Psalm 97:1-12 The Lord Reigns
Our psalmist paints a picture of the majesty of God as He moves against evil. The LORD reigns above ALL the earth and all that is in it. He judges with righteousness.
When reading this psalm I had a mental image of a ferocious storm approaching. There was darkness in the clouds. The wind was whipping about and uprooting anything that stood in its way. Nothing could stand against it EXCEPT what was planted by the Maker of the storm. Fire billows all around as the storm progresses through the fields, consuming everything in its path, again, EXCEPT for what the Maker of the storm holds dear.
On the other side of the storm there is pure beauty! The earth is clean and green. Those He planted stand tall without even a hint of smoke on them. They are purified by the fire but not consumed. All their cares have melted away. What remains is pure and holy. Ready to stand in His presence forever.
The storm isn’t the beginning though. It is the final stage of the whole process with God. LONG before the storm, He calls out day and night to ALL people. Those who would listen receive His protection from and for the storm. Those who refuse to listen heap up ‘kindling’ around themselves, making the coming storm even more powerful and damaging.
God is offering ANYONE who would take it a way through this storm. A way for the storm to cleanse them instead of destroy them. Make no mistake, a Storm IS coming. You have a choice whether to put on His ‘fire proof suit’ or not. What remains will be that which Jesus rules and reigns over for a thousand years.
A second Storm will follow after another time of Him holding out protection to ALL who would listen. That final Storm will permanently separate the ‘wheat’ from the ‘chaff’ and both will take their rightful places for all eternity.
God created this world without sin. Satan introduced it to woman who then gave it to her husband. Once God’s Storms have completed their work sin will be no more. The ‘sinner’ will be gone too; the one who refused to listen. God cannot dwell with sin and He WANTS to dwell with us. So sin must go.
Some may wonder why a loving God would stand by and watch so many of His creations be destroyed in the Storm. I ran across a Facebook post that asked nearly the same question. I LOVED the answer given. After searching for it on YouTube I found it was originally a TikTok post. That’s beside the point though. I’m going to post a link here and let you hear for yourself the answer given. In a nutshell though, get in the “Lifeboat” if you want to avoid the Storm!
Father God, THANK YOU for making a way of safety for me! I KNOW that we have tested and tried You throughout history. And that You have held off our just punishment. I also KNOW that Your holiness demands that sin be wiped away. THANK YOU for Jesus who cleanses me and protects me in the midst of ALL storms. I pray my children and grandchildren grab their ‘fire proof gear’ before the first storm comes. I leave them in Your hands once again Father God.
