Psalms 93

Psalms 93 and 95–100 emphasize the sovereign rule of Jehovah, the King of Israel, in the affairs of the nations. (Ps. 94 focuses on God the Judge, which is an important aspect of His righteous rule.) Psalm 93 was perhaps written by one of the Levites who returned to Judah with the Jewish remnant after the Babylonian captivity. The Medes and Persians defeated Babylon in 539 BC, and the next year Cyrus, the new king, gave the Jews permission to return to their own land, rebuild their temple, and restore their nation. It was an especially difficult time for the Jewish remnant (see Ezra and Haggai), and their work was interrupted, attacked, and neglected. The leaders and the people needed encouragement to continue the work, and this encouragement could come only from the Lord. This brief hymn magnifies the Lord by presenting three divine assurances.

It was God who allowed Nebuchadnezzar to attack and conquer the kingdom of Judah and to destroy the temple and the Holy City. The Lord used Daniel in Babylon to teach this basic truth to Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 1—4; see especially Dan. 4:17, 25, 32), but Nebuchadnezzar’s successor Belshazzar learned it when it was too late (Dan. 5). The Medes and Persians attacked Babylon and killed Belshazzar the very night he was boasting of his kingdom and blaspheming the Lord. “Jehovah is king!” (See 92:8; 96:10; 97:1; 99:1; Ex. 15:18; Deut. 33:5.) He is enthroned in heaven, robed in the majestic robes of glory, and armed with all the power He needs to humble puny rulers. His eternal throne is majestic, strong, and firmly established (65:6; 104:1), and the world He created is also firmly fixed (24:2; 78:69; 119:90). No matter what happens to human rulers on earth, the throne in heaven is safe and secure.

The raging seas and the pounding waves are often used as symbols of the rise and fall of the nations and the great noise that rulers make as they try to impress people. (See 46:1–3, 6; 60:5; 65:6–7; 74:13–14; Isa. 17:12–13; 51:15; 60:5; Jer. 31:5; 51:42; Dan. 7:1–3; Luke 21:25; Rev. 13:1; 17:15.) God used the Euphrates River to illustrate the Assyrians (Isa. 8:7–8), and He connected Egypt with the Nile River (Jer. 46:7–8). No matter how stormy the nations on earth may become, God is still on His throne and is not frustrated by the foolish words and deeds of “great leaders” who are only made of clay. Do not focus on the threats around you; focus on the throne above you (see 29; Isa. 6; Rev. 4—5).

When the tempest is around us, we look by faith to the throne of grace above us and the Word of God before us. The truth about what is going on in this world is not in the newspapers but in the Scriptures. The false prophets among the Jews in Babylon gave a message different from that of Jeremiah, the true prophet of the Lord (Jer. 29), but it was the messages of God’s servants that finally proved true. “Your testimonies are very sure” (v. 5 nkjv). (See Jer. 25:12; 27:22; 29:10; 2 Chron. 36:22–23; Ezra 1:1; Isa. 44:28—45:3.) False prophets, false teachers, and scoffers abound (2 Peter 2–3), but God’s promises will all be fulfilled in their time, and God’s children live by promises, not explanations. Satan has attacked God’s Word since he lied to Eve in Genesis 3, but the Word still stands. “The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations” (33: nkjv).

Led by Zerubbabel the governor, Joshua the high priest, and the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, the Jewish remnant trusted God, labored, sacrificed, and completed the temple. We don’t read that the glory of the Lord moved into the second temple, as it did the tabernacle (Ex. 40) and the first temple (1 Kings 8:10–11), but the Lord was with His people just the same and accomplishing His purposes. It is a holy people that makes the temple holy, and “the beauty of holiness” (29:2) is the greatest adornment for any structure dedicated to the Lord.