January 12
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PSALM 93 – THE LORD’S MAJESTY AND POWER
The LORD reigns; he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed; he has put on strength as his belt. Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved. 2 Your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting. 3 The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring. 4 Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the LORD on high is mighty! 5 Your decrees are very trustworthy; holiness befits your house, O LORD, forevermore. – Psalm 93:1-5
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This psalm is a royal psalm and sources say that the author is unknown, although some suspect that it may have been David who wrote it. Hermann Gunkel categorized ten psalms by their subject matter of kingship as royal psalms. Specifically, the royal psalms deal with the spiritual role of kings in the worship of Yahweh.
The psalmist describes the Lord God as robed in majesty and has strength as his belt. According to Boice’s commentary, “Majesty is a hard idea to define, but it has to do with dignity, authority of sovereign power, stateliness, and grandeur. It is the proper characteristic of earthly monarchs, who have often gone to great lengths to enhance the impression of their majesty by multiplications of trappings of power. But it is supremely the attribute of him who is the Monarch over all and who does not need to multiply the trappings of his power.” God didn’t need anything else to adorn him because He himself is the beginning and the end and he is the source of everything and the Creator of all. He alone has the power to make anything just by his spoken word and his command. He can make anything and destroy it anytime he wants to. No one else has that kind of power. God’s kingdom is well established and firm and no other kingdoms is at par or can even come close to his sovereignty. All earthly thrones cannot have that same power as God has. They are all inferior to the Lord’s might and majesty.
In verse 4, the psalmist describes the sounds produced by the splashing waves of the sea that may seem so powerful; yet God himself created the sea. He can control it and his voice is mightier than the sounds of the waves splashing. He is in control of everything and he can do whatever he wants done to his own creation.
The writer ends this royal psalm with a note of praise to God’s decrees and commands. God’s laws are all reliable and beneficial to all who worship the majestic and one an only true God.
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REFLECTION
• How did the psalmist honor and acknowledged the Lord’s majesty in this psalm?