Sabbath: The Lord Reigns
Daily Lesson for Sabbath 13th of January 2024
Image © Pacific Press
Read for This Week’s Study
Psalms 8:1-9, Psalms 100:1-5, Psalms 97:1-12, Psalms 75:1-10, Psalms 105:7-10, Galatians 3:26-29, Psalms 25:10.
Memory Text:
“The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength; indeed, the world is established, firm and secure” (Psalms 93:1, NIV).
The Psalms unswervingly uphold the foundational belief in God’s sovereign reign. The Lord created and sustains everything that He had created. He is the Sovereign King over the whole world, and He rules the world with justice and righteousness. His laws and statutes are good and bring life to those who keep them. The Lord is a just Judge who ensures that the world remains well ordered, and He does so by rewarding the righteous and punishing the wicked, but in His time, not ours.
God’s covenant with Israel plays a special role in securing the world because it heralds the Lord’s salvation. The Lord adopted Israel as His prized possession, making Israel, of all the nations, His people. The Lord is faithful to His covenant and continues to care for His flock despite their unfaithfulness and, at times, open rebellion.
The Lord’s sovereign rule thus renders the world firmly established and secure. The psalmists want the reader to understand this foundational truth. With this worldview as their lighthouse, the psalmists seek to thrive and to serve God with undivided devotion.
*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, January 20.
(25)
Reigning takes a bit of work to understand in our modern world. Australia is a constitutional monarchy and the fact that we have remained so has more to do with maintaining the status quo than anything else. The King certainly has very little to do with Australia apart from an occasional visit.
On the other hand, I worked in Thailand a couple of times when King Bhumibol Adulyadej was the sovereign. He was highly respected and much loved. I remember times when the army and parliament were at odds with one another when the King told them to pull their heads in. They obeyed. He was also a hydrologist. He and his queen came to my hometown in New Zealand for a visit in the early 1960's and we went to see them as did about 10000 others. He wasn't perfect, but most Thai people I spoke to were appreciative of his reign.
Perhaps one of the things we need to consider is that God's sovereignty is not based on our earthly views of sovereignty. Two thoughts spring to mind:
1: He is our progenitor - He made us.
2: He earned the title by saving us.
And I like the ways Psalms combines the idea of God's creativity and redemption together with our response:
[Interesting fact: "Redeemer" is only used in the Old Testament in the KJV. I did not know that!]
I like how the lesson points out that God's sovereign rule makes the world firmly established and secure. What a blessing.
When Trouble Surrounds Me - A Psalm for Today
When trouble surrounds me
And my heart turns cold
That is the time for me to remember
The ancient words of old
The words that have thrilled
Through ages past
The hearts of many
Who thought they would breathe their last
It is then I look up
From where darkness enshrouds
And my eyes behold blue
in the midst of the clouds
My heart then connects
And remembers again
The words of my Lord
“I am with you to the end”
So when trouble surrounds you
And you don’t know what to do
Look beyond the clouds
And remember His words to you
Like a lighthouse in a storm
His words will flash through
His Sovereignty will reign
And his Spirit speaks anew
The darkness will lift
Sunshine will return
You will reconnect with His light
and
Your heart within you will burn
Then you can share with others
the experience, strength, and hope
You found in God’s Word
Giving them faith to cope
Encouraging them to press on
Though the darkness is thick
Letting their light shine before men
With a song on their lips
So those ancient words of old
Continue to bless
The wise men who seek them
And in them find rest.
Thank youu
This is beautiful, Tammy. Where can I print it? Did you write it? Thank you
I just like to comment on one sentence under the first paragraph below the memory text
“The Lord is a just Judge who ensures that the world remains well ordered, and He does so by rewarding the righteous and punishing the wicked, but in His time, not ours.”
I do not agree with the author of this sentence. The idea that the Lord is punishing is not biblical in my understanding. Sin, and its natural consequence is bringing punishment, not the Lord.
Greg, Melbourne, Australia
Well, Greg, the language of the lesson author reflects biblical language - which is especially evident in the psalms we are studying this quarter.
You write,
But that's not what the bible says. You can argue that's what the bible writers mean, but that's still your interpretation of the bible, not what the bible actually says.
