The Lord reigneth.
Note—
I. THE PROPOSITION TO BE PROVED—that "the Lord reigneth." The psalmist describes:
1. The royal robes. "He hath clothed himself with majesty." The sacred writers seem to have drawn their ideas of the regal splendour of God, not so much from the magnificence of Oriental potentates, as from the gorgeous glow of the heavens—the sun by day, the moon and stars by night. Further, "he hath girded himself with strength." This seen in the steady march of the heavenly bodies, never breaking rank, never failing to appear in due course, never wearying by long continuance.
2. The permanence of his rule. "The world established, that it cannot be moved." The order of his universe cannot be broken. And so it has ever been, "from everlasting."
II. THE PROOF. The psalmist likens the wild tumult of the peoples in rebellion against God to the fury of a storm at sea. The roar of the breakers dashing against the rooks, the thunder of the surf upon the shore, the fierce agitation of the storm-tossed waves as they lift themselves on high,—all this is the vivid picture which suggests to the mind the worse, because the wicked, rage of a rebellious people or of a rebellious soul. And how terribly true the likeness is! The souls of men setting themselves against God, in wrath and rage against him, and scornfully rejecting and renouncing his authority! But as he hushes the storm so that there is a great calm, in like manner doth he still the wrath of man, and makes it to praise him (Psalms 93:4). How often he has done this!
III. THE DEDUCTION. It is twofold.
1. That God is faithful. Men may utterly rely upon his word. Fools that we are, we often fail thus to trust him, and follow instead the miserable maxims of men of the world. But, nevertheless, God remaineth true.
2. That holy obedience is our wisdom. We cannot have God on our side if we wander from his ways—it is impossible. Let us, then, be on the side of God. Wisdom, gratitude, duty, love for our fellow men, all urge this.—S.C.