In this sermon, the speaker discusses the importance of understanding the kingship of Christ as the foundation for our faith. He emphasizes that every person must begin with the basic truth that the Lord reigns and has absolute authority. Despite the troubles and opposition we may face, God's throne cannot be contradicted. The speaker encourages listeners to trust in God's sovereignty and to sing songs of rest, victory, and service as they grasp the three glories revealed in the Psalms.

To all of you, as we come to the study of God's Word, I'll remind you of a principle of Bible study that is absolutely indispensable, and that is total reliance upon God's Holy Spirit. It's so amazing when we come to this book, no matter how much we know it and how many times we hear it, sometime we get the idea that we can understand it if we study hard enough or if we read the right books or if we do the right research. And it's just not so. Unless we come as little children before God Himself and just call out and ask the Lord to teach us, the book will be closed. He's promised that He would meet with us and minister unto us if we would come as children. And so, with that suggestion in mind, I'll ask you to bow with me, and we'll look together in the Lord's Word. Let's trust Him to show Himself. Let's pray together. Our Father, we do thank You so much for Your Word. We thank You for the resident Bible teacher who lives in our hearts, always delighting to put the spotlight on the dear Lord Jesus. We pray this evening and this weekend that in a special way You would turn the eyes of our heart unto the Lord Jesus. We thank You, Lord, that we can be turned to You in so many ways, in our fellowship, in our music, in our singing, in the Word of God. We just pray that this would be a glorious time of seeing Christ. Now take Your Word and show us the living Word, the Lord Jesus. May that Word change us into His likeness. We ask, we pray in Jesus' name. I'll ask you to open your Bibles, please, to Psalm 93, if you would. I think you already know the little series we're doing. Those notes I handed out pretty much cover these psalms. We'll not refer to them again, so you can just take them home, and maybe you want to glance at them from time to time. I just thought it would be helpful if you had those, I think, after we're all finished, and then you read over the notes. It might refresh your mind. Like us to look at these seven or eight or nine psalms designated as royal psalms. I say seven or eight or nine. You've got to figure out how to use your pulpit here, Booth. Seven because some say Psalm 94 doesn't belong as one of the royal psalms. I say eight because some say 94 does belong as one of the royal psalms. I say nine because some folks think the royal psalm begin with Psalm 92. We're going to just take the traditional route and follow the Jewish rabbis, 93 through 100. They call those the times of the Messiah. That's what the Jews call these psalms. These are psalms of the theocracy. By the way, the word theocracy was coined by Josephus. In the Old Testament, they didn't use that word to describe themselves. And that was sort of a Johnny come lately. Anyway, what I'd like to do is look at these marvelous royal psalms, sort of introduce them tonight and give you a taste for what the message of these psalms is. And then as the Lord guides us, we'll look at them one at a time. Glance, if you would, at Psalm 93, verse 1. Psalm 93, 1, the Lord reigns. 96, 10. 96, 10, the Lord reigns. 97, 1, the Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice. 99, 1, the Lord reigns, let the people tremble. Now many psalms refer to the Lord Jesus as King. But these psalms don't only refer to the Lord as King. The theme of these psalms is the kingship of Christ. And so they're a little bit different. And every one of these royal psalms has to do with the truth, the Lord reigns. Some folks call these the sovereignty of God psalms, the lordship of Christ psalms, the rule of Jesus, the King and His dominion. But you get the idea. One of my prayers as we go through these psalms together is that the Lord will make the kingship of Christ a burning reality in our hearts. Now I call attention to that because sometime we have the kingship of Christ sort of as a sectarian truth. We have it as part of our creed. We say, yes, I believe in that. I believe that Jesus is King. But maybe this weekend, if God graces us, it'll become a living truth, not just part of our creed, but that God will make it burn in our heart that the Lord Jesus Christ reigns. One of the prayers I'm praying as we go through this is that God will deliver us from the futility of the dead letter where we just go through, yes, la, la, la, God is King and Christ reigns and He's on a throne and all that kind of thing. We can look at those facts, but if God, if He blesses us and He begins to make that real unto us, then our prayer will be fulfilled. Now let me put this Old Testament expression, the Lord reigns, the Lord