DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY

“Clay in the potter’s hand”, Jer. 18. 6.

Extracts from these three psalms show how God is sovereign on three counts. A study of Romans 9 will show this subject dealt with to a fuller extent.

Sovereign in Creation, Psa. 8. 3, 6, 7; 24. 1, 2. The heavens in all their vastness are only the work of God’s fingers; we should remember that the nearest star to earth is 25 million million miles (four and one third light-years) away, while the most distant nebulae are many thousands of millions of light-years away. Man seems so small in comparison with this, yet Christ died for us! The sheep, oxen, all beasts, birds and fish are all under His control. We read in Scripture how the animals obey God, and therefore they can teach us a lesson. In Psalm 24, the territorial dispute of man is settled once and for all: “The earth is the Lord’s”. Man is a tenant, a leaseholder upon a precarious tenure, The word “fulness” suggests the riches of the earth including all its mineral wealth. He who built the house and bears up its foundations has first claim.

Sovereign in Compassion. The tender mercies of God are heaped upon us, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy”, Rom. 9. 15. Psalm 103. 8 shows that God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy; verse 10 shows that our rewards are unmerited, while verse 12 shows that the removal of our transgressions is an unmeasured distance, for the distance of the east from the west is undefinable. Consider the quality of mercy (tender, v. 4), the measure of mercy (plenteous, v. 8), the extent of mercy (as high as heaven, v. 11), and the duration of mercy (everlasting, v. 17).

Sovereign in Conquest, Psa. 24. 7-10. Twice over the gates and everlasting doors are addressed as approached by the victorious King of glory. Some would apply this to the ascension of Christ into glory. But here we have the Messiah—the King—approaching the gates of Jerusalem, in millennial splendour, with the spoils of battle as the Lord of hosts. In that day only, will the gates of Zion be readily opened to welcome the rightful Monarch and He will reign in peace.