trying to keep
• 14:49
  up with it. It is, but the revelations of
• 14:52
  heaven are infallible. They are very sure, Edersheim
• 14:55
  notes, that the literal translation is very amend.
• 14:58
  Amen, Ed. Yes, Amen means so be it or
• 15:01
  truly, God's testimonies, His precepts and His promises are
• 15:04
  very amend. They're reliable.
• 15:06
  They are solid rock. So the Bible isn't just a
• 15:08
  collection of good advice, it's the anchor in the storm we were
• 15:11
  just talking about. Indeed, we have not followed A
• 15:14
  cunningly devised fable when the floods lift up their voice.
• 15:18
  We don't just have God's strength to protect us, we have
• 15:20
  his Word to guide us, and that word resists the storms of human
• 15:24
  controversy. This leads to the final
• 15:26
  statement of the Psalm, and I think this is where the rubber
• 15:28
  meets the road for you, the listener today.
• 15:32
  Holiness becometh thine house, O Lord forever.
• 15:35
  This is the application the host asks, So what?
• 15:39
  The Psalm answers holiness. If God is this strong, if He is
• 15:44
  this King, and if His Word is this sure, then there is only
• 15:49
  one appropriate way to behave in His house.
• 15:51
  What does House mean here? Are we talking about the temple?
• 15:55
  It has multiple layers. Originally, yes, the temple in
• 15:57
  Jerusalem, but in the New Testament sense it refers to the
• 16:00
  Church, the Siritual house. It refers to the individual
• 16:03
  believer who is a temple of the Holy Spirit, and in the end it
• 16:06
  refers to heaven, the eternal house.
• 16:08
  So holiness is the only appropriate furniture for God's
• 16:11
  house. That is a great way to put it,
• 16:13
  Spurgeon says. God is the sworn friend of
• 16:15
  holiness. He will not tolerate evil in his
• 16:17
  house. There is a fascinating
• 16:19
  historical example in the notes about Solon, the Athenian
• 16:22
  lawgiver. Yes, even the heathens
• 16:24
  understood this principle. Solon enacted a law that no one
• 16:27
  should serve the gods obiter. That means by the by or
• 16:30
  casually, they had to purify themselves beforehand.
• 16:33
  So if pagans dealing with false gods knew they needed to be
• 16:36
  reverent, how much more should we?
• 16:38
  Precisely if they worship dumb idols in white robes, symbols of
• 16:43
  purity, how can we approach the living God with dirty hands and
• 16:47
  a careless heart? Abraham Wright has a note about
• 16:49
  the weights and measures of the sanctuary.
• 16:51
  I love this detail in the Old Testament.
• 16:54
  The shekel of the sanctuary, the weight used for holy things was
• 16:58
  often double the weight of the common shekel used in the
• 17:00
  marketplace. So God expects more from those
• 17:03
  near him. He does.
• 17:05
  The standard for the Christian, and especially for the leader or
• 17:07
  minister, is higher, Wright says.
• 17:09
  The minister must be the mirror of heaven.
• 17:12
  If the glass is spotted, if the mirror is dirty, the people
• 17:15
  looking into it won't see an Angel or a reflection of Christ.
• 17:18
  They will see a fury. They will see a distortion.
• 17:20
  That is a heavyweight for a minister to carry.
• 17:23
  If the glass be spotted, the people see a fury.
• 17:25
  It is, but it highlights that we cannot separate the doctrine of
• 17:29
  God's sovereignty from the necessity of our holiness.
• 17:32
  You cannot shout. The Lord reigneth while living
• 17:33
  like a rebel. If He reigns, He reigns over
• 17:37
  you. He reigns over your conduct,
• 17:38
  your speech, your private life. So let's try to synthesize this.
• 17:42
  We have walked through the whole Psalm.
• 17:43
  What is the logical flow here? It is a logical chain.
• 17:46
  First, God reigns. That is the starting point.
• 17:49
  Second, because he reigns, the world is established.
• 17:53
  Third, the enemies rage, the floods lift up.
• 17:56
  Fourth, God is mightier, the waves break at his feet.
