Day 182

The King Is Coming

Read: Psalms 96-101

At the arrival of the ark of the covenant in Jerusalem, a song was sung, part of which was Psalm 96. The psalm emphasizes giving glory to the Lord. It repeats the phrase “The Lord reigns” and says he is coming to judge the world. Psalm 97 again repeats this phrase and emphasizes God’s majesty and his judgment. Psalm 98 urges everyone to sing praises to God and commands the physical world to join in. Psalm 99 emphasizes the holiness of God but also rejoices in his forgiveness.

Psalm 100 is commonly used as a call to worship and inspired William Kethe’s paraphrase “All People That on Earth Do Dwell” and Isaac Watt’s “Before Jehovah’s Awful Throne.” In Psalm 101, David determines to have nothing to do with evil men. It is a challenge to all in government to be honest.

All of the psalms which emphasize God as king who will come to judge remind us that Jesus Christ is King of kings and is coming to judge the living and the dead. The immorality all around us is evidence that the world pays no attention to this great truth. We who believe it should be motivated to live not like the world, but as those who know that God rules and that everyone must give account of his or her whole life before him. We must also make this part of the message we proclaim to the world.

PRAYER
Lord Jesus, come soon that the struggle between truth and falsehood may come to an end. Amen.