Thank you God for the Experience!

Psalm 97

The Glory of God’s Reign

1 The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice;

let the many coastlands be glad!

2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;

righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

3 Fire goes before him,and consumes his adversaries on every side.

4 His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles.

5 The mountains melt like wax before the 

Lord, before the Lord of all the earth.

6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness;

and all the peoples behold his glory.

7 All worshipers of images are put to 

shame, those who make their boast in 

worthless idols; all gods bow down 

before him.

8 Zion hears and is glad, and the towns of 

Judah rejoice,

because of your judgments, O God.

9 For you, O Lord, are most high over all 

the earth; you are exalted far above all 

gods.

10 The Lord loves those who hate evil;

he guards the lives of his faithful;

he rescues them from the hand of the 

wicked.

11 Light dawns for the righteous,

and joy for the upright in heart.

12 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,

and give thanks to his holy name!

Introduction: Psalm 97 is a song of praise to the sovereign Lord. The psalmist celebrates the Lord’s dominion over nations and nature, and describes its effect on foes and friends, and exhorts and encourages the righteous to rejoice in the Lord and give thanks to His holy name.

As we continue to celebrate national women’s history month I want to share a story of a woman of God Helen Roseveare who was a British medical missionary. In the 1960, the was an uprising of revolutionaries that invaded the Congo. She was brutially attached, assaulted and raped. She found herself growing closer to God as she was recovering from this horrific experience. On most occasion our pain will cause us to pray more and seek God’s help through our troubles. For Roseverare, she grew more closer to the Lord than ever before. While sitting and communion with God, there was a question posed to her by the spirit: “Can you thank me for trusting you with this experience even if I don’t tell you why?” Lord have mercy! Too often we do not reflect on God or thank God for trusting us with the trials, test, tribulations, or the troubles we may endure. We trust God to delivery our of all our afflictions knowing that He is a very present help in times of troubles. But, can you right now thank God for trusting your with a harsh experience when you don’t understand why you had to go through this? I was watching a movie and there was a statement made by one of the actors that went something like this: When you see only your pain you lose sight of God. When it should bring us closer to the One who is King! Six years later Helen Roseveare returned to the Congo after saying yes to the Lord. She finish building the hospitals and restored a broken community. 1)Thank God for Reigning: that He has dominion over nations even in political chaos. Regardless who sits in the white house, the governor’s mansion or commissioner’s seat, school boards. God reigns forever! He is King. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein (Ps. 24:1). God rules the affairs of humanity in which He created. He is full aware of everything happening in the world. Let the earth rejoice! This dominion is a cause of joy, because, even though our minds are oppressed with terror before the throne of the King of kings (Ex 19:16; De 5:22), we know it is based on righteous principles and judgments which are according to truth. 2) Thank God for His Righteousness. God’s awesome power is depicted as clouds and darkness that surround Him. The greatness of Our King clothe in righteousness. Let all the earth rejoice. God’s absolute righteousness is the foundation of His coming judgement will be His integrity and attributes. We will be judge according to our deeds—good and evil, the righteous and the wicked. God is just! The psalmist uses fire as imagery of the storm god Baal to describe God’s final judgement upon the earth before He establishes His kingdom. v3 A fire that goes before the Him and burns up His enemies round about. v4-5 These are illustrations of God’s awful justice on enemies (Ps 83:14) are seen in the disclosures of His almighty power on the elements of nature. The heavens declare His righteousness and all the peoples see His glory. This is why we can thank God that He reigns forever and ever. And thank Him for His righteousness—everybody will see the display of His glory. The Lord’s reign is power devoted to righteousness and justice. The continuing practice of idolatry throughout world history is a grave offense against God and will finally end in shame and terror. Anything that serves as an object of worship will one day bow before the true God. The King of King. Every knee should bow and tongue confess that He is Lord. And 3) thank God for revealing his rule to the righteous by intervening in the history of people. Every experience that God allows to happen in our lives, He will intervene and get Himself glory. The faithful righteous are those who are right in relation to the Lord’s reign because they reject evil, whatever diminishes life and peace. v10 You who love the Lord, hate evil. To hate means to reject; to love means to choose. Since both are expressions of the will and not merely an emotion. He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked. The righteousness of God’s light and joy for them because they find help and protection from the wicked in the judgement of the Lord. The psalm’s proclamation of God’s reign offers the righteous hope in their opposition to evil experiences. Spiritual blessings are in store, represented by light (Ps 27:1) and gladness. The Lord is my light my salvation; who shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life of whom shall I be afraid? When the kingdom of God is proclaimed, the righteous take courage with faith that the Lord reigns. The psalm begins and ends with rejoicing. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous; and shout for joy, all you upright is heart! (Ps. 32:11) Thank you God for the entrusting me with every experience good and bad. And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.