“The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad, let the distant shores rejoice.”
Psalm 97:1
Yes, Lord, we rejoice, for you are the sovereign One, the King over all, the Ruler of the universe. No detail escapes your attention, no attitude, no motive, no thought goes unnoticed. You guide the flow of events in each person’s life to draw him or her to yourself and then to mature in Christ those who do come.
You are massively powerful; no one can get around you, no one can thwart you in your great plans—just the opposite is true: you thwart the plans of the nations and topple the purposes of the people (Ps. 33:10,11). You are God alone! “For you, O LORD, are the Most High over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods” (Ps. 97:9).
Praise be to you for your wisdom, as you have given your human creatures a sphere of responsibility where we are to make decisions. You control what comes to us, each event designed to give us opportunity to move in the right direction, but we must make the choice.
It would have been much easier if you had just made us puppets or robots—but that would have eliminated the possibility of love. To have genuine love there must be the chance to choose, to respond to your love with willing decisions to do what pleases you. Praise you that we are made in your image (albeit, now cracked and marred by sin), and therefore able to make moral and ethical decisions with eternal consequences.
“The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory” (Ps. 97:6).
Prayer: “I praise you, Lord God, that in your grace, wisdom and kindness, you have created us with the right and responsibility of choosing to obey in love. Help me today to take up your grace, to obey what I know from your Word and to fulfill the purpose you have given me of living for your glory. To you be praise and honor forever and ever. Amen.”