reigns, the Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice, the Lord reigns, let the people tremble. Let me put that in New Testament language. You see, these royal Psalms, like so many of the other Psalms, are quoted in the New Testament. We won't look that up now, but Psalm 94, 11 is quoted in 1 Corinthians 3, 20. Psalm 95, 7 to 11 is quoted in Hebrews 3, 7 to 15. Psalm 97, 7 is quoted in Hebrews 1, 6. Let me call attention to that one. Psalm 97, 7 says, it's talking about Jehovah, and it says, worship Him. Now, that's quoted in Hebrews 1, 6, and it's applied to Jesus. Let all the angels of God worship Him. That's another illustration that the Jehovah of the Old Testament is the Jesus of the New Testament. Now, why am I calling attention to this? Because sometimes we just say, the Lord reigns, and that's just sort of, you know, way out there. What's the New Testament expression of the same truth? The Lord Jesus reigns. And somehow, that brings it close to home. And so we're going to be looking at these Psalms, royal Psalms. The Lord reigns, the Lord Jesus reigns. It's sort of like, who art in heaven, that's way far away. Our Father, who art in heaven. And that sort of brings it right into our heart. And so we'll look at these as the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ. We sing songs, in fact, I appreciate that tonight, singing those songs of His royalty. We sing of His kingship, we memorize verses on it, and now may God make this thing a burning reality in our hearts. Now, if you'll glance for a moment at Psalm 103, you say, well, now that's not one of the royal Psalms. So what, humor me. There's a verse in there that summarizes the royal Psalms, and I'd like us to take Psalm 103, 19 as sort of a key verse for the weekend. Psalm 103, 19 says, the Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all. Isn't that a glorious verse? Let me give you sort of an overview of the eight Psalms before we actually home in on the particular message of each of the Psalms. Now, follow along, please. Glance at Psalm 95, and I'm going to read the first two verses. O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord. Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving. Let us shout joyfully to Him with song. That's how Psalm 95 begins. Now look at Psalm 96. Sing to the Lord a new song. Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless His name. Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day. So thrilling is the truth that in these Psalms all nature is invited to join in the song. For example, Psalm 96, 11, let the heavens be glad. Let the earth rejoice. Let the sea roar and all it contains. Verse 12, let the field exult and all that's in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy. Now you say, well now isn't it true that all the Psalms are songs? Yes, all the Psalms are songs. No question about that. But Psalm 95 and 96 is a different kind of song than Psalm 93 and 94. Now what's the difference? You see, in Psalm 93 and 94, you have sort of a principle. You have a message. You have a teaching. And it's almost as if God is saying, when you see this truth, you're going to sing this song. So if you can see the message in Psalm 93 and 94, you will sing the song in Psalm 95 and 96. You have a new song there. And then it's almost as if God says, now, take a look at Psalm 97. No song. Now of course it's a song because it's a Psalm, but it's a message. There's a tremendous truth in Psalm 97. And then Psalm 98 begins, sing to the Lord a new song. He's done wonderful things. His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him. And it's almost as if God is saying, if you learn the message of Psalm 97, you're going to sing the song of Psalm 98. And you have the same idea at the end of Psalm 98, verse 7 and 8, let the sea roar, all it contains, the world, those that dwell in it, let the rivers clap their hands, the mountains sing together for joy. And as you'd expect, Psalm 99 is another message. And Psalm 100 begins, shout joyfully to the Lord all the earth. There's another song. Let me sort of make it as a package for you. I think you get the idea. We've got to see what truth this is that produces this song. And then what truth this is that produces this song, and what truth this is that produces that song. They're all about the kingship of Christ. And I have an idea, if God blesses us, that what we're going to do is we're going to learn this message, and then we'll sing this song. Let me label it for you so that you have logical connection. The first song that is sung, actually it's a song with two verses, Psalm 95 and 96. Psalm 95 is the song of rest. Psalm 96 is the song of worship. And so it's a song of rest and worship. Now what truth do I need about the kingship of Christ that will fill my life with the song of rest and worship? After you've learned that, He says, all right, now you need another message that will put in your heart the song of victory. That's the next song. And then the climax