THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Psalms: God's Nurture Of The Inner Man In The Life Of Faith

XCIII: Praising God For His Sovereignty Versus Languishing In Pagan Insecurity

(Psalm 93:1-5)

I. Introduction

A. God is the Absolute Sovereign of the universe, but many people do not believe it, and languish in insecurity.

B. Psalm 93:1-5 in its historical context reveals God's absolute sovereignty over the local pagan deity Baal, and the statements made in this psalm have great application for us in what we face today (as follows):

II. Praising God For His Sovereignty Versus Languishing In Pagan Insecurity, Psalm 93:1-5.

A. There are no introductory remarks in this psalm (Kittel, Bib. Heb., p. 1057), so the verse numbering format of the English Bible fits that of the Hebrew text. We then stay with the numbering format of the English Bible.

B. We thus translate Psalm 93:1-5 as follows:

1. "Jahweh reigns; with majesty He clothes Himself; Jahweh clothes Himself with strength (and) girds Himself; how much more established (then) is the world; it shall not be moved," Psalm 93:1-5.

2. "Your throne was established from antiquity; You (emph. pron.) (Jahweh) are from eternity (past), v. 2.

3. "The seas have lifted up, O Jahweh, the seas have lifted up their voice; the seas have lifted up their pounding waves (that) crush," Psalm 93:3.

4. "Mightier than the voice (thundering surf sound) of the great waters (pounding seas), (more) majestic than the breakers of the sea, Jahweh on high is majestic," Psalm 93:4.

5. "Your solemnly charged laws (of Moses) are exceedingly reliable; Your house is adorned with holiness, O Jahweh, for length of days." (Psalm 93:5)

C. We note significant observations and applications regarding this psalm (as follows):

1. (a) "In pagan Canaanite mythology Baal attained a position of power (and a house that was corrupt) through struggling with and overcoming Prince Yamm, the sea (in Hebrew yam means 'sea')," Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 861. Also, (b) the pagan world believed the current creative order was in constant danger of slipping back into its primordial chaos, so pagan man would annually re-enact the creation myths of his gods' battle with the sea monster or the sea magically to preserve the current creative order, Bruce K. Waltke, Creation and Chaos, 1974, p. 57. (c) In addition, pagan man's gods were fickle despots who fought with each other and made man their slaves to do the labor of the god(s), Ibid., p. 65, 58.

2. Psalm 93:1-5 thus acts as a polemic, a critique of paganism specifically as it related to the local pagan deity Baal: (a) opposite the fear pagan man had of the supposed fragile nature of the creative order, Israel's God was so clothed in sovereignty by His own majesty that the earth could not be moved, v. 1. Israel thus had no need to re-enact the Genesis 1-2 creation account to preserve by magic the Sovereign God's created order. (b) Also, there was no sea monster or sea for God to check or battle to preserve the current created order, but just an inanimate sea that could only roar and lift up its pounding waves that crush, what God Himself completely ruled, Psalm 93:3-4. (c) In addition, God was not a fickle despot who was in constant battle with other fickle gods, but His laws were exceedingly reliable and stable, Psalm 93:5a. (d) Finally, opposite Baal whose house was established in gross immorality (Zon. Pict. Ency. Bible, v. One, p. 433), God's house was forever adorned with holiness, with separation from sin, Psalm 93:5b.

3. An additional application may be made relative to trials we face today: God is sovereign over the frightening sound of the sea's waves (Psalm 93:3a, 4a) as well as the force of the breakers themselves (Psalm 93:3b, 4b), so His people can rely on Him to handle frightening trials they hear they may face as well as the force of the trials that actually arrive to afflict them! God is truly the Sole, Sovereign God!

Lesson: (1) Israel's God was the True, Sole, Absolute Sovereign God of the creative order versus the fickle, despotic pagan false god Baal. (2) God's creative order was thus secure opposite Baalism's view of the universe. (3) God's people were to (a) trust His Word as being fully reliable vesus the unreliable, shifting ideas of the pagan world and (b) to live holy lives opposite the sinful, fallen lifestyles of the lost pagan world around them.

Application: (1) May we rest in the total sovereign control God has over creation opposite secular man's fear of a supposed catastrophic "climate change," cf. Genesis 8:22. (2) May we live in secure stability versus the instability of insecure, fallen man. (3) May we live in light of God's separation from sin opposite the world's unholiness and (4) may we heed the light of God's reliable written Word opposite the world's shifting, insecure ideologies.