AMID all the tremendous commotions of the present time, there is one thought that affords a large measure of relief to the serious mind, namely, that there is one Being, “high above all the earth,” the unseen and universal Governor of the nations, whose character and sway are not in the least degree unsettled by the conflicting floods of human emotion and human strife. Infinite in majesty, He lives in ineffable and unchanging blessedness, and effectually carries out the just and gracious purposes of His will, notwithstanding all the currents of opposition He meets with from evil men, and principalities and powers of darkness. His way is often undoubtedly “in the sea and in the waters great His path,” hid from the finite eye and reason of His creatures, but still it cannot be anything in the very nature of the case but holy, and right and good, and it is ours both to trust and to reverence, where we cannot see. “The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice” (Ps. xcvii.); “The Lord reigneth; let the people tremble” (Ps. xcix.). Let us remember that the Lord who reigns is a Triune Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and that He directs us in His Word principally to contemplate His kingly government in relation to the covenant of grace and salvation. The truth that “the Lord reigneth” is a call both to rejoice and to tremble.
I.—Let us, first, briefly notice some of the grounds upon which the earth should “rejoice” because the Lord reigns.
1. The earth should rejoice, because He is a righteous and almighty Governor.
“Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne,” and, contrary to the frequent way of human rulers, He will give justice to each one, high and low, rich and poor, without exception. He will inflict just punishment on His enemies who, as such, are the enemies of all righteousness and all good. And whether we recognise the fact or not, this ought to be a matter of rejoicing to all, and it is such to all those who fear God’s name. If Satan had his way, those enemies would never receive a check, but have complete victory for ever and ever. The Lord Jehovah reigns, however, and, sooner or later, He will stop their mad career, and make them feel the weight of His judicial displeasure. “Though hand join in hand, the wicked will not go unpunished.” And they will not always prevail among the nations, with their unbelief, blasphemy and cruelty, for a day cometh when the whole earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.
2. The earth should rejoice, because He is a compassionate and gracious King.
He is gracious even to His determined foes, and He purposes to make many of them willing, in the day of His power, to lay down the arms of their rebellion, and willing to serve Him in holiness and righteousness all the days of their life. “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Romans v.) His grace is sovereign, rich, and free, through Jesus Christ, to the chief of sinners, who believe on His name. He is gracious, also, to these as His friends—made so in the day of mercy. “He preserveth the souls of his saints.” He may permit them at times to fall, but He will not give them as a final prey to the arch-enemy; they are “kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.” They are kept “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of their faith,” who shall supply all their need out of His own fulness as they journey through this present evil world, and shall present them at last faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.
Let the earth also rejoice, because the Son of God, Jesus Christ, as the mediatorial King, “after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God,” where He shall reign till all His enemies are made His footstool (Hebrews x. 12, 13). He will sit at the right hand—not merely till the Millennium, when, as the teaching of some implies, He is to leave it, and to reign personally over the earth, but till the end of the world, when the last enemy, death, shall be destroyed. This is the time of His second “appearing,” when He shall judge the world in righteousness, taking holy vengeance on all unbelievers, and welcoming the whole company of His redeemed to the eternal inheritance of glory (Psalm cx.; Luke xx. 42, 43; 1 Cor. xv. 23-28; 2 Thess. i. 7-10, etc.).
II.—Let us, secondly, observe some of the grounds upon which the people, good and bad, should “tremble,” because the Lord reigns.
The grounds are in certain particulars similar to those already given in connection with the rejoicing.
1. Let the godly tremble, because both of His holiness and His goodness.
Let them “pass the time of their sojourning here in fear,” not in the exercise of slavish fear of the whip and rod, but in the exercise of filial fear and reverence for such a holy Lord God, who cannot look upon sin, except with infinite abhorrence. Let them remember that they have still the accursed thing in their breasts, an enemy in their own house, and that the Lord Jesus says: “Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.” “Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” And his very goodness, experienced in past and present, is a reason for trembling. Let them fear to offend such a gracious and loving God and Saviour, who has crowned them with His loving-kindness and tender mercies. It is written of the early Christians that “they walked in the fear of the Lord, and the comfort of the Holy Ghost,” and they are patterns to us in these things, to us upon whom the ends of the world have come.
2. Let the ungodly, in special degree, tremble because of God’s character and government.
Let them remember that He is the omniscient Jehovah, who searches the heart and tries the reins and knows us altogether—our secret as well as our open sins. Let them remember that He is a holy and just God, who can by no means clear the guilty, the impenitent, and unbelieving. Let the murderer and the adulterer remember that, however they may escape punishment from men, they will not escape the righteous judgment of God; and let the moral and respectable, who live without God’s fear, not forget that death and judgment are before them, when they must give a most solemn account of their carelessness and atheism to the Benefactor and Judge of all the earth. And the ungodly, who enjoy sound gospel privileges, have great reason to tremble, because the Lord reigns. He loads such with His goodness, in putting the Bible into their hands, and in sending His messengers to proclaim to them the way of life and salvation. He showers upon them the precious benefits of solemn warnings and gracious invitations, calling upon them to repent and believe the Gospel; and assuring them of a cordial welcome to His feet and His bosom. The Lord Jesus declares: “All that the Father giveth me shall come unto me; and him that cometh unto me, I will in nowise cast out.” “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” The Lord reigns, and sinners, who obstinately despise these gracious calls, have great reason to tremble, lest the King eternal, in a moment, suddenly cast them down to hell.
The beginning of a New Year should be a season of grateful remembrance of many past mercies and of trustful hope in the Lord for the future. But it should be also a season of solemn reflection and self examination both for God’s people and others. The former should put the question, “Where is my growth in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ?” And the careless ones should call a solemn pause to examine how they stand for eternity! Time is swiftly passing, and we must all appear before “the great white throne” to give an account of the deeds done in the body. How inexpressibly awful for those who shall hear that dread word from the lips of the Lamb, “Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels!” May the Lord in His infinite mercy awaken many who have been hitherto unconcerned to a true anxiety as to their everlasting peace! “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”