of the whole thing is the song of service. Now there's a paradox there, but you'll see that when we come to the end. I pray when we leave, that as never before, my life, my heart will be singing the song of rest and worship, that my life, my heart will be singing the song of victory, and I'll be singing the song of service. But in order to sing that, I have to learn three truths, three glories. So it's not a difficult weekend. We're just going to look at these glorious Psalms, and we don't have time. Now in those pages that I handed out, I've made other references, and you could get in a little bit deeper. But for this weekend, since we only have several meetings, I just want to touch on the great truth of each Psalm and then the songs that are produced. And I trust that God will make that so real in our lives. You know, it's interesting that I could be wrong, but I have an idea. Not only do these Psalms, these royal Psalms, all teach on the kingship of Christ, but I have an idea, in your experience, this is exactly the order in which you'll experience. In other words, you can't sing the second song until you've learned to sing the first song. And you can't sing the third song until you've learned to sing the second song. So maybe as we go through this together, you'll be able to see where you are in terms of the glorious truth, the Lord reigns, the Lord Jesus reigns. We're going to be describing what our life will look like if Christ reigns in our heart, Christ reigns in our life. Again, as a living reality, not just some creed, not something that we have in our catechism, but something that's been real in our heart. So that's basically what we're going to look at. You see, these Psalms, you can't fake it, you can't drum up the song. Say, well, I can just obey God, I'll do His will. You don't do God's will when you do God's will. You don't do God's will until you delight to do His will. And that's the part you can't fake. You can't fake the delight. You go through the motions and all, but you can't put the delight in it. These are Psalms of His kingship, songs of His kingship. And it's a joyful thing to have Christ as King of your life. And these are the songs that He wants to write in our heart this weekend. And I just trust that God will help us as we go through this. It's wonderful that God has put rejoicing all through the book of Psalms. But I'm so amazed when I read these royal Psalms, how much rejoicing there is in these Psalms. You know, for years in my life, when someone said, King Jesus, or talked about the throne of Christ, that just didn't register joy for me. I was a student for some time at Moody Bible Institute, and I almost got expelled from the school. I wasn't a good student, and I was so afraid that God was going to call me to some mission field, that I refused to go to chapel when a missionary was speaking. And that was required. You had to go to chapel. And I just didn't want to go, because I knew God was going to call me to Africa or something. I had to learn some language I didn't want to learn or something. And I just knew that if I went to that conference, we had to sign in and honesty and all that. And I just refused to go. So they called me down. Dr. Culbertson was the president at the time, called me into the big white throne office, you know, and there he stood, and scared me to death, and told me about the kingship of Christ. But to me, that wasn't joy. I thought, oh my goodness, kingship of Christ? That's just authority and obligation and duty and rules. And the only reason he wants to be Lord is he wants to lord it over me. And that was my idea of the lordship of Christ. And I was terrified. I thought, oh boy, there goes my liberty. There goes my future. I'll never be able to get married. I'll never be able to have children. That was my idea of the lordship of Christ. And may I tell you now, things have changed through the years. And God, in His grace, has taught me a little. I'm not saying there's no ground to be possessed. I'm not pretending in any way that I've arrived in this whole idea of the kingship of Christ. But oh my, I'll tell you one thing. Submitting to His kingship is the safest thing that you can ever do. It's the most wonderful thing in the world. It's the very spring and source of the most dignified and healthy joy any person could ever have. Uh, I get choked up a little when I think of this because my girls are sitting here. And nothing I would long for more than my children would bow before the Lord Jesus Christ as king. I'm not suggesting they haven't. But I'm just saying, oh I long for my girls and for my sons. I got four boys too. Just to know the royalty. And there's a song in that. There's a glorious song. And so may God help us as we go through this weekend. In this connection, listen to Luke 19, 42. Our Lord Jesus, when He came into Jerusalem, He wept, remember. And He made this comment. He said, if you had known in this day, even you, the things that make for your peace, but now