The King Returns

Psalm 97

As we have mentioned, Psalms 93-99 highlight the truth that God is the King of creation. Psalm 97 is encouraging in that it reveals what happens when King Jesus returns to the earth. It breaks down into three sections. Each section has a reference to the joy of the believer.

The first section is verses 1-6. We see a reference to the joy of the believer in verse 1.

The second section is verses 7-9. We see a reference to the joy of the believer in verse 8.

The third section is verses 10-12. We see a reference to the joy of the believer in verses 11 and 12.

The Psalm is a reminder that the coming of Christ is a reason for the believer to rejoice. We look forward to seeing Christ. If we can see Him without experiencing death that is a bonus for us. Whether we return with Christ to set up His kingdom on earth or are on earth when He returns matters very little. What matters is Jesus will return and set the universe right. As we look at this Psalm, I want to give you three reasons the believer can rejoice in our coming King.

1. Rejoice in the power of God (1-6).

2. Rejoice in the exclusivity of God (7-9).

3. Rejoice in the salvation of God (10-12).

1. We Rejoice in the Power of God (1-6).

A. He is all powerful (1).

The Lord reigns. God is sovereign. He rules over all of creation. Notice that this is in the present tense. The Lord has always reigned, the Lord will reign, and the Lord is reigning. It may be hard for us to believe that the Lord is presently reigning, but He is.

Chaos is all around us, but God is still on His throne.

Pharaoh couldn’t knock Him off His throne

Nebuchadnezzar couldn’t knock Him off His throne

Herod couldn’t knock Him off His throne.

Nero couldn’t knock Him off His throne.

When the Antichrist rises, he will not knock Him off His throne.

The entire earth should rejoice in this truth. The psalmist thinks about the lands beyond the shores of Israel. Every island, every coastland can rejoice that the God of Israel reigns.

Why? Because God has commanded the gospel be taken to the ends of the earth. He will make sure this happens.

Man builds highways and God uses those highways to take the gospel to a distant people.

Man builds boats and God uses those boats to take the gospel to new continents.

Man builds planes and God uses those plans to circle the globe with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Remember that God is always working before man is. We look too much at man. We give man too much credit. God gives man the ingenuity, the strength, and the resources to accomplish things. Often man does not even know that it is an all-powerful God who is working through him to accomplish His own means.

God is presently working all things together for His won glory and our own good. Believers should know this and rejoice!

B. He is awe inspiring (2-5).

Verses 2-5 describe the return of Christ.

We will see Him. Clouds and thick darkness represent the judgment of God. When God gave the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai the mountain the people saw smoke, lightning, and heard trumpets (Ex. 20:18-21). They were so afraid they backed away from the mountain and told Moses not to let God speak to them because they were afraid they would die if He did.

The character of God is seen in the person of God. He is righteous. He is just. His throne is one of integrity. The judgment He brings is righteous.

His judgment is as powerful as a raging fire that devours everything it touches. His presence lightens up the world like lightning.

His coming invokes fear in many. The earth trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the Lord. This is probably symbolic language that represents the fear a lost world will experience on the day of the Lord.

Now let’s compare what the Psalmist say to what Scripture says about the return of Christ.

He will return in the clouds of heaven with great power and glory (Matt. 24:30).

Matthew 24:27 says the return of Jesus will be like the lightning in the heavens.

Rev. 19:11 says when He returns, He is called Faithful, True and in righteousness He judges and makes war.

Luke 21:26 says people will be so afraid their hearts will fail them.

Rev. 19:15 says out of His mouth goes a sword that smites the nations.

C. He is seen by all.

Look at verse 6. All the peoples see His glory. What can we make of this?

They see his person. Everyone will see God. The lost and the saved will see Him. Every eye will behold, every knee will bow. In a moment we move from no one on earth seeing Him to everyone seeing Him.

They see His salvation. The saved are glad to see Him. The lost wish they were saved. They see the Lord gather his people unto himself. The see the mother hen gather its chicks unto itself. They rest beneath the wings of God.

They see His judgment. The lost see it and experience it. The saved see the power of the Lord poured out on the wicked.

When Christ returns His glory is revealed. We see God as He is. Glorious in appearance, loving in salvation, just in His judgment.

The believer should rejoice in this. Even now, we should rejoice in the power of our great God.

2. We Rejoice in the Exclusivity of God (7-9).

A. Because it is shameful to worship an idol (7).

Those who worship false gods are often proud they do. Our own culture boasts of being inclusive when it comes to religion. It’s foolish to boast of polytheism. If everyone’s god is God then no ones god is God. Embracing polytheism is an admittance to atheism. We are reasonable people. Reason tells us that there can be only one all-powerful being. There is only one God or there is no god at all.

Those who embrace false gods forsake the true God. They forsake the God who gave them life and gives them provision day by day.

The Psalmist even calls upon these false gods to worship the True God. How can that be? Idols aren’t real gods. The Psalmist is showing that God is so much greater than the idols. When the Philistines put the Ark of the Covenant in the temple of Dagon they learned this lesson. When they entered the Temple their idol had fallen over. In fact his head and hands had even broken off. The idol was nothing but a stump and was lying in front of the Ark (1 Samuel 5).

