The God Who Is To Be Feared
Psalms 76
June 28, 2020
I don’t know if Psalms 74-76 were intended by Asaph to work together or not, but it certainly isn’t hard to see a definite flow between the 3.
In Psalms 74 we saw confusion followed by Faith.
• Asaph described the Babylonian invasion
• He didn’t understand most of what he saw
• Nevertheless he determined to trust God
In Psalms 75 we saw the revelation of God which encouraged Asaph
• God answered Asaph
• Judgment is in His time
• Judgment is just and certain
Asaph even ended Psalms 75 with a promise that he would declare the truths of God’s judgment to the world.
Psalms 75:9-10 “But as for me, I will declare it forever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. And all the horns of the wicked He will cut off, But the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.”
Psalms 76 certainly fits that bill.
This Psalm is not a memorial, this Psalm is a warning.
It is a declaration of God’s righteous judgment
And it is meant to warn all men.
1. It warns the righteous that they must fulfill their vows to the LORD.
2. It warns the rest that they had better appease God through sacrifice.
3. And the reason of course is because He is the God (11) “who is to be
feared”
4. This Psalm is HISTORICAL and PROPHETIC.
5. This Psalm is ENCOURAGING and EVANGELISTIC.
6. It REMINDS God’s people that God will (9) “save all the humble”
7. And it REMINDS the world no one (7) “may stand in Your [God’s]
presence when once [He] is angry.”
8. It is a Psalm that breaks forth in the enthusiasm of Asaph over the truths
of God’s judgment.
9. All of a sudden the stings of persecution don’t burn so bad now that
Asaph looks to the end and sees God’s righteous vindication.
In many ways this Psalm is like that famous Psalm of David in Psalms 2.
• Where David recounts the kings of the earth taking their stand against God’s anointed in order to cut Him off.
• There we see God laughing at the futile attempts of the wicked and announcing that they are too late. He already installed His King on Mt. Zion and that King will rule the world.
• The final warning of the Psalm then parallels this one.
Psalms 2:10-12 “Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”
And so ultimately it is a reminder that God is to be feared.
AND WHAT A TIMELY REMINDER.
In one sense a failure to fear God is NOT NEW.
Psalms 36:1 “Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart; There is no fear of God before his eyes.”
MAN NOT FEARING GOD IS NOT NEW,
And yet we see it on such a scale today
It feels like we are living in unprecedented times.
For even among those who do claim to believe in God,
• We mostly only see God portrayed as a God of love who is never angry,
• And one who you need not fear at all.
• We are promised that He is not angry.
• We are promised that He is not disappointed.
• We are promised that His grace and mercy are so big that we have nothing to fear.
It is a classic picture of the reminder that the best lies are 90% truth.
God’s grace IS amazing.
God’s mercy IS new every morning.
God’s love INDEED NEVER fails.
However, the Bible reminds us of some important DISCLAIMERS there.
HIS GRACE IS FOR THE HUMBLE
James 4:6 “But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”
HIS MERCY IS FOR THE REPENTANT
Luke 13:3 “…but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
HIS SAVING LOVE IS FOR THOSE WHO OBEY HIM
John 14:23 “Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.”
AND ALSO OFTEN MISSED
Is the fact that God will in fact send all sinners who have not repented
And come to faith in Jesus Christ to hell for all eternity.
It’s as RC Sproul used to say:
“People say that God hates the sin but loves the sinner, and yet God doesn’t send the sin to hell, He sends the sinner there.”
What are we to make of such a truth?
THAT MAN SHOULD FEAR GOD.
There are many verses of Scripture
That speak to the importance of the fear of the LORD.
My favorite comes from the book of Ecclesiastes, where the old preacher writes:
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”
In the New Testament we read:
1 Peter 1:17-19 “If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”
And the writer of Hebrews warns:
Hebrews 4:1-2 “Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.”
• Because we are dealing with a Holy God.
• Because we are dealing with an omnipotent God.
• Because we are dealing with a God who will judge sinners in hell.
THERE MUST BE FEAR.
The fear of the LORD (as you know) is the beginning of wisdom.
THAT’S FIRST.
You get that before you get anything else.
It is pointless to preach faith or repentance or love or mercy or grace or salvation to a person who does not fear God.
OUR WORLD MUST LEARN TO FEAR HIM.
