Psalms 93
Chuck Smith on Psalms 93
Verse by verse, taught on Sunday nights: the C2000 series, 1979 to 1985, and the C3000 series, 1985 to 1999. Permission granted by The Word For Today.
Sunday Nights, 1979 to 1985 (C2000)
Verses 1–2
The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved. Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting (93:1-2).
From everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God. Here, "Thou art from everlasting." The prophecy of Micah concerning the birth of Jesus, and Bethlehem the birthplace, "And thou, Bethlehem, though thou be little among the provinces of Judea, yet out of thee shall come he who is to rule my people Israel; whose going forth is from everlasting" (Micah 5:2). Lord, Thou art from the vanishing point.
Verses 3–5
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, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea. Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O LORD, for ever (93:3-5).
Sunday Nights, 1985 to 1999 (C3000)
Chapter introduction
Psalm ninety three is a short little psalm. It begins with the declaration that the Lord reigns, our God reigns.
Verse 1
THE LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved (93:1).
God reigns over his creation. In an interesting sort of a technical sense over all God reigns. Everything that happens, happens because God allows it to happen. Satan could not have rebelled against God unless God allowed him to rebel. Satan could not continue to exist unless God allowed him to continue to exist. I could not rebel against God except God would allow me to rebel against him if I so wanted to exercise my power of choice. So even if I am in rebellion against God it is still, in a technical sense, over all God reigns. Even my rebellion is a tolerance or an allowance of God as he reigns over all.
In another sense, this world in which we are living is in rebellion against the rule of God, God allows it to be. But in this vast universe in which we live there is one portion in that vast universe that is out of sink with God, out of harmony, out of rebellion, if you please, against the rule of God. God is allowing it for a time. God has his purpose in allowing it thus it is all, in a sense, overall under the purpose of God. Even Satan and Satan’s temptations and Satan’s hassling of you is a part of God’s overall purpose. He could not do unless God allowed him to do it. The fact that God allows him to do it is that he has a reason and a purpose for allowing him to do it.
God has created you that you might have a meaningful loving relationship with him. That’s what he longs for and that’s what he desires from you; a meaningful loving relationship. In order for the relationship to be meaningful and loving you have to have a free choice so he gave you that capacity of choice. For choice to be valid you have to have something to choose. That’s where Satan comes in, he gives you an alternate choice, which is an attractive choice to my flesh. He dangles the world before my eyes and says, “Look at that. Man isn’t that nice?” and my flesh says, “Wow, unreal” and the spirit says, “Hey, the way of the flesh is destruction, the mind of the flesh is death, deny self, the self life. Take up the cross and follow Jesus”.
It’s not easy to deny myself. The world around me is saying, “Indulge yourself, go for it and get what you can, eat drink and be merry for tomorrow you’ll die”. The spirit says, “The way of life is walking after the things of the spirit”. So I have to chose everyday and in many situations whether I give into the flesh and walk after the flesh or do I yield to the spirit and do I walk after the spirit. As I yield to the spirit and I chose to walk after the spirit I have this loving relationship with God, “Lord, I want to serve you. I love you and my love for you exceeds my love for the world and the things that are in the world”.
God knows that I love him because I am willing to forego the pleasures and the things of this world in order to walk in fellowship with him. I’m willing to go against the current of the world. I’m willing to receive the mockery or the shame or the reproach of the world that they put upon the Christian in order that I might be numbered with Christ, I’m willing to stand up for him and with him. Thus he knows I love him. I am able to prove my love by the choices that I make. I come into that meaningful loving relationship with God and thus the purposes of God are fulfilled, as we have this beautiful loving relationship.
So God reigns overall and yet there are lives that are rebelling against that authority of God and they will not let God reign in their lives and God does allow that. He allows you to do your own thing if that is your choice, that is your desire. He allows you to destroy yourself if that is your desire. He will do his best by persuasion, he will do everything necessary short of the violating of your will to draw you to himself, even bringing painful experiences into your life if necessary to draw you into his love and turn you away from the path of destruction.
It’s not easy to go to hell. You’ve got to fight all the way against the work of the Holy Spirit, the conviction of the Spirit in your heart. It’s a real struggle but if you’re stubborn and determined, you can make it. I could add a few other things.
Verse 2
Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting (93:2).
God has always existed. He has always ruled. In the beginning there was only one government in the whole universe. How glorious it must have been. One government in the universe, the government of God and every created being in that universe was subject unto God including Satan who was one of the chief angels. There was not until Satan exercised his choice, “I will exalt my throne above the other angels” that you had the development of the second government within the universe; the government of death and darkness. From old, from everlasting, God has existed and his throne has established of old.
Verse 3
The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves (93:3).
The powers of nature are awesome. Watching a real flood, they talk in California about the hundred year flood well I saw a real flood in 1938 here in California. Fountain Valley from the bluff here over to the Huntington Beach bluff was flowing river. I watched the bridges wash away. It was a heavy flood. I drove up to the Oji area during that flood time and I watched the raging water, usually just a trickling little stream but I mean that thing was raging. You saw that awesome display of power in a flood. You get the movement of water like that; it’s just an awesome display of power. A hurricane is an awesome display of power, when the sea is raging, when the waves are lifting up a hundred feet or so, it’s an awesome display of power. When the earth begins to shake it can be an awesome display of power.
God has displayed in nature some of these awesome things as man looks and we think of power and strength and we see nature and the forces of nature and we can see what power they generate. So in a beautiful figurative language using these kinds of figures of speech he expresses the strength of God like a flood.
Verses 3–4
The foods 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, (93:3-4).
I’ll tell you, you hear those kind of floods coming down those canyons, you hear the big rocks as they are crashing and the boulders and all and just the roar that goes up. So the psalmist speaks of this in a figurative way.
Verses 4–5
The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea. Thy testimonies [of the Lord] are very sure: holiness becometh [adorns] thine house, O LORD, for ever (93:4-5).
A beautiful little psalm that is full of extolling of God.
The ninety-forth psalm is a psalm that I can identify with quite well. I find myself often in the position of the psalmist wondering why God is so patient and why God is so longsuffering and why God allows evil people to get by with the things that they are doing. My desire to see the judgement of God fall upon the wicked.