they're hidden from your eyes. The things that make for your peace, when you reject the kingship of Christ, you become an enemy to your own peace. And He wept because they were rejecting His kingship. And so they were standing against their own peace. Now listen to Isaac Watts, one verse of his wonderful hymn, Jesus Shall Reign. This is one of the verses that we leave out. Okay, now let's leave out this verse. A blessings abound, where'er He reigns. The joyful prisoner bursts his chains. The weary find eternal rest, and all the sons of want. Oh, exactly so. So that's where we're headed. And in our introduction lesson, I hope you get a taste for this. So that your heart will say, oh, I long to sing those songs. I long that He reigns in my heart, in my life. But with that as sort of an overview, turn now to Psalm 93. As the first of the Royal Psalms, this is not only the first, but it becomes then the foundation. Everything rests on Psalm 93. Everything flows from this. Everything is built on this glorious psalm. Follow along, please, as I read. The Lord reigns. He's clothed with majesty. The Lord hath clothed and girded Himself with strength. Indeed, the world is firmly established. It will not be moved. Thy throne is established of old. Thou art from everlasting. The floods have lifted up, O Lord. The floods have lifted up their voice. The floods lift up their pounding waves more than the sound of many waters, than the mighty breakers of the sea. The Lord on high is mighty. Thy testimonies are fully confirmed. Holiness befits Thy house, O Lord, forevermore. Now, the first words actually give the message of the psalm. 93.1, the Lord reigns. Verse 2, Thy throne is established of old. Notice, if you would, in verse 2, Thy throne is established of old. Thou art from everlasting. This verse is actually teaching that God is older than His throne. You see, His throne had a beginning, but God had no beginning. And so, you ask the question, when did God's dominion begin? When did God's throne begin? 93.1, the world was firmly established. God's dominion began when creation began. You see, in eternity, He had potential dominion. It was all in His character, but He had nothing to reign over. And when He created, He automatically became Lord of all, creator of all. Now, if there were two creators, then there'd have to be two lords. Because you'd have to be, you'd be Lord over whatever you created. Because He was entire creator, that is, there wasn't another creator. Because He was entire creator, He's absolute Lord. Entire creator, absolute Lord. And in that moment, then, when He created, He became creator. Sometime we use the expression, make Jesus Lord of your life. Well, we know what we mean when we say that. But, honest, we can submit to His lordship, but you can't make Jesus Lord. He's already Lord, whether you want Him to be or not, or whether you try to make Him to be or not. Psalm 93.1, the Lord hath clothed and girded Himself with majesty. He's made Himself Lord. Acts 2.36 says, let all the house of Israel know for certain, God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucify. He's already Lord. He hasn't put it in my hands to make Jesus Lord. Hasn't put it in your hands to make Jesus Lord. So that's how Psalm 93 begins. By an act of creation, He became, since He was the total creator, He became the absolute Lord, He and He alone. Some of you probably heard the name Gandhi. I don't know if you saw the movie, For Reasons I Won't Go Into. That's a long movie. I saw that thing five times. And I was doing a little Bible study and tracing Gandhi and so on, but I won't get into that. But Gandhi wasn't a Christian. He actually said that he wasn't a Christian. Gandhi made this statement. And I think it's probably the saddest statement that he could have ever made. Quote, I cannot set Jesus Christ upon a solitary throne because God has been incarnate many times in human history. Imagine that. I cannot set Jesus Christ upon a solitary throne. Well, friends, that's exactly where he sits, on a solitary throne. And Psalm 93 says, He is the total creator, absolute Lord, and He sits upon a solitary throne. He reigns alone. There's no such thing as a vice God. There's no such thing as a board of directors for Him or an advisory committee. He's all by Himself and He rules over everything. And notice verse 3 and 4. It says, The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice, the floods lift up their pounding waves, more than the sound of many waters, than the mighty breakers of the sea. The Lord on high is mighty. These verses teach that the Lord sits upon a solitary throne and that He is irresistible. In His reign. So you get that idea of the floods, the pounding waves, the mighty breakers. That's just poetic language for that which opposes God. Here's God on His throne and then here come the floods and the mighty breakers and the pounding waves. This is a basic truth, a foundational truth. I need to know. And that's why it begins here. This is