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Eternal King
“So, to the Eternal King, imperishable, invisible, God alone, honor and glory forever unto the ages, Amen!”
(1 Timothy 1:17)
Doxologies like this are not only common in Paul’s writings, but in the Bible as a whole. How can we even begin to put into words the glorious character of our God? Statements like this make a great start. And we must be very clear that we understand that declarations like this are not a matter of mere fancy or flights of spirituality, but they are clear statements as to the character of the God we serve, and as such, they should instill within us a holy fear for who He is.
One of the trends of the last generation has been to try and emphasize the personal and the relational nature of our God. Indeed, He is personal and he does condescend to us. Yet, the Bible also presents Him as being gloriously transcendent and our theology needs to capture both. Today, talk about the “Fear of the Lord” is frowned on in many circles, yet if we are going to take this passage seriously, these words should engender just that fear in our lives, for they speak of God’s profound transcendence over all He has made.
He is Eternal King. In other words, he is the ultimate ruler over all that exists. He has always been its ruler and always will be its ruler. He is God. Kings also protect what is theirs and they enforce the Law. Since God is also Lawgiver, now we see the language of Him being Law Enforcer, which reminds us that he is the final judge over all things. We may be tempted to think that if we write human laws in such a way that they excuse our sins that we are okay when it comes to judgment. Nevertheless, human laws do not supersede divine ones. He sets the standard. We often abuse it, twist it, warp it, and malign it for our own ends. And we will be judged accordingly for having done so.
God is imperishable. In some senses, this goes along with God being eternal, but it is a reminder that were we to stand up against God, we will never prevail. God is invisible, for He is spirit. And, God is alone. He is not one God amongst many nor is he even the superlative example of a class of beings. No, God exists alone. He is in a class that is entirely His own and there is none to rival Him; all others are pretenders at best.
And thus, all honor, glory, and praise belongs to our God forever. And the only right statement to add to these words is, “Amen!” It is our testimony that these words are both true and that they are engrained in the very innermost part of our being. Indeed, He is the one to be praised! Amen and Amen!
Miraculous Works of God
“Remember His miraculous works, which He has done;
His signs and the judgments of His mouth.”
(Psalm 105:5)
Once again we find the language of the miracles of God. In verse 2, we were called upon to sing of these works. Here, the psalmist calls upon us to remember them. And, for much of the rest of the psalm, we have a procession of the mighty things that God has done in the life of the people. These are reasons to sing praises to Him. These are things to remember, that we may be encouraged of God’s covenant faithfulness during times of great sorrow and distress. What is very interesting is that in the second clause of this verse, David speaks of two aspects of God’s miraculous deeds: His signs and His judgments.
When we hear the language of “signs,” we often think of John’s Gospel in the New Testament. There, whenever Jesus would do a miraculous work, John referred to it as a “sign.” Why a sign? These were considered signs because they pointed to the person who Jesus is. Who can make the waves stand still? Who can multiply the loaves and fishes? Who can heal the blind? God alone can do these things, hence Jesus is God alone in the flesh. Because of this, we often think of these “signs” as being a New Testament phenomenon, yet thirty-five times, the word מוֹפֵת (mopheth) is used in the Old Testament to speak of the miraculous works of God done either by Him or through one of His prophets.
The second thing that the psalmist lists is the judgments of God. Often, we do not think of God’s judgments as “miraculous” things. Sadly, rather than welcoming the commands and judgments of God, we often grumble and groan about them. Now, while we ought not groan over God’s Laws because they teach us how to live in perfect blessedness, what is more important to our text is to recognize that they are a miraculous thing in and of themselves.
When God gave His commands, whether through a prophet or directly from Mount Sinai as He did with Moses and Elijah, we should recognize that act in and of itself as a miraculous thing. Here, the one who is transcendent and who is not a part of the natural order, is breaking through the metaphysical barriers and engaging with us in this fallen world. It is an impossible thing for us to ascend to heaven to engage in dialogue with God; He must descend to us to reveal His will for our life and practice. It is indeed, a miraculous thing.
