1. The Lord
reigneth, Jehovah reigns. Whatever opposition
may arise, his throne is unmoved; he has reigned, does reign, and will reign
forever and ever. In the verse before us it would seem as if the Lord had for a
while appeared to vacate the throne, but on a sudden he puts on his regal
apparel and ascends his lofty seat, while his happy people proclaim him with
new joy. He is clothed with majesty. Not with emblems of majesty, but
with majesty itself: everything which surrounds him is majestic. Happy are
those among whom the Lord appears in all the glory of his grace, conquering
their enemies, and subduing all things unto himself; then indeed is he seen to
be clothed with majesty.
The Lord is
clothed with strength. He is
always strong, but sometimes he displays his power in a special manner, and may
therefore be said to be clothed with it. May the Lord appear in his church, in
our day, in manifest majesty and might, saving sinners, slaying errors, and
honoring his own name. Wherewith he hath girded himself. As men gird up
their loins for running or working, so the Lord appears in the eyes of his
people to be preparing for action, girt with his omnipotence. Strength always
dwells in the Lord Jehovah, but he hides his power full often, until, in answer
to his children’s cries, he puts on strength, assumes the throne, and defends
his own. It should be a constant theme for prayer that in our day the reign of
the Lord may be conspicuous, and his power displayed in his church and on her
behalf. “Thy kingdom come” should be our daily prayer: that the Lord Jesus
does actually reign should be our daily praise.
The world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved. Society would be the football of the basest of mankind if
God did not establish it, and even the globe itself would fly through space,
like thistle-down across the common, if the Lord did not hold it in its
appointed orbit. That there is any stability, either in the world or in the
church, is the Lord’s doings, and he is to be adored for it. Atheism is the
mother of anarchy; the reigning power of God exhibited in true religion is the
only security for the human commonwealth. A belief in God is the foundation and
corner-stone of a well-ordered state.
2. Thy throne is established of old. Though thou mayest just now appear in more conspicuous
sovereignty, yet thine is no upstart sovereignty: in the most ancient times thy
dominion was secure; indeed, before time was, thy throne was set up. Thou
art from everlasting. The Lord himself is eternal. Let the believer rejoice
that the government under which he dwells has an immortal ruler at its head,
has existed from all eternity, and will flourish when all created things have
forever passed away. Vain are the rebellions of mortals; the kingdom of God is
not shaken.
3. The floods have lifted up, O Lord. People
have raged like angry waves of the sea, but vain has been their tumult. Observe
that the psalmist turns to the Lord when he sees the billows foam, and hears
the breakers roar; he does not waste his breath by talking to the waves, or to
violent men; but like Hezekiah he spreads the blasphemies of the wicked before
the Lord. The floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their
waves. These repetitions are needed for the sake both of the poetry and the
music, but they also suggest the frequency and the violence of wicked assaults
upon the government of God, and the repeated defeats which they sustain.
Sometimes people are furious in words—they lift up their voice, and at
other times they rise to acts of violence—they lift up their waves; but
the Lord has control over them in either case.
4. The Lord on
high is mightier than the noise of many waters. The utmost of their power is to him but a sound and he can
readily master it; therefore he calls it a noise by way of contempt.
When people combine to overthrow the kingdom of Jesus, the Lord thinks no more
of it than of so much noise upon the sea-beach. Yea, than the mighty waves
of the sea. When the storm raises Atlantic billows, and drives them on with
terrific force, the Lord is still able to restrain them, and so also when
impious men are haughty and full of rage the Lord is able to subdue them and
overrule their malice. Kings or mobs, emperors or savages, all are in the
Lord’s hands, and he can forbid their touching a hair of the heads of his
saints.
5. They testimonies are very sure. As the rocks remain unmoved amid the tumult of the sea, so
does divine truth resist all the currents of human opinion and the storms of
human controversy; they are not only sure, but very sure. Our faith is
grounded upon the eternal truth of the Most High. Holiness becometh thine
house, O Lord, for ever. The
teaching and the character of God are both unaltered. God has not admitted evil
to dwell with him; he will not tolerate it in his house; he is eternally its
enemy, and is forever the sworn friend of holiness. The church must remain
unchanged, and forever be holiness unto the Lord. “Jehovah reigns” is the
first words and the main doctrine of the psalm, and holiness is the final
result: a due esteem for the great King will lead us to adopt a behavior
becoming his royal presence. Divine sovereignty both confirms the promises as
sure testimonies, and enforces the precepts as seemly and becoming in the
presence of so great a Lord.
The whole psalm is most impressive, and is calculated to
comfort the distressed, confirm the timorous, and assist the devout. O thou who
art so great and gracious a King, reign over us forever!
Excerpt from:
The Treasury of David
By Charles H Spurgeon