the starting point of the reign of Christ. If I'm ever going to sing any song, I need to know the Lord Jesus reigns. The Lord Jesus reigns over everything. The Lord Jesus reigns sitting on a solitary throne and no floods can reach Him. Nothing can contradict God's throne. You know, this passage talks about, in very poetic language, the voice of the flood. I just hear about opposition and my heart begins to quiver. It talks about the pounding of the waves. You've probably experienced that. One bad thing after another, just pounding on your life. Talks about the breakers. You know why they call breakers, breakers? They break. I'm serious. That's why, that's where it got its name. Breakers break. And here you get this picture of God on His throne and you got the voice of the waves. God says, that doesn't reach my throne. And you got the pounding of the waves. God says, that doesn't reach my throne. God's throne's not even damp from all of the floods that rise up against Him. The Lord Jesus, this is how the royal psalms begin. At the beginning of creation, the Lord Jesus established His throne. He sits on a solitary throne. He rules over all things. The voice of the waves can't touch Him. The pounding of the waves can't touch Him. The breakers can't touch Him. Nothing can affect Him. And then the verse says, in verse 4, more than the sounds of many waters, the Lord on high is mighty. The question is, how much higher is the throne of God than the sound of that which opposes Him? Would you say that the throne of God is five times higher than everything that comes against it? You'd have to say higher than that. Would you say ten times higher? You'd have to say, no, higher than that. How about a thousand times higher? God's throne is a thousand times higher than anything that could oppose it. See, because it's God's throne, you'd have to say higher than that. And I could keep you here all night by throwing numbers at you, and you'd always have to say higher than that. Try to enter into this. This is how the royal psalms begin. Infinitely higher than anything that could oppose it. The Lord Jesus Christ sits upon a solitary throne. All by Himself. Ruling over everything, because He's entire Creator. He's absolute Lord. Absolute Lord, reigning over everything. In an irresistible way, infinitely higher than all the floods that could ever come against Him. Now, that's how the royal psalm begins. Not a lot of fanfare, not a lot of ado, no clatter and pomp and all that thing. Just a fact, the Bible begins with this, the royal psalm begins, solid fact. The Lord Jesus reigns over everything, all by Himself, on a solitary throne, in an irresistible way, and the floods can't reach Him. Just by a nod of His head, just by a look of His eye, just by a flashing thought that goes through His mind, just by a decision of His will, whatever He wants to happen, happens. And nobody can resist, and nothing can resist. No power, no force, anything. All right, hold that for a moment, and glance, if you would, at royal psalm number 2. Because psalm 93 and psalm 94 together, not by themselves, together, form the first message. And if I don't learn that message, I can't sing the psalm. And so I need to see the message. So you've got half a truth here, psalm 93. Now let's look at psalm 94. Rather than reading the whole psalm, this is the longest of the royal psalms, at least 10 verses longer than any of the other psalms. In fact, even the verses are longer. Let's just read verses 3 to 7, psalm 94, verse 3. Let's read. How long shall the wicked, O Lord, how long shall the wicked exalt? They pour forth words, they speak arrogantly. All who do wickedness vaunt themselves. They crush Thy people, O Lord, and afflict Thy heritage. They slay the widow and the stranger, they murder the orphan. They've said, the Lord does not see, nor does the God of Jacob pay heed. And notice the expression in verse 20, please. It says, can a throne of destruction be allied with Thee? If you have the King James Version, it says throne of iniquity. I'm so glad, I think NIV says corrupt throne. I'm so glad that God used the word throne in verse 94 and psalm 94. You see, because psalm 93 talks about the throne of God. Psalm 94 talks about the throne of destruction, the throne of corruption, throne of wickedness. You're not going to appreciate psalm 94 if you don't relate it to psalm 93. Psalm 93 says, the Lord Jesus reigns. Psalm 94 said, really? You got to be kidding me. You see that? When you read psalm 94, psalm 93 says, the Lord Jesus reigns. Psalm 94 says, it doesn't look like it. It doesn't look like He's reigning. That's a strange kind of reign. I thought He was unopposed. I thought the floods couldn't reach that. Then what's all this about His inheritance? What's all this about the widow and the orphan and the stranger? I thought the Lord Jesus reigned. So you got to take these two psalms together. The Bible says the Lord Jesus reigns. It doesn't say it will always look like He's reigning. It's sort