Day 154: Worship God As Sovereign 1

June 3

Today's Connected Passages: 

• Psalm 19; 24; 65; 68 [Ephesians 4:8-10]; 93, 121, 134

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Welcome to the Canon Connected, where we read the connections, see the connections, and study the connections of the Bible. I very much appreciate you joining us here on day number 154 of the Canon Connected, and right now we are in the middle of a series of studies, of connected readings that have to do with the sovereignty of God. And today we are going to look at something that very much connects to what we've studied the last two days. So even though these are two different subseries, these really could be, you know, connected in and of themselves, and all part of this larger connection of the sovereignty of God and how he is all-powerful, and how if God wants to do something, he will do it. And man cannot thwart God. We can't stop God. We can't really do anything about God whenever he chooses to act. Um his will is uh is absolutely um undefeated in world history and and even before world history, I would say, since God exists outside of time and space, um, that's amazing to think about. But that really is part of what why we're studying this. The sovereignty of God should absolutely blow us away. And we've studied the last couple of days about how God is sovereign over rulers and kings and kingdoms and nations and all peoples everywhere for all time. And today we're gonna talk about something that follows on the heels of that perfectly, I think, and that is how we worship God as sovereign over all. And today we're gonna look at um just a series of psalms. You can see this, we've done this before, and we'll continue to do it, you know, in other times this year, other connected um topics, and that is studying psalms all together. Um, the psalms were given to us 150 at a time, but they weren't given to us in the sense of like Psalm 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 were all supposed to be, you know, connected by topic. They they vary in topics, and so um, and they they could be divided any number of ways, but today I tried to pick um some psalms that definitely focused on how we worship God as sovereign, and one of the biggest connections you probably saw today is how this is seen through creation. And then there is a quote from Ephesians because Ephesians does clearly uh quote from Psalm 68, and I wanted you to see that direct um connection. So we start with Psalm 119. And again, one of the things you see, I think, that that that shows the sovereignty of God in most of these psalms today is how God is sovereign in the sense that he is a creator, he is the creator and how he made everything and how he reveals himself through creation. And of course, in Psalm 19, it's a very beautiful psalm in that that's not, I wouldn't say it's simplistic, but I love the simplicity of it in that it says, you know, God reveals himself through creation and through his word, and both of those things are spoken to so deeply and richly all throughout the Bible. Romans is clear we can know there is a God because of creation, you know, because the the the handiwork of God is on display and man is without an excuse. You know, you can't see the Grand Canyon or Mount Everest and not come to the conclusion that somebody did that. Okay. And of course, many, many people uh and throughout history and especially in the last hundred and fifty years have tried to explain those things apart from God, but I think that's too their own foolishness, um, again, according to the Bible. And then the Psalm 19 also speaks to God revealing himself through his word, and that's how we really know about Jesus. I think Jesus can be communicated through things like dreams and visions, because he has been, and I don't I'm not gonna be arrogant enough to deny that or doubt that, especially in Muslim countries, but we don't really know about Jesus per se from creation, about the redemptive work of God, except through the you know the word of God and how God sovereignly communicates these things and how he speaks to his sovereignty through these things, and especially through creation, I think is is obvious through these Psalms. And as I've said before, sometimes I look at this reading plan and think, you know, even though there was a lot of strategy involved in planning, I still think, see, this could have been something that could have been connected to creation all the way back in January. And we're gonna say that you could, you know, second guess, I second guess myself all the time. But this is it, I guess it's good though to talk about creation in January and then to come back around to it here in June if you're doing it on the on the actual days these are uh these are published, because it's kind of like you know, halfway through the year we can go back and remember, you know, what we learned in the first days. But we are seeing it through a slightly different lens, though. The sovereignty of God was clearly communicated in the beginning of this reading plan through creation and marriage and all of that, but we definitely see it um, again, uh very clearly through this lens with the other connected readings around it. The heavens declare the glory of God, and it could even be the sovereignty of God, you know, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork, day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and the words to the end of the world. And in them he has set a tent for the sun. The God's in control of all of this, you know, the day and the night. Um, and then again, how the law of the Lord works, and he has seven different things he mentions here. It's perfect, you know, there it's right, it causes rejoicing in the heart, pure enlightening. All of these things, again, in my opinion, speak to the sovereignty of our God. And the response of the psalmist here, um, David, is let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and redeemer. That's worship. Psalm 24, very similar also of David, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, and the world and all who dwell in. God owns everything, it's all his because he is sovereign, he is the creator. Um and again, how do we respond? Who is this king of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory, the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle, which connects again to other sovereignty readings we've done on how God is a warrior. It's all really the same thing, just different, you know, uh nuances and uh and uh and and subtle, you know, um interpretations of what sovereignty means, in my opinion. But lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the king of glory may come in. And that, of course, as we'll see, again, we do