I believe that there are "natural consequences" to sin, that is, violating God's laws of life - both physical and spiritual. But that still means that God is responsible for the consequences because He made the laws that bring the consequences. Hence the biblical writers write as though those consequences were directly caused by God. We should probably be hesitant to fault the inspired writers of the Bible and seek, rather, to understand *how* God is responsible for judgment and punishment.
Also please see my response to Mike Keim.
And please also see Maurice's post on Sunday's lesson.
Dear Greg - I understand the issue you are trying to come to terms with - God's personal involvement in 'punishing' the disobedient.
I also try to understand how His Love and Mercy balance out His unfailing Justice. I consider that what man labels 'punishment' is part of the workings of His Creation's perfect design.
My suggestion in response to your comment:
Please consider that nothing that exists can escape the laws of ultimate, full alignment with His perfect Laws.
Hi Greg- Yes God is Love, He loves His Creation. He in Love and chastises those He loves! (Hebrews 12:6)
Unless we deliberately chose forget and ignore what happened to Adam and Eve to vacate the garden, to Sodom and Gomorrah and to Pharaoh and his army all the way to Ananias and Saphira in NT, it is evident that the Lord punishes and He will punish once and for all as He re-creates this earth.
But "The LORD is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: Neither will he keep his anger for ever....." Psalm 103:8-11
I have a question. Do you get punishment for every particular sin you commit? Does every sin have immediate consequences?
Hi Greg, thanks for your question. I've asked the same thing....does God punish for sin or are the results of sin its own punishment?
My friend's 2nd daughter was a challenge for my friend to discipline, I remember. If she put the little girl in time out, she'd laugh and say she liked to be alone anyway. If she took away a favorite toy, she'd smirk and say it didn't matter to her. Now as a teenager, she is still a very deep soul and I suspect even when little she grasped that these punishments were merely externals and representative. The punishment was an artificially imposed deterrent to some behavior. The punishment prescribed by her parents was not a natural consequence of her behavior. Taking a cookie out of the cookie jar when told not to does not naturally lead to staying alone for a time in one's bedroom, for instance.
When we think of God's judgment, we may try to relate God's discipline to human punishments we have known. Time outs or withholding some favor. But now that I'm talking about "discipline" I realize that is a different judgment than the final judgment against the wicked, isn't it. So that is the first thing that comes to me....that there is a difference between God's merciful, restorative "punishment" for discipline, and God's righteous and just "punishment" as an eternal sentence against God's enemies. One kind of punishment is to correct behavior - as a parent does for a child. Another kind of punishment is justice for what the behavior "deserves". We see that in Rev. 19:1-3 where the punishment is eternal, so it is not corrective. My Bible uses the word "avenged". Rev. 16:5-6 ESV says the wicked are receiving what they "deserve".
So let's look at each of these types of judgments? Does God discipline His children by "punishing" them? Does God sentence the wicked with a "punishment" of hell? To the first question, I look at Heb. 12:5-11. It looks like, yes, God disciplines us by allowing painful things to come into our lives. Sometimes these painful things are a result of our own sinful behaviors (Gen. 3:14-24; 1 Cor. 11:29-30), and those we could call "punishments" or results of behavior, but sometimes these painful things are the result of God's permissive will as part of a bigger plan to reveal God's character (Gen. 50:20; Jn. 9:1-3). It's a "punishment" that is not a natural result to behavior in that a child of God may bear the weight of evil in the world that is not directly connected to his or her own behavior. Job hadn't done anything to earn those "punishments" and neither did Joseph being sold into slavery by his own brothers. It's almost a Christlike symbolism of bearing weights of sins that are not one's own. Bearing punishments for another's sins....much as we all bear Adam's sin at birth...that ultimately are useful for growing humility and trust in divine sovereignty.
The 2nd question, are the wicked in the final judgment, punished? I think we could answer "yes" or "no". "Yes", the Holy Spirit has shown us that being eternally "sent to your room" and away from relationship with your Heavenly Father is a punishment, but "no", not to them a punishment because it is what they asked for. The person has chosen to be eternally separated. That is what they want. They don't see eternal separation from God as a punishment. Our Lord is the one casting Satan and his angels into the final fire... the "natural" consequence of rebellion against God and also God's final action to save His children from sin. For what we consider "natural" is a law and action of God.