of like the psalm begin, the whole book of psalms begins. Psalm 1-3 says, whatever the righteous does will prosper. It doesn't say it looks like it'll prosper. Sometimes it doesn't look like it's prosperity. Let me give you a little closer look at what I mean when I say He doesn't seem to be reigning. See, God allows some strange things in psalm 94. Verse 3 and 4, how long shall the wicked, O Lord, how long shall the wicked exalt? He allows the wicked to continue. Not only to continue, but to boast. Verse 5, they pour forth words, they speak arrogantly. All who do wickedness vaunt themselves. You say Jesus is reigning and He allows the arrogant and the proud? He allows the haughty and the pompous? He allows them to blaspheme? Well, if He only allowed their voice, that'd be one thing, but He allows their hand too. Verse 6, they slay the widow, the stranger, murder orphan. You say, well, that's a strange reign. I thought God was king and I thought He would rescue the oppressed. You mean He allows them to be murdered? How can that be reconciled with His absolute reign? Verse 7, they've said the Lord does not see. God of Jacob does not give heed. I think some of you know that I have a deaf son. That's what they're claiming here. God's blind and God is deaf. And even if He could see and hear, He doesn't care. He's so far, He's busy. He's way out there occupied with other things. And the wicked were saying those kinds of things. A glance at verse 21, please, same psalm. They band themselves together against the life of the righteous. They condemn the innocent to death. You mean Christ is king and He allows injustice? They band together against the righteous? Isn't that a contradiction? Doesn't Psalm 93 contradict Psalm 94? 93, the Lord reigns. 94, right. Sure He does. Take a look around. Look at all the trouble. Why are His people crushed? Why is His heritage afflicted? Why does He allow the helpless to be oppressed and injured and hurt? Widows, strangers, orphans. Why are the innocent condemned to death? Why are the unrighteous allowed to be proud? See, we need to understand the most basic principle. If we're ever going to sing any of these songs, we need to see the most basic truth of all. This is the lowest step. What we're going to look at tonight is the lowest step in the kingship of Christ. You got to begin here. It's just an objective fact. We're going to rise higher in the truth of the kingship of Christ and our songs are going to become better. But every person who ever is introduced to the kingship of Christ must begin here. The Lord reigns. He has absolute authority. Some people think, therefore, I'm exempt, you know. Satan can't touch me. I'm his child. The king will get him. Let anybody try to touch me. God's going to watch over His children. You think God's going to let the widow be taken by shysters? You think God's going to allow the orphan and the stranger to be violated? The Lord Jesus reigns. We've bowed to His lordship. He's going to protect me and mine. Don't I have a guarantee that God's going to guard the purity of my girls? Don't I have some kind of a guarantee on that? That He's going to somehow blockade the violence of wicked men and their greed and so on? I thought I was exempt to the temptations common to man. The Lord reigns. But there's a throne of wickedness. Now, I read in verse 14, the Lord will not abandon His people. Nor will He forsake His inheritance. But sometime, if you're going through that, I mean, if in verse 5, if you happen to be the one crushed and afflicted, you say, oh yeah, the same psalm says, the Lord will not abandon His people and I'm crushed and I'm afflicted. If you happen to be the widow, if you happen to be the stranger, if you're the one left without that life partner or left homeless or fatherless or friendless, you read that and say, the Lord will not abandon His, I feel abandoned, feel like God is gone, like He doesn't care. I'm not so ungodly to say God is blind, God is deaf. But sometime, way down deep inside, Lord, come on. On our cable TV, we have, they're starting to do all these reruns of these old-fashioned things. And there's one rerun that they do, car 54, where are you? Ever hear that? And sometime your heart feels like that. You know, you think, I know He, I know, I know my theology. I know He reigns. I know He's on a solitary throne. I know the floods can't reach Him. I know He's controlling everything. Where is He? Car 54, where are you? And your heart feels like saying that sometime. And somehow, God has put Psalm 93 and Psalm 94 together. Because together, there's a wonderful message. And we need to see that, or we'll never sing the first song, the song of wrath. Now, I'm about to give you the message, but before I do, I need to explain this to you. Psalm 94, it's not the purpose of the Lord or the Psalmist to tell you why God allows certain things in this Psalm. We're going to touch on that in another connection. Psalm 94 doesn't teach that. But it's almost as if God