When Christ returns He will destroy all idols and systems of religion except His own. He will put to shame the false gods and those who worship them. No doubt, there are people who are proud of their false religion for various reasons. Some are proud because it is their heritage.

Some are proud because it has helped them discipline their own life.

Some are proud because they have risen in the ranks of their false religion.

When Christ returns there is no reason to be proud of allegiance to a false god. The idol itself is proof that one has broken the first two commandments. To embrace a false god is to reject the true God. It is to rob God of the glory He deserves. Even the unbeliever has been blessed by God. He has been given many things in life. In stead of giving God the glory for these things he has given what rightfully belongs to God to another.

B. Because His judgment is proper (8).

Verse eight is important. It shows that there will be many Jewish people who are saved when Jesus returns. “Zion” and the “daughters of Judah” represent the Jewish race. The Bible teaches that near the end of the age many Jewish people will come to faith in Christ. God has not abandoned His chosen people. By His grace He will draw many from the Jewish race unto himself. Revelation 7:4 says 144,000 Jewish people will be saved during the tribulation. It says 12,000 from each tribe. Before that I believe we will see many Jews saved because of what Paul says in Romans 11.

Believing Jews and believing Gentiles will rejoice when they see the judgment of God. We might wonder why anyone would rejoice at the judgment of God. We rejoice because God is destroying evil. We see Christ destroying these idols and those who embrace ungodly systems, and we rejoice.

I have had people tell me they pray for the devil. I can only assume their prayer for Satan is supposed to make me think they are more kind or spiritual than others. It’s foolish to pray for the devil. First, that is a prayer that will never be answered. There will be no devil in heaven. Second, a devil in heaven would give no one a reason to rejoice. We’ve already seen what happens when there is a devil in heaven.

What do we do when we see Satan cast into the Lake of Fire with all who follow him? We rejoice! We are glad! We are not happy that anyone is suffering. But we are happy that evil is destroyed. The judgment of God is proper. We know that. There is no reason for us to be depressed, there is every reason for us to rejoice.

C. Because He is worthy (9).

Verse nine says the LORD is the most high over all the earth. He is exalted above all other gods. He is the only one worthy of our praise. Christ is not the greatest in Israel. He is the greatest in all the earth. In fact, He is the greatest in heaven. And He is not only above all. He is far above all others.

Christ is the greatest Being in all the universe and there is not even a close second. He is exclusive in His worth. He is a bar of gold we are all clods of dirt. Even if we were to compare the false gods of the world to Christ, there is none close to him in worth. Man cannot even invent a god that is close to being as glorious as Christ. Man has tried and failed.

Compare the invented gods of this world with Christ and you will see.

Man invented Allah, the god of the Muslim. Compare him to Christ.

Man invented the Greek gods and goddesses of the Romans. Compare them to Christ.

Man invented the thousands of gods and goddesses of the Hindus. Compare each of them to Christ.

We rejoice that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth , and the Life. He is the only One who is worthy.

3. We rejoice in the salvation of God (10-12).

We end the Psalm with encouragement while we wait on the return of Christ. While we wait we rejoice in the salvation of Christ.

A. He delivers us from sin.

We see this in:

Our devotion to Him. Look at verse 10. We love the Lord and we hate evil. If you love the Lord, you will hate some things too. One of the great proofs of salvation is that we begin loving things we use to hate and hating things we use to love. When God saves a person, they will love Him and hate sin. God changes our devotion. Our devotion was to the things of this world. Now our devotion is to Christ.

When God saves a person that person sees Jesus in a whole new light. We see it was our sin that killed Christ. Therefore, we set out to killing our sin. We hate sin, we love Jesus!

His preservation of us. Verse ten says He preserves His saints. God keeps us. Thank God for that! If we could lose our salvation we would! It is God who keeps us. I have to thank someone for keeping me saved. I will thank the Lord! It is the Lord who has kept me, no myself.

His deliverance of us. He delivers us from the hand of the wicked. God will ultimately deliver us from this wicked world filled with wicked people. We look forward to complete deliverance from this world. He may take us up or He may take us out, either way He will deliver us.

Praise God for our salvation!!

B. He gives us hope (11).

God give us light. He sows light into our life like a framer sows seed in the soil. This world can be dark. It can be filled with sorrow. God gives us the light of His Word. That light gives us hope when we feel hopeless. Many a time I have been down and reminded myself “At least I’m saved! Thank God I’m saved!”

The righteous are not abandoned. God gives us His joy through the promises in His Word. Darkness may be around us but it is never within us.

C. He gives us joy (12).

The Psalms ends as it began. We are called to rejoice in the Lord. Our rejoicing is not manufactured. It is real. All we must do is think about all the things we have to be thankful for. A thankful person will rejoice.

We have so many reasons to rejoice in the Lord. Namely this: “The Lord reigns!”

No matter what the doctor says, the Lord will still reign!

No matter what the bill is, the Lord still reigns!

No matter what the weather is, the Lord still reigns!

No matter what the politicians do, the Lord still reigns!

We will always have our salvation therefore we always have reason to rejoice. Thank God for the coming Christ. Our King has given us hope and joy that cannot be taken.