Psalm 93 is the first of three psalms that begins with the emphatic declaration: “The Lord reigns!” Because Calvinists base their false doctrine of unconditional election and its denial of the free moral agency of humanity on their misunderstanding of God’s sovereignty, a study of what the Scriptures do teach on this profound truth is imperative. Though our puny human minds may never be able to fully wrap themselves around the facts that God is sovereign and each human’s will is exercised freely, both truths are clearly taught in God’s word.
In Psalm 93, the composer seeks to emphasize three truths about the sovereignty of God. These are:
- Creation reflects Jehovah’s sovereignty. “The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty; the Lord is clothed,He has girded Himself with strength.Surely the world is established, so that it cannot be moved. Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting” (vv. 1-2). Immutable laws of nature like gravity, biogenesis, thermodynamics are enduring witnesses to the majestic, universal, superior strength and power of the great I AM.
- Opposition demonstrates Jehovah’s sovereignty. “The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves. The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea” (vv. 3-4). Since the fall of Satan, there has been rebellion in God’s creation. A deluge of evil has flooded our world, but nothing has overthrown God’s throne. The first century coup attempt in which “the kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, ‘Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us’” (Psalm 2:2-3) resulted in Jehovah’s king being enthroned in Zion with all authority in heaven and earth (Psalm 2:6; Matthew 28:19).
- Wisdom acknowledges Jehovah’s sovereignty. “Your testimonies are very sure; holiness adorns Your house, O Lord, forever” (v. 5). A wise person trusts and obeys God’s word, because its testimonies will endure beyond this world’s heaven and earth (Matthew 24:35). A wise person reverences the beauty of the holy, holy, holy Lord of hosts (Isaiah 6:3). A wise person recognizes the continuous, unending, unlimited praise the sovereign God deserves.