said, I know what your questions are. And so He drops a couple of nuggets along the way. He doesn't develop them. They're just sort of hints. They're just sort of a passing, what's God up to? Why does He allow this? If He's reigning, if He's king, if He's in control, why does He allow this? He drops a couple of suggestions. Let me just, in passing, we're not going to develop that. Just maybe He's doing this. Or maybe this, or maybe this. And then we'll just pass on. And I'll give you the message of the Psalm. If God writes that message in your heart, you've got to sing the song that follows. You've got to. Absolutely have to. Because that thing is so automatic. Once God writes that truth in your heart, and I'm talking not just knowledge that you trace through a concordance, yeah, king, king, king, king. I'm talking when God, the Holy Spirit, writes on your human spirit, the message of these two Psalms together, one message. You're going to have to sing the song of rest. You're going to have to. And so may God help us. Well, here's a couple of possibilities. God may be, by reigning this way, He may be trying to work a change in your life. He may be working a change in your life. Not just this or that. I don't say in the reign of Christ means His eyes on this thing, that thing, or the other thing. His eye is on everything that touches you. Everything that concerns you. All those dark and puzzling providences which sometimes startle you, and sometimes offend you, sometimes amaze you, sometimes baffle you. God does this and God does that, and say, I can't reconcile that with the promise of God. Sometimes we censure it unjustly, and maybe we have bitterness, and we bewail what's going on in our life as if the Lord were not our friend, and out to destroy us. Maybe He just wants us to know His love, His presence, His grace. Verse 17, The Lord our help. 18, Thy loving kindness, O Lord, will hold me up. I'm so glad that's in Psalm 94. Verse 22, My stronghold, the rock of my refuge. You say, well, okay, now I get the idea. Maybe He's chastening me, and so then later it'll feel good. Then I come to this, maybe He wants me to know Him. So maybe this whole thing is survival. If I can just sort of get through this. A glance, if you would, at verse 19. 19, When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Thy consolations delight my soul. Now see, once again, that's a paradox. Seems like a contradiction. I told you, in chastening, the blessednesses follow. But look what you have in verse 19. It doesn't say after. It says, when my anxious thoughts multiply within me. You've all experienced the multiplication of anxious thoughts. That's when you're so messed up, you can't think one thought in a row. And you're just, your head is spinning because of the trouble. You don't know which way to turn. You don't know what to do. You've exhausted all the resources. There's nobody there to help you. And there's no way you can know what to do. It says, when that's happening, Thy consolations delight my soul. Not after all of these anxious thoughts have finally passed. When it's going on. So in one sense, God says, after this you'll feel the joy. But this seems to say, while you're going through it, His consolations will delight your soul. No contradiction. I'll tell you, I saw this thing last week. I was at a funeral too. Little different than the one Bruce mentioned. Because this dear saint walked with the Lord for 57 years. And oh, it was a time really of glory. And I saw her husband standing there, tears coming down his face. And he was radiant with the joy of the Lord. Is that a contradiction? It's not a contradiction. Because you can be on the outside not happy. And yet, way down deep, the consolations of the Lord can delight your soul. And so God says in Psalm 94, Maybe I'm dealing with you and I'm chastening you and I have to teach you a few things. And then later you'll understand and you'll appreciate it. Or maybe I'm bringing you right now into an intimate walk with God. Maybe I'm bringing you in such a way that you'll experience the life of God. And in that moment, the consolations way down deep where storms can't reach and touch you. Your heart is thrilled because you're knowing God and you're tasting His life. And you're drinking from His resource and so on. Maybe that's what God is doing. There's another suggestion that he gives here in Psalm 94. And that is, God may be allowing something in your life that has nothing to do with you. He might be doing something in the world. And you're just in the flow of redemption. And notice in verse 14, in another connection, we're going to get into the missionary heart of God in the Royal Psalms. But, until a pit is dug for the wicked. God says, all this is going on until. Something's going on in the big scene. Verse 15, judgment again will be righteous. 