WEDNESDAY 11th
Psalm 72
NIV (vv2, 18-19) – ‘May he judge your people in righteousness, your afflicted ones with justice . . . Praise be to the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvellous deeds. Praise be to his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen.’
ESV (vv2, 18-19) – ‘May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice! . . . Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen!’
I’m sorry – no I’m not really, but another song came immediately to mind when I selected these verses for today, a song that reminds me of a lady who was in our Church when we were in Wrexham, if ever the opportunity went out for a choice of song she would chose this – ‘All over the world, the Spirit is moving, the song continues ‘for the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea’. And the psalmist in the verses above declares, ‘May the whole earth be filled with his glory’.
There is a sense in which the glory of the Lord is filling this earth for through the message of the gospel, the good news is being declared as it was ordained to be, from Jerusalem, to Judea, then Samaria and to the end of the earth. As the good news is being declared, men and women are being born again, and the Church is being built and established all around the world, the glory of the Lord is being declared and is being seen in those who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb. It is also seen in that which God has created: Psalm 24 ‘The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above his handiwork’ the same psalm continues to speak of the law of the Lord, that which we have today as his word, and his glory is seen in this. But there will yet be a future day when his glory will fill the whole earth as the waters cover the sea, when he comes in glory to establish through his Son the Lord Jesus Christ his kingdom which will know no end, as Jesus sits on the throne in Jerusalem, the glory, the majesty and the power and the might of Almighty God will be declared for all the earth to see.
And what a kingdom it will be, a kingdom of righteousness and a kingdom of peace. Every other king and kingdom has risen and fallen and until that day will yet rise and fall, but when He sits on the throne it will never be taken away from him, imagine a world with a righteous King, imagine a world where righteousness will be found in every corner, in every heart and in every home, a world which will be filled with the glory of the Lord. Imagine it, yes, but one day it will be reality, for Jesus who at this present moment sits at the right hand of God, acting as our Great High Priest will come in glory and splendour as the King of kings and the Lord of Lords. Matthew 25:31 predicts this day with the words, ‘When the Son of man comes in his glory . . .’ He is coming again, first to the clouds to take the redeemed to be with himself, (Hebrews 9:28) and then to come in glory to the mount of Olivet when he will set up his throne in Jerusalem.
And this Kingdom will know no end,
And its glory shall know no bounds.