Tag: power from God

Leviticus 6-7 

Psalm 9              

Matthew 22

Devotion by Tom Siderius (MI)

Psalms 9:1-2 I will praise you, LORD, with all my heart;
I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done.
² I will be filled with joy because of you.
I will sing praises to your name, O Most High.

Praises should flow from our hearts all our lives because of the great God and Father that we have.  Yahweh is His name and it means our God who is in a relationship with us. 

One of the things that has taken me a long time to understand and also to help me let the Word interpret itself to us is the question of agency.  God is the ultimate power and creator of all the universe, but He delegates His power and authority to those that He chooses to give it to.  All created beings are given freedom of will to obey God, and are given various levels of authority to exercise on His behalf.

For example, God is the author of our salvation, but Jesus is the agent of our salvation.  God has decided to give us His grace, but it comes to us through His agent Jesus Christ.

Titus 3:4-7 (NLT) But—When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, ⁵ he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. ⁶ He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. ⁷ Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.

God decided to save us, but the way that He does it is through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.   God also has judged His Son worthy of authority to judge the whole world in the future.  Only Jesus Christ has the qualifications to do the judging and giving of rewards to all the world’s present, past and future populations.  We see the results of this agency here in Psalm 9.

Psalms 9:7-8 But the LORD reigns forever,
executing judgment from his throne.
⁸ He will judge the world with justice
and rule the nations with fairness.

Yahweh executes judgement from His throne, but the agency for that judgement will come from His Son.  God has ultimate authority over all the creation but gives Jesus the rulership over the nations.

Acts 17:30-31(NLT) God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. ³¹ For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.”

Revelation 19:15-16(NKJV) Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. ¹⁶ And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

As we read Psalm 9 there is so much that we could unpack from it.  It has declarations of praise, and proclamations of confidence in God’s care and instruction, and declarations of what the ultimate kingdom of God will be.

Psalms 9:7-10(NLT) But the LORD reigns forever,
executing judgment from his throne.
⁸ He will judge the world with justice
and rule the nations with fairness.
⁹ The LORD is a shelter for the oppressed,
a refuge in times of trouble.
¹⁰ Those who know your name trust in you,
for you, O LORD, do not abandon those who search for you.

The other thing that we should contemplate today is what authority and power has God delegated to you?

Ephesians 1:19-20(NLT) I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power ²⁰ that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.

Ephesians 3:20-21(NLT) Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. ²¹ Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

2 Timothy 1:7(NKJV) For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Thanks be to our God for His great love and grace that we have received and that we need to accept and exercise our position and power that God has given us in Christ.

Psalms 9:15-18(NLT) The nations have fallen into the pit they dug for others.
Their own feet have been caught in the trap they set.
¹⁶ The LORD is known for his justice.
The wicked are trapped by their own deeds.
¹⁷ The wicked will go down to the grave.
This is the fate of all the nations who ignore God.
¹⁸ But the needy will not be ignored forever;
the hopes of the poor will not always be crushed.

Reflection:

How does God ultimately judge the world and the nations?

Who is His agent of judgment?

Prayer: 

Our God and Father, creator and ruler of all the cosmos, we lift our hearts in praise to you today.  Thank you for the wonderful gift of Your Son who is the agent of our salvation and future.  We look to You Father for the power to do Your good in this life.  Thank you for the Christ in us which gives us this power.  In Jesus wonderful name we pray.