God is an awesome God, it definitely reminds me of you know uh of how Jesus is gonna or when Christ was a warrior, how it's this is how he's gonna come back, you know, like a like a king, like an army general. And then Psalm 65, again, very similar. Um, these again all they all sound uh there's a lot of overlap to these to me. Um but praise do to you, O God in Zion, and to who to you shall vows be performed, which we studied with the sacrificial system. Oh, you hear prayer to all you all shall all flesh come. Blessed are is the one you choose to bring near to dwell in your courts. By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth, and the farther sea, and the one who by his strength established the mountains, being girded with might, who stills the roaring seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples, so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs. Again, this is worship in response to God's sovereignty as creator and sustainer of life, and all many, many other things too, that all that entails. And of course, Psalm 68, um, this was definitely a good one, and again it's very clear what we're supposed to do. As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away. As max was his enemies shall be scattered, was the first verse. As wax melts before fire, so shall the wicked perish before God, but the righteous shall be glad, they shall exult before the Lord, the God who sovereignly uh allows these or uh causes these things to come to pass. Some things he does allow to come past, some things he causes. This is definitely God causing these things to come to pass, the destruction of their enemies. The Father of the Fatherless and protector of the widows is the God in his holy habitation. That's something we've seen in this specific sub-series and these two together, is how the sovereignty of God definitely is highlighted through how he treats poor and needy people. Um God does things for them that again only he can do. And human beings are supposed to try to help. That's obviously biblical, especially victims of injustice, poor, needy, you know, orphan, widow, um, uh sojourner. But God does things again that we can't do, and he is always, always, always working sovereignly um to to help these kind of people. Um, and that's why we do it to reflect his nature in our life. Um and this one ends with O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God. That's what we really have talked about the last two days. All the kingdoms are gonna yield and submit to God, and even in this case, worship. That's why we changed the topic. Sing to God, sing praises to the Lord, to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens. Doesn't this sound like some of our previous readings? He sends out his voice, his mighty voice, ascribe power to God. That to me, I think, is what worship is ascribing worth to God, saying who God is, proclaiming it, you know, rejoicing in it. Ascribe power to God, worship is what we could say that is, whose majesty is over Israel and whose power is in the skies. Awesome is God from his sanctuary, the God of Israel. He is the one who gives power and strength to his people. Then Ephesians 4 is in there because it quotes uh Psalm 68, 18, which I did not read, but it is part of that Psalm. Psalm 93, the Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty. The Lord is robed, he has put on strength as his belt. Yes, the world is established. Connection through all these, the sovereignty of God through creation, and not just creating it, but establishing it, upholding it, you know, sustaining it. All of these things are what God does. It shall never be moved. Your throne is established from old because God is a king. He's sovereign in that he's a king. That's the word we use sometimes for kingdoms and governments. Sovereign. They are sovereign. That's what God is, in the most true, in the truest sense possible. Your throne is established from old, you are from everlasting. He always has been, he always will be. That's one way he differs from us. We always will be, but we had a beginning. God did not. Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea. Oh, the Lord on high is mighty. Man, God is sovereign. He is all powerful. This is the God of Christianity. Then Psalm 121, I lift my eyes to the hills, where does my help come? And if I understand this right, I think the psalmist is saying this because the high places were where, in the hills was where the false gods were. And you read about the high places, especially in the king's books, a lot, because this is where a lot of false religion, the idolatry came from during the times of the kings, and people would look to the hills, to their false gods. And so he's not saying he sees gods in the hills. He's saying, My help comes from the Lord, in contrast to where the where the hills are, who the maker of heaven and earth. God's not in the hills, he made the hills. He's far above the hills and the mountains and everything that exists in the entire universe. God is above and beyond. And as a result, what do we do? You know, we we worship. And Bell, he also says, Behold, who keeps Israel neither sleeps nor slumbers. That's our God too, just like Isaiah 40 says. We could have connected that, but we didn't. Um, but again, uh, who's gonna trust in their own power whenever you have a God who has made every atom and every molecule and created time and who was over the entire universe? Who's gonna come before any enemy, whether it be Satan or whatever, and say, I'm trusting in my strength whenever we have the God who created heaven and earth? You know, and that's where we look to. We look to him, because he is sovereign. And then Psalm 134 ends by May the Lord bless you from Zion, He who made heaven and earth. Bless the Lord. That's why we bless him, because he is our sovereign creator, he is our God, he is our king, he's sustainer of life, he does all of these things because he is good and he is worthy of our worship for many, many attributes, for many characteristics, for all the whole of his nature. But right now, we see it because he is sovereign. He is the creator, he is the one who made everything and sustains everything, and we love him and worship him because of that. So we're gonna change the the type of writings tomorrow. Same topic. We're gonna look at Proverbs and prophecies, and uh, and even a passage in the book of Acts. And uh, there's one passage from Jonah which is prophecy, technically, but it's very different from the Isaiah and Jeremiah passages. So I hope you'll come back and be with us again tomorrow as on the you know the worshiping God as the sovereign creator of the universe. Um we will continue to read the connections, see the connections, study the connections. Thank you.