• 18:00
  Fifth, His scripture is true, His testimonies are sure. 6th
• 18:04
  Therefore holy denies required. It really covers everything,
• 18:07
  doesn't it? Theology, cosmology, conflict,
• 18:09
  victory, revelation, and ethics all in five short verses.
• 18:13
  It is a complete worldview. There is a note from West de
• 18:16
  Burr about this being a sabotism.
• 18:18
  Right. The Talmud says the Jews sang
• 18:19
  this on the 6th day. On Friday they sang it to
• 18:22
  celebrate the establishing of the world but also looking
• 18:24
  forward to the Sabbath rest. It is a Psalm that leads us into
• 18:27
  rest. We see the work of God, the
• 18:29
  victory of God, and we enter into His rest.
• 18:31
  I want to share a personal testimony from Spurgeon himself
• 18:34
  that was in the source material. It was incredibly moving to
• 18:36
  read. He talks about how this
• 18:38
  conviction the Lord reigneth carries him above all cares.
• 18:42
  He says it is like turning a fresh leaf.
• 18:45
  Imagine you have a page full of scribbles, cross writing and
• 18:49
  hieroglyphics. He calls it all the puzzles and
• 18:51
  difficulties of human life. You can't read it, It makes no
• 18:54
  sense. And then you turn the page.
• 18:56
  You turn the page and at the top stands the text.
• 18:59
  Jehovah reigneth and suddenly the puzzle is solved.
• 19:03
  The hieroglyphics are deciphered.
• 19:05
  It is the solution to every difficulty.
• 19:07
  He says, I would not exchange the assurance which these two
• 19:10
  words Jehovah reigneth convey for all the wisdom combined with
• 19:13
  all the might of this world. That is a testimony of a man who
• 19:17
  knew suffering, who knew depression, who knew opposition.
• 19:20
  He found his footing on this rock.
• 19:21
  It really does put everything into perspective.
• 19:24
  Whether it is a global crisis or a family crisis, if Jehovah
• 19:27
  reigns, we can breathe. We can breathe and we can pray,
• 19:30
  Spurgeon says. If I want strength with God or
• 19:33
  with men, let me pray, for Jehovah reigneth.
• 19:36
  Before we close, I want to leave you, the listener with one final
• 19:39
  thought from the expert notes. It is a distinction that I think
• 19:42
  it's going to stick with me for a long time, the difference
• 19:45
  between interpositions and interferences.
• 19:48
  This is from Edersheim again. We often pray for God to
• 19:52
  interfere. We want him to stop the machine,
• 19:54
  to break the chain of cause and effect because we are in pain.
• 19:58
  But Edersheim says God's Providence is one of constant
• 20:01
  interposition but rarely interference.
• 20:04
  What is the difference? And interference stops the
• 20:06
  machinery, and interposition works through the machinery.
• 20:10
  It is the mastermind adjusting the outcome using the very
• 20:13
  things that seem to be against us to work out his purpose.
• 20:16
  So he doesn't stop the storm, he steers the ship through it.
• 20:20
  Or he uses the storm to bring the ship exactly where it needs
• 20:23
  to go. He is constantly interposing,
• 20:25
  working all things together for good.
• 20:27
  But he is doing it with such wisdom that it doesn't look like
• 20:31
  a miracle to the superficial observer.
• 20:32
  It just looks like life. But Faith sees the hand of the
• 20:36
  King. That is something to chew on.
• 20:38
  God is at work even when the machinery of life seems to be
• 20:40
  grinding on as usual. He is, and that is why we can
• 20:44
  trust Him. Well, this has been a true
• 20:46
  consolation. I feel steadier just having
• 20:49
  talked through this. The Lord reigneth.
• 20:51
  There's no better place to stand.
• 20:53
  I want to thank you for joining us for this session of Reformed
• 20:55
  thinking. I hope you will take a few
• 20:57
  minutes today to read Psalm 93 for yourself.
• 21:01
  Read it slowly. Let it settle in your heart.
• 21:04
  And remember, Holiness becometh his house.
• 21:06
  Until next time.