One of the clearest illustrations of this principle can be found in Deuteronomy 30:11-20. There, Moses is speaking to the people and exhorting them toward obedience. In doing so, he states that the laws of God are not inaccessible to the people — they are not hidden in heaven that they cannot be discovered. No, they have been revealed so that they may be obeyed. Therefore, Moses continues, “Choose life that your descendants may live…”
And thus, when we meditate upon, when we remember, and when we sing about the miraculous things of God, we should sing not only about the works but the Law of God. Thus, while much of the content of the following verses speaks of the signs of God, do not fail to note the conclusion: observe His laws. Why? They too are miraculous works of God.
Our God in Heaven (Psalm 115:2-3)
“Why should the nations say,
‘Now, where is their God?’
Our God is in the heavens—
All that he delights in, he does.”
(Psalm 115:2-3)
Indeed, those who have made gods to worship out of gold and silver do look at us and ask us how we can worship a God that we can neither see nor touch? The psalmist’s reply is an important one. Often, when we are pressed with the same question from a secularist, we retreat and are a bit defensive with our answer. We usually say something to the extent of, “well, it takes faith…” Or, if we are a bit more astute, one of the classic answers that is given is, “you cannot see the wind, but you see the effects of the wind—so it is with the Holy Spirit and with those born again of the Holy Spirit,” making a reference to Jesus’ language before Nicodemus. Yet, there is nothing defensive about the psalmist’s response. The psalmist replies to the question by saying, “Our God is in the heavens and he does all that he pleases.” Do you see what the psalmist is doing here? It is as if the psalmist is saying—you are criticizing me for not having a god made out of metal or stone that I can see, but your gods are inanimate objects—the creation of your own hands—how can I bow down to one who is incapable of answering my prayers? I worship a God who rises high above the heavens—he cannot be constrained by puny things of metal or stone, nor can he even be constrained by the world itself—and all that takes place is a result of my God’s good will. So, who will you worship, the god formed out of the dirt by the sweat of your own brow, or the God who created the dirt and all that is around with but a word of his power. Beloved, statements like this are anything but defensive, they cut to the quick, and address the problem at hand—who is the true God of heaven and earth and what ought to be done with all of the bad imitations?
Loved ones, why are we so often intimidated when people challenge our faith? We know the effect of the hand of God in our own lives, we have seen God’s work in the world, and we know the truth of God that is found preserved for us within the Holy Scriptures. In addition, creation itself testifies to God’s majesty! Where is there room for anything but bold assurance? It is not incumbent upon us to prove to the atheist that God does exist—it is his responsibility to prove that God does not exist if he wants to hold a position that is so contrary to reason and observation. Because we have allowed ourselves to be intimidated by academic degrees and titles, we have allowed unbelievers to turn the tables on us, forcing Christians to swallow lies in the name of “science”—lies that do not even stand up to the secularist’s own scientific methods of scrutiny.
The final statement is also telling for two reasons. First of all, it compliments the previous statement about God in the heavens. We do not worship a God that was like the gods of the Greek philosophers—ones who were transcendent and so separate from the world that they do not act, but only observe—but we worship a God who does act within the realms of men. But what is also important is that not only does God act, he takes pleasure in his acting. We spend a lot of time talking about God’s sovereignty and that he works out all things according to the council of his own will (Ephesians 1:11), but we often neglect the principle that is expressed here—that God does take pleasure in his actions.
Beloved, think on things this way: God is satisfied with himself to such a wonderful degree that all that he thinks and does brings him pleasure. And, to continue the line of thought to its logical end, if God finds his ultimate satisfaction in himself and finds profound pleasure in all that he does, we can find our ultimate satisfaction in Him and pleasure in all that he does in our lives. That is an easy statement to agree with when things are going well, but what about when the world around us seems to be falling apart? Can you affirm, even in the midst of your greatest heartache, that God is still working all things for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose? Though we may struggle with it, this is exactly how we should be thinking. Our God rules the creation and works out his good pleasure in your life and in mine; let us strive to take our pleasure in the working out of these things by his strong and steady hand—finding our hope and satisfaction in Him and in Him alone.
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