Asaph knows that, and that is precisely what he is preaching.
• He said at the end of Psalms 75 that he would declare it;
• Psalms 76 is an example of that declaration.
We’re going to break this Psalm down into 4 points tonight.
Each of them are great warnings to the wicked
Who would spurn God and attack God’s people.
Everyone should know these things about God.
#1 GOD’S HISTORY OF DEFENSE
Psalms 76:1-3
The Psalmist begins with an announcement of God
Which speaks of WARNING and CAUTION to the reader.
“God is known in Judah; His name is great in Israel. His tabernacle is in Salem; His dwelling place also is in Zion.”
The Hebrew word for “tabernacle” is interesting.
It is the Hebrew word COK (Soche)
And it actually speaks of a natural den or hiding place or LAIR.
It speaks more than just of a structure that was built,
But of a natural dwelling for a wild beast.
For example, in Psalms 10 when the enemy was compared to a lion hunting his prey we read:
Psalms 10:9 “He lurks in a hiding place as a lion in his lair; He lurks to catch the afflicted; He catches the afflicted when he draws him into his net.”
Jeremiah actually used the word regarding God.
Jeremiah 25:33, 38 “Those slain by the LORD on that day will be from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be lamented, gathered or buried; they will be like dung on the face of the ground…”He has left His hiding place like the lion; For their land has become a horror Because of the fierceness of the oppressing sword And because of His fierce anger.”
That is the word USED HERE as well.
As the Psalmist opens the Psalm
He is speaking of a place where the wicked should fear to tread.
If you were hiking in the woods they might say,
“Don’t go up on that ridge because there is a bear cave there.”
Of if you were walking in Africa someone could say,
“Lions live over in that brush.”
That is the warning here.
And even more specifically,
It is a warning not to mess with those who live in Israel
Because God dwells among them.
“God is known in Judah; His name is great in Israel. His tabernacle is in Salem; His dwelling place also is in Zion.”
• “Salem” is short for Jerusalem.
• “Zion” is a specific reference to the temple mount.
If these last 3 Psalms do work together,
Then it would be a severe warning to the Babylonians for making the terrible mistake of approaching God’s lair in Jerusalem.
And the MAIN THING Asaph reminds of here
Is God’s historical propensity to defend and avenge His lair.
(3) “There He broke the flaming arrows, The shield and the sword and the weapons of war. Selah.”
Most people see a reference to the Assyrian attack under Sennacherib.
• Perhaps you remember the story.
• Sennacherib invaded Judah and approached the city of Jerusalem.
• He sent his general Rabshakeh to demand Israel’s surrender.
• He taunted Israel from outside the gates.
• When a letter was sent in to Hezekiah he spread it out before the LORD and appealed to God for deliverance.
Ultimately, here was God’s answer.
Isaiah 37:33-38 “Therefore, thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield, or throw up a siege ramp against it. ‘By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he will not come to this city,’ declares the LORD. ‘For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.'” Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, all of these were dead. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at Nineveh. It came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons killed him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.”
Many think Asaph has that battle in mind as he pens this Psalm.
Perhaps he does.
I tend to think he’s got that battle and every other battle in mind.
God has a history of defending His lair.
“There He broke the flaming arrows, the shield and the sword and the weapons of war. Selah.”
And the point of Asaph to the wicked in the world
Is that God has a history of defending what is His.
You wouldn’t think it wise to enter a lion’s den to steal what is his,
It would be even more foolish to seek to do that in God’s den.
It is a simple announcement to the wicked that
• God is NOT passive,
• God is NOT complacent,
• God IS dangerous.
THE WORLD HAS PAINTED GOD AS APPROACHABLE,
But where do you see that in the Old Testament?
Was it the veil He hid behind?
Was it the wrath He unleashed on Uzzah for touching His ark?
People say,
But the New Testament speaks continually of us being able to draw near to God.
TRUE, But we only draw near to God through Jesus Christ
Who propitiated the wrath of God on our behalf.
Apart from Christ, apart from atonement, apart from the appeasement of God’s wrath through His death, no man draws near.
An infant would have better chances entering a lion’s den
Than a sinner entering the presence of God.
That is the picture Asaph is painting.
• There is a dangerous lion’s den in Jerusalem.
• It is where God dwells and He has a history of defending His own.
