Tag: Throne

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Powers that pound the throne.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“Your throne, O Lord, has stood from time immemorial. You yourself are from the everlasting past. The floods have risen up, O Lord. The floods have roared like thunder; the floods have lifted their pounding waves. But mightier than the violent raging of the seas, mightier than the breakers on the shore— the Lord above is mightier than these! Your royal laws cannot be changed. Your reign, O Lord, is holy forever and ever.” Psalms‬ ‭93‬:‭2‬-‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

When I first wrote about this Psalm, I did not know it’s author was Daniel and it was written while he and the majority of Jewish people were captives in a foreign land. One of the best, quick resources I came across was a Bible resource link to describe the probable date each Psalm was written and who wrote it. https://bit.ly/psalmsdates.

Psalms is a collection of writings. This Psalm describes the hope of God’s power and ability to stay in control while everything else feels like a destructive storm. Daniel describes how powerful these pounding waves can be. Babylon was the biggest and strongest force on the planet at the time and it looked as if the nation, that king would destroy the throne of God himself.

We have the benefit of knowing the before and after! Babylon was used as a disciplinary entity to put Israel in a 70 yr timeout. Yet, this massive kingdom would not overtake God’s throne. Think about this. There is no kingdom past, present or future that has storm-waves big enough to destroy God’s eternal throne. NOTHING can stop nor thwart the will of God! Not then, not now, not ever.

Daniel’s hope in God paints the picture of one of the most powerful forces on the earth – the seas. Untamable and unstoppable itself. As the sea, depicted as God’s enemies, roars, pounds and breaks on the steps below the throne of God, it will never overtake it. Daniel states this majestic truth, God’s royal laws cannot be changed and will never be subverted! This Psalm is a reminder of hope. No matter the size and relentlessness of the storms we face here on this planet, may they be attacks or even directed disciplines, they will never diminish God’s power or his throne! I take comfort in that. The darkness, the chaos may be great, but our God is GREATER.

Prayer

Dad,
I do not find fear in your power, I find comfort in it. I find hope in this; no matter what I see going on around me – you are on the throne that will never be overcome. No matter what I feel, my trust, my faith is steady in your power. “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name. When darkness veils his lovely face, I rest on his unchanging grace. On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand: all other ground is sinking sand; all other ground is sinking sand.”

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A very real and eternal throne.

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“The Lord is king! He is robed in majesty. Indeed, the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength. The world stands firm and cannot be shaken. Your throne, O Lord, has stood from time immemorial. You yourself are from the everlasting past. The floods have risen up, O Lord. The floods have roared like thunder; the floods have lifted their pounding waves. But mightier than the violent raging of the seas, mightier than the breakers on the shore— the Lord above is mightier than these! Your royal laws cannot be changed. Your reign, O Lord, is holy forever and ever.” Psalms‬ ‭93:1-5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This imagery in Psalm 93 is so interesting. Yes, it summons thoughts of a majestic and powerful ruler. Yes, it is grand and glorious in its eternal, immortal existence.

From this throne, David writes the “royal laws cannot be changed.” They enormously perfect, just, right and true laws of God can never, should never be rescinded. The ideal of a throne, the lavished stories told over ions of time about thrones, kings and their quest for righteous rules all for the kingdom they serve.

I find it all so intriguing because as a kid I read many, many stories of good kings and kingdoms. I also read of bad kings and villains who would try to rule for their own selfish gain, misusing and abusing people and power to pursue their evil plans to keep them in power. All those stories had these good and evil themes woven throughout.

The most recent show that Robin adored and I tolerated, The Crown, opened with majestic music and beautiful cinematography swirling around this ultimate symbol of power – the King’s or in this case, the Queen’s crown. The seat upon which she sat was the last remembrance I have of seeing a throne. The place where laws are declared, justice dispensed, orders given to be immediately executed. The throne, the crown, the person sitting on it was seen as all powerful and revered.

This throne-symbol of power has lasted for several millennia and shows up extensively in the New Testament, much of it in THE book of endings – Revelation. The word thronos appears 62x in the New Testament, 47 of which are in the book of Revelation.

The throne may not be a prominent and even powerful modern symbol, but it will be so in the end. The word picture David paints in Psalms will return in full real and living color as this world wraps up and a new one is created. The words of the psalmist seem to echo from the song that was penned so long ago all the way to the very end of this world’s human existence – “Your reign, O Lord, is holy forever and ever.”

PRAYER:

Dad,
What a very real and very poetically written majestic story. And I’m not just talking about David’s psalm. I am talking about the entire story of your majesty and might, your beauty and wisdom, your truth, righteousness and justice. It’s all there. It’s always been there. A very long story of not only our existence, but more amazingly, our redemption. It is and will be the very happiest of happy ending of any story that has ever been told! And, it is all about you. Gratefully and thankfully about you. I am quite happy being a part of it and even more excited to be present as it all comes to an end, then an entirely new beginning.