Psalm 47:2 For the Lord Most High is awesome, the great King over all the earth.

    Everyone loves a winner. Recently, an area high school won the state football championship for their class. In fact, it was the ninth state championship for that team! The players and coaches have real justification in holding their heads up in pride. It’s easy to be a fan of a team like that! I would guess that there are some who have cared little for football that are fans now. They want to be on the winning side.

    In today’s passage we read about how wonderful God is. We read of His quality and the reach of His kingdom. Yet, if we’re honest, we may have some questions. Those questions arise when we read of the next war, or terrorist bombing, or mass shooting. Then our quest-ions often turn into accusations. “If God is King, then why…?” It’s understandable. We long for a world of peace. And if God is the great King, then why so little peace?

    I wonder if the real struggle we have with accepting that God is the great King over all the earth is that He really isn’t doing it like we would? Could it be that our problem is that God isn’t a little more like us? It seems ludicrous to say, but I think that’s at the heart of our lack of understanding. Spoken or not, we do have times where we think, “If I was in charge…” But we should ask ourselves, would the world be a better place if God was more like me? Isn’t that really 180° out of phase? What would the world be like if all of us were all a little more like God?

    I know that to the skeptic, that question is a cop-out. That they still insist that a good God would not let evil carry on in the world. But what they fail to see is that God is good. But He is also loving and patient. (And before the skeptic goes off again, let me continue!) We easily identify all of the problems that God needs to address. They’re easy to see. They’re all somewhere else with someone else. I can be quick to see the evil in others and excuse the evil in my own life. “Sure, but I’m not killing people!” I understand. Compared to those people, we’re really quite nice. But Jesus didn’t come so that I might be better than them. Jesus came that we might be reconciled to the Father. Jesus came to atone for our sins. Even all of the sins of us good people! He’s not interested in me being better than another person. He wants me to be like Him!

    When I realize that I am lost and destined for hell apart from the saving work of Jesus and that He accomplished that not for anything I have done or could do, I begin to realize that the Lord Most High is awesome! Of course the world isn’t the way it should be yet! But Jesus is still at work changing lives. After He forgives me and changes me, He wants me to help spread the word! His victory is assured. He is the great King over all the earth. Will we join the winning side?     

Blessings,     

Pastor Russ