23, He has brought back their wickedness upon them. He will destroy them in their evil. The Lord our God will destroy them. God says, I'm reigning. Doesn't look like I'm reigning all the time. Maybe I'm working in your life. Maybe I'm letting you get to know me. Maybe I'm doing something in the world. And He just sort of drops those nuggets. He'll develop it later on. Let's come back now. I want to sing the song of rest. I want to sing the song of worship. We'll look at that in the morning, Lord, or afternoon, tomorrow afternoon. What is the message? The first, the basic, the cardinal, the fundamental. What is the starting point of the reign of Christ? Here it is now. Psalm 93, the Lord Jesus reigns. Psalm 94, it doesn't look like the Lord Jesus reigns. What's the message? Take His reign. That's the message of Psalm 93 and 94. Nothing deep, nothing hard, nothing complicated. And it'll never get more complicated than this. Now, this is the first step. It's the low step. And in one sense, you could say, isn't that fatalistic? That seems so hard and cold and detached. It's like machinery, and God's reigning, and just take it by faith. We're going to move on from there. But you've got to start there. You've got to begin there. That's what's written. Our brother sang that song about believing in the promises and trusting in the Lord. God says, the Lord Jesus reigns upon a solitary throne. Nothing can resist His reign. And though it doesn't look like it, and often it feels like He's not reigning, take His reign by faith. Let me ask this question. Is God nervous tonight? Is the Lord nervous? Now, don't give me physiological reasons. He's a spirit. He has no stomach and all that. Yeah, I know that. But what's another reason that He's not nervous? And the answer is, because He knows He's in control. That's why, He's not worried. Is it possible that I can be as free from worry as God is from worry? Exactly right. He's not worried because He knows He's in control. What would happen if I knew He was in control? See, this is going to lead now into the song of the day. Psalm 93, the Lord Jesus reigns. Psalm 94, it sure doesn't look like it. The message, take His reign by faith. He does reign. He does reign. And the more God writes that into your heart, not just as a creed, as a living truth, as a reality, the more you believe that the Lord Jesus reigns. No matter what it looks like. No matter what it feels like. No matter what it appears. No matter how much seems to militate against it. The Lord Jesus Christ reigns. He's in charge. He's in control. Whether it's to change my life or to make me know Jesus or to do something. The Lord Jesus reigns. Take that reign by faith. And all brothers and sisters in Christ, you're going to begin to sing that tremendous song. Now you say, well, it sure would be a lot easier if everything was orderly and there was no opposition and every enemy was subdued and His will was being done on earth as it is in heaven. Without doubt, without question, indubitably, the reign of Christ is more certain than your birthday. More certain than your sex. More certain than you're here tonight. And so the Royal Psalms begin with a call to faith. How it begins. Has to begin that way. It begins with a call to faith. Now that's only the first message. And this isn't the same thing as, it's the will of Allah. Let's let it happen. We're not taught. It begins there. We're going to get more subjective. And we're going to move on. But all brothers and sisters in Christ, before we get to higher ground, we got to start here. Don't try to figure it out. Don't try to reason it out. Come in cold-blooded, childlike faith. And just say, Jesus reigns. I know He reigns. The Bible says He reigns. He's absolute Lord. Cowper wrote in that great song, God moves in a mysterious way. Blind unbelief is sure to err and scan His work in vain. God is His own interpreter. He will make it plain. These eyes are a poor judge of what is. This book is a record of what is. And let me tell you what is. The Lord Jesus reigns upon a solitary throne over everything. And the pounding of the waves can't touch Him. And the voice of the waves can't touch Him. And the breakers can't touch Him. An irresistible throne, no matter what it looks like. Take it by faith, and God will begin then to write these songs in your heart. All right, that's the first message. Take His reign by faith. Tomorrow, we'll look at the second message, which leads to the second song. So tomorrow, we'll actually introduce the first song and then give the second message. And we'll do that throughout the weekend. Let's bow together. Our Father, thank You so much for the objective facts of Your Word, that the Lord Jesus Christ does reign upon the throne. And Lord, we know that sometimes it doesn't look like it and it doesn't feel like it and it doesn't seem like it. You allow strange things and we don't know all that's happening. We feel crushed and we feel afflicted and abandoned and all. But we know the truth. And so teach us as never before to take Your reign by faith. Oh, thank You for the song that that will produce. Work this in us. We ask in Jesus' precious name.