November 4th, the day after the election here in the US, I drove to work. I noticed that the sun was still rising like it normally does. The laws of physics, like gravity, were also still functioning like normal. And the atoms and particles of the universe were still holding together, so Colossians 1:17 and Hebrews 2:10 were still true, which meant the rest of Scripture is also still true, like Psalm 97:1, acknowledging God’s reign over everything all the time.
That same verse is the topic of this passage by Scottish minister James Buchanan (1804–1870)1, which I found encouraging. Maybe you will, too.
"The Lord reigns!" Psalm 97:1
The Bible lays a solid ground for our comfort when it assures us that all
things are under the government of God. He superintends the affairs of this
world, both as the provident parent and as the moral governor of His
creatures.
The Bible declares that God created them, and that whatever beings He deigned
to create--He does not disdain to care for. It assures us that no being is so
great as to be exempt from His control--and none are so little as to be
beneath His regard. And, in like manner, that His eye is directed to every
event which may befall any one of His creatures--with no event being either
so momentous, or so insignificant--as to be beyond His management or unworthy
of His notice. The sparrow which falls to the earth--is not less an object of
His regard than the seraph that stands before His throne!
That all His creatures in this world, and all the events of human life, of
whatever kind they may be--are under God's regulation and control--is, of
itself, fitted to banish that feeling of uncertainty and hopelessness which
the aspect of events might otherwise awaken. And how important to know ...
- that nothing happens by chance,
- that everything is ordained and appointed according to certain divine
principles which are fixed and stable, and
- that these principles will continue to be developed, until the grand end
of God's government shall have been attained!
But, however important this information may be, it could ill suffice to cheer
the heart amidst its sorrows, or to inspire that living hope which alone can
bear us up under their heavy pressure--were we not further assured that the
government under which we live is conducted by ...
- a God of infinite intelligence and wisdom;
- a being who cannot err--one who knows the end from the beginning; and
- is alike incapable of choosing an improper end, or of employing
unsuitable means for its attainment.
A persuasion of God's perfect wisdom in the management of our affairs is the
more needful, in proportion as we feel our own helplessness, and are taught
by disappointments and trials--that our affairs are too high and too great to
be managed by ourselves. And when assured of this precious truth, we shall
the more readily submit to all God's appointments--satisfied, that although
we know not the plan of His operations, yet it is known and approved of by
One whose wisdom is the best guarantee of the universe.
And thus, too, will the idea of blind fate be excluded, not less than the
idea of chance.
Still the heart desires something more. It is not enough that the world is
neither left to the random vicissitudes of chance--nor governed by a blind
and inexorable fate. It is not enough for our comfort to know that a God of
infinite intelligence presides over its affairs, and that its laws are the
emanations of His unerring wisdom. Great and glorious as these discoveries
are, the heart longs to know the character, not less than the wisdom of that
Almighty Being--and to be made acquainted, if not with His secret purposes,
at least with the nature of His moral perfections and His dispositions
towards ourselves. "God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we
were still sinners, Christ died for us!" Romans 5:8
"Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns!" Revelation 19:6
Photo note: The cover photo shows Napoleon’s throne. It’s empty. He no longer reigns. God’s throne is never empty.
-
Courtesy of Grace Gems ↩︎