God’s history of defense
#2 GOD’S EASE OF VICTORY
Psalms 76:4-7
There is actually a TRANSITION that is occurring here.
Asaph is moving from God’s HISTORICAL RESUME’
To God’s PROPHETIC FUTURE.
There is A VERB TENSE that the prophets and Psalmists like to use
Which is often referred to as “The Prophetic Perfect” tense.
You obviously don’t hear about that in grammar class.
It is a theological term derived
To help the reader understand how to read prophetic text.
“The Prophetic Perfect” is a verb tense which speaks of a future event, but which speaks of it as being so certain that it actually uses a past tense verb.
In other words, the Psalmist is speaking of events in the future,
But he is so convinced of them
That he speaks of them as though they already happened.
That is what is happening now.
• Asaph is moving beyond history to prophecy.
• He is looking forward to every other attempt that might be made to attack God and seeing the utter futility of them.
And the overwhelming point here is that
In the past, present, and future
God crushes His enemies and He does so very easily.
When you enter this Lion’s den, you’ve really got no chance at all.
Speaking to God Asaph says:
(4) “You are resplendent, more majestic than the mountains of prey.”
“resplendent” is the Hebrew word OWR (ore)
It means “to shine” or “to be or become light”
Another way to translate the word might be “glorious”
Asaph merely gives unhindered praise to God.
• He is brilliant and beautiful.
• He is majestic and unapproachable.
• He is glorious and resplendent.
• He is light and He shines brightly.
Asaph says “more majestic than the mountains of prey.”
• Some translate that phrase, “more majestic than the everlasting
mountains”. Which certainly paints a beautiful comparison for us.
• Others see the translation “mountains of prey” as a reference to God’s
enemies as if to say, the foreign armies in all their glory cannot compare to the God they approach.
That second interpretation certainly fits the next 2 verses.
(5-6) “The stouthearted were plundered, They sank into sleep; And none of the warriors could use his hands. At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob, Both rider and horse were cast into a dead sleep.”
The picture here is of a battle that wasn’t a battle at all.
It wasn’t even a good fight.
And it’s not like God was fighting the sickly and the weak.
• It was “the stouthearted” that arrayed in battle against God and yet they “were plundered.”
Asaph said “none of the warriors could use his hands”
• It is a picture of hands hanging limp in fear and dread.
• There was no strength in them to even approach this mighty God.
Isaiah 13:6-9 “Wail, for the day of the LORD is near! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore all hands will fall limp, And every man’s heart will melt. They will be terrified, Pains and anguish will take hold of them; They will writhe like a woman in labor, They will look at one another in astonishment, Their faces aflame. Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it.”
It was “both rider and horse” who “were cast into a dead sleep.”
• The battle against God is not even a good fight.
• It’s not even close.
You have the mountains covered with God’s enemies
Who are going to approach His city and overthrow Him,
But one glimpse of His majestic glory and their hearts melt within them.
Even the bravest among them dies from fear and dread.
And that is why Asaph says:
(7) “You, even You, are to be feared; And who may stand in Your presence when once You are angry.”
• It is a foolish notion for this world think they can approach God and overthrow Him.
For a sinful world, who has rebelled against God,
There will be only one response when they stand before Him… FEAR.
Hebrews 10:31 “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
In the book of the Revelation we catch a glimpse of this great fear.
Revelation 6:12-17 “I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
And this is the message Asaph is preaching to the world.
If you seek to approach the living God in rebellion as if to attack His city or His land and overthrow Him…
• You have no idea who you are approaching.
• He is like a deadly lion in His lair and when you draw Him out to battle you will not be able to handle Him.
• He will defeat you, He will kill you and He will do it easily.
In his famous sermon, “Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God”
Jonathan Edwards wrote:
“There is no want of power in God to cast wicked men into hell at any moment. Men’s hands cannot be strong when God rises up. The strongest have no power to resist him, nor can any deliver out of his hands.—He is not only able to cast wicked men into hell, but he can most easily do it. Sometimes an earthly prince meets with a great deal of difficulty to subdue a rebel, who has found means to fortify himself, and has made himself strong by the numbers of his followers. But it is not so with God. There is no fortress that is any defense from the power of God. Though hand join in hand, and vast multitudes of God’s enemies combine and associate themselves, they are easily broken in pieces. They are as great heaps of light chaff before the whirlwind; or large quantities of dry stubble before devouring flames. We find it easy to tread on and crush a worm that we see crawling on the earth; so it is easy for us to cut or singe a slender thread that any thing hangs by: thus easy is it for God, when he pleases, to cast his enemies down to hell. What are we, that we should think to stand before him, at whose rebuke the earth trembles, and before whom the rocks are thrown down?”
https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/edwards_jonathan/Sermons/Sinners.cfm
God’s victory over sinners is easy.