Thank you, Esther, for going a bit deeper on this topic. 😊
Very well said!
Thank you Esther for a deep response, I have learnt a lot from the lessons
I like how you explain this, Esther. Thank you.
Greg, we need to accept the reality that God is going to judge this world. The Bible is clear about the reward of the righteous vs the reward of the wicked. The same God wo rained fire on Sodom and Gomorrah is going to destroy this world and sinners. The same God who brought the flood in Noah's time promises fire this time. Ps 50:3-4: "Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people." He is love and he is merciful that's why we are not consumed and because of this Isaiah 28:21 refers to destruction of sinners as God's strange act. The Bible talks of a second death in the lake of fire and this is reality.
When reading Psalms, their heartfelt message becomes a reflection of our own heart's circumstances. After all is said and done, Psalms affirm God’s Goodness and Faithfulness and man’s need to declare Him to be his God.
Other gods may claim to be worthy of mankind’s worship, but only the Creator of Heaven and Earth can lay claim to have the authority to govern all that is - because He made all things.
He gave Himself to humanity in the form of Jesus Christ, His Son - and what does He asks man for letting Him dwell within? - for man “to act justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” - Micah 6:8.
The Lord reigns - our God has a long-running plan for the salvation of mankind. He is faithful to see it through until the time comes to establish the new earth and heaven in which only righteousness dwells – 2 Peter 13-14.
This world is a mess. Unstable. Unsafe. Confusing. Chaotic. Hurting. Broken. Maimed. People even in close relationships are more and more on guard and defensive with each other. The news stories which offer analyses of "victims" and "perpetrators" are full of pain; arguments often break out over who belongs in which category.
Humans are not like the planets, following God's rule in smooth, orderly patterns that cannot be changed. We know we can count on the sun appearing in the East in the morning and disappearing from sight in the West in the evening. God must be protecting certain natural laws from attack by the dark spiritual hosts in heavenly places (Eph. 6:12), because the "prince of this world" and his cronies are hard at work making everything in creation groan (Rom. 8:20-23). Daniel saw in vision that this last epoch of Earth's history would be "a time of trouble, such as never was" (Dan. 12:1). Jesus told us that in our day "the hearts of many will grow cold" (Matt. 24:12).
Enter this statement:"Because the Lord is King, we can trust Him to keep us safe on this Earth" (Easy Read Quarterly). Or our memory verse, in Easy-to-Read Version "...the whole world is safe...".
Safe?! Safe?!!
That word pops to me. I'm not one to look under my car for murderous hiders or worry about a locked door,... but I feel the buzz of unsafety in me as a citizen of planet Earth. The world does NOT feel "firmly established and secure". The laws of the lands are not just. The world that I see, where humans are involved anyway, is not "well-ordered". Turn on the evening news and it's 60 minutes of chaos. (Or, 55 minutes: they usually save a cute, feel-good clip for the end.)
As followers of Jesus, the world is especially at odds with our "kingdom of heaven" perspective, and sharing our thoughts is especially dangerous (Matt. 10:25; Jn. 15:20; Jn. 16:33; 2 Tim. 3:12; Acts 14:22; 1 Pet. 4:12). Our God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29)....the purity of Christ in us is convicting (Acts 2:37), and powerfully cleansing like a forest fire, and that is dangerous to Satan's self-serving establishment.
So I sit here and think of what "safe" means. People say "stay safe" and they mean "stay alive, stay healthy, stay free from distress". If "safe" only means predictable, comfortable, familiar, being guaranteed that something will go the way I expect it to.... I am not safe. I can't just make a plan for tomorrow and expect it to happen that way (James 4:13-15).
However, if "safe" means knowing Who holds my life (Jn. 10:28; Matt. 10:28), if "safe" means that God is in charge of all my comings and goings (Ps. 121:7-8), if "safe" means I can quiet down and snuggle into God's warm side to rest (Ps. 91:1), if "safe" means nothing can separate me from God's love (Rom. 8:39), if "safe" means everything will continue as long as the Lord plans and end when the Lord wants it to...then I am very safe.
