The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;
2 for he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the waters.
3 Who may ascend the hill of the LORD?
Who may stand in his holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear by what is false.
5 He will receive blessing from the LORD
and vindication from God his Savior.
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek your face, O God of Jacob. Selah
7 Lift up your heads, O you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is this King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
the LORD mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is he, this King of glory?
The LORD Almighty-- he is the King of glory. Selah
Psalms24:1-10
(You'll need pencil and paper for today's message...)
God is Almighty - another word for this is Sovereign.
It means that He is Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent.
He is either God over all or He is not God at all.
This has challenging implications and forms the basis of one of the most common and challenging objections that non-believers have: "If God is good and loving then why is there pain and suffering in the world?"
We'd prefer to say that God is God of the good things and that He has nothing to do with evil. The problem with that is that evil would then be independent of God and out of His control...
We have to hold on to a more complex reality. The best way to explain it is to draw two circles, one inside the other. Label the inside circle as "What God wants or wills" and the the outer circle as "What God allows (but doesn't necessarily like)" All of reality fits into one of these circles because anything outside the circles would be out of His ultimate control and then He wouldn't be Almighty.
Psalm 24 paints a picture of an Almighty God, but it also paints a picture of a humanity that may choose. It may choose for or against God - this freedom of choice is what necessitates the "Allows" circle. When God lovingly created us with the freedom of choice, it meant that He allowed us the possibility of choosing against Him. He _allows_ us this freedom and the consequences of this freedom results in the heartache and brokenness in the world that we struggle with. God is not the author of pain. God is good and He gave us freedom, but when we walk away from the light, we find ourselves in darkness and we become the authors of pain.
Take your drawing of the two circles and draw a cross that has its centre in the inside circle of "Wills" but its arms stretch to the outer edges of the "Allows" circle. By coming into our broken world and dying for us, Jesus revealed that He loves us and is concerned about the brokenness. By rising from the dead He conquered and trumped heartache and pain. He can heal the pain of the things that happen in the "allows" circle and bring them into the "wills" circle.
Finally draw arrows pointing outward on the "wills" circle and remember that the King, the Lord Almighty, is coming again and when He does, there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. (Rev21:4)
Read the Psalm again and celebrate that He's truly God over all.
Let's resolve to be a generation who "seek Him." Do it with your church family this Sunday!
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Theo Groeneveld theo @ emmanuel.org.za