In His due time. Someone asked if God is a God of love, why would He leave us in the midst of such a troubled world, and even To attempt to partially answer, why would God give His only begotten Son as a sacrifice to save us if His plan was to let this world continue on a path of destruction without ever intervening? He would not, has not, and will not. That is adequate enough evidence for us to hold on to His promises enduring till the end. Sometimes the fact that God is Sovereign, King of kings and Lord of lords, and He shall reigns for ever and eve, should be enough, but we are humans and we forget, so remind us dear Lord. Nothing wrong with crying out to God for help, believe me He hears us and saves us out of all our doubts, droughts, and debecles, with living water. Psalms 34:6.
John 4:10-13.
Maybe we need to adopt the words of a politician "We do believe we are going to win, but you know what, we will take the win." Let's not just believe in the living water but take the Living Water and drink of it.
Happy Cold Sabbath, I trust in a warm home.
“…, world remains well ordered, and He does so by rewarding the righteous and punishing the wicked, but in His time, not ours.” What qualifies an individual as wicked, … a selfish, self centred life, disregard for our neighbour, no love for an enemy, unforgiving, proud, self righteous? Curious what it means for God to “punish,” is His “punishment” simply to inflict a retributive pain, … what is its’ intention, that a “wicked” individual experiences pain, as a, there you go, you deserve this? Or might it be for restoration, think Nebuchadnezzar, what did “punishment” look like for him, Daniel offered him a way out, God might relent if you stop being so wicked vs Saul when satan met him through the impersonation of Samuel, no restorative option given to Saul from satan, simply a declaration of doom!
Revelation 14 “they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” When does this “no rest” state occur, perhaps right now!? In our rebellious position, where there is no rest, a persistent restlessness if you will. And what is the outcome of that state, … either you look to your own wisdom for an alternative, or we surrender to the One who can calm the restlessness.
Then my question is where does “punishment” come from, might there a more truthful understanding? If I take the position that God will “punish” me if I am disobedient, then I find myself in the position of Job’s 3 friends, constantly wondering what have I done, that God is angry, deserted me. Or can I rest in the truth, that my Redeemer loves me. That in every circumstance I can rest in Him, in humble repentance, He will reveal Himself and my standing?
As I reread this, it appears that I am off in a variety of directions, curious what other individuals think
Mike
Yes, Mike, you went off in a number of directions at once.
I will attempt a reply that deals more with principle:
The bible definition of the "righteous" and the "wicked" is fairly clear. Perhaps we can summarize it like this: The "righteous" are those who trust in the Lord and seek to do His will. The "wicked" are thus those who trust in self and seek to do their own will.
As for "punishment':
In both the Old Testament and the New Testament, a coming "judgment" is a recurring theme. It is a time for the Lord to set all things right. He will bring home to Himself those who trust in Him while those who refuse to recognize His authority and thus insist on living for self, rather than His Law of Love will suffer the consequences of annihilation. The redeemed will eventually be restored to this earth made new and live in harmony and love, as God designed when He created humanity.
But the "judgment" or "punishment" is also experienced in this earthly life. If we violate the physical laws of our being, according to which He created us, we suffer consequences of weakness, sickness, and, ultimately, an untimely death. If we violate the spiritual and psychological laws of our being, according to which He created us, something similar happens. Selfishness does not yield the happiness a selfish person seeks, but unhappiness. That said, Satan, the arch enemy of God can provide good feelings that feel much like the natural rewards of service, and he is certainly capable of causing misery to God's people. Thus, in this life, the righteous often suffer, as David so eloquently laments in his psalms.
God created us to experience peace, joy, happiness as a natural consequence of living a life of service, according to His Law of Love. And that is what those who trust in Him will experience throughout eternity, while exploring the endless wonders of the universe. Sin will not rise a second time because everyone who will be redeemed was tested in this earthly life and chose to trust God under difficult circumstances.
Does this make sense to you?
Dear Mike - may I suggest to your seeking heart's spirit to reflect on the words from Isaiah 30:15 - "In repentenced and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.>