Only a foolish man would seek to call Him out or meet Him in judgment.
GOD IS TO BE FEARED.
God’s History of Defense, God’s Ease of Victory
#3 GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY OVER EVIL
Psalms 76:8-10
Here we certainly see that “Prophetic Perfect” tense
As Asaph seems to vividly describe the same scene
We see coming in the end as recorded by John in the Revelation.
(8-9) “You caused judgment to be heard from heaven; The earth feared and was still When God arose to judgment, To save all the humble of the earth. Selah.”
• Asaph speaks of a time under God’s sovereign control.
• A time which He “caused”.
• A tie of “judgment” which He orchestrated.
It was a judgment God ordained “to save all the humble of the earth.”
The book of the Revelation speaks clear of just such an event.
TURN TO: Revelation 16:12-16
• It is the setting of the stage for the great battle of Armageddon.
• You see here that it was God who would draw all these men to this plain.
• They would come with grand views of attacking God and seizing His land, but God was sovereign over their every impulse, even supernaturally clearing the way for them to come.
Ezekiel 38:10-12 “Thus says the Lord GOD, “It will come about on that day, that thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil plan, and you will say, ‘I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will go against those who are at rest, that live securely, all of them living without walls and having no bars or gates, to capture spoil and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods, who live at the center of the world.’”
God will draw them in.
And then God will destroy them.
Ezekiel 38:18-23 “It will come about on that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” declares the Lord GOD, “that My fury will mount up in My anger. “In My zeal and in My blazing wrath I declare that on that day there will surely be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. “The fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all the creeping things that creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the face of the earth will shake at My presence; the mountains also will be thrown down, the steep pathways will collapse and every wall will fall to the ground. “I will call for a sword against him on all My mountains,” declares the Lord GOD. “Every man’s sword will be against his brother. “With pestilence and with blood I will enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, a torrential rain, with hailstones, fire and brimstone. “I will magnify Myself, sanctify Myself, and make Myself known in the sight of many nations; and they will know that I am the LORD.”‘
And that is precisely what we see in the Revelation.
TURN TO: Revelation 19:11-21
It is a terrifying scene, and that is what Asaph wants the world to know.
• God is sovereign over judgment.
• He is orchestrating it all.
• The wicked may think they have a plan for rebelling against God, but it is ultimately all His plan to draw them in for judgment.
It is God’s doing that He might destroy the wicked
And “save all the humble of the earth.”
Don’t be foolish
Don’t be brave
Don’t be arrogant
You cannot handle God and you’d be foolish to think you can.
In fact, Asaph writes:
(10) “For the wrath of man shall praise You; with a remnant of wrath You will gird Yourself.”
We have seen this so many times in Scripture.
Where man seeks to rebel against God and rises up against Him in anger
And all we find is that they did precisely what God had intended.
No greater example of this can ever be given than the cross of Jesus Christ,
• Where God’s enemies rose up to murder His Son and yet it was the
predetermined plan of God.
• God used their foolish wrath to save the humble.
• God used their arrogant rebellion to work His own will to perfection.
Their wrath only ended up bringing God glory.
And then God promised to turn and destroy them.
“with a remnant of wrath You will gird Yourself.”
Isaiah 59:17-18 “He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle. According to their deeds, so He will repay, Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; To the coastlands He will make recompense.”
And we have clearly seen this in Luke’s gospel.
• Where the Jews rose up to murder Christ.
• God used their wrath to bring glory to Himself by atoning for the humble.
• But God then wrapped Himself in wrath and destroyed their city and burned their temple with fire.
Even when the wicked think they are winning, they are not.
And this is the warning of Asaph to this world.
You may rise up against God and curse His name and attack His truth,
And it may even appear to you that you are winning
And that God is doing nothing.
BUT THIS IS NEVER THE CASE.
He is sovereign over all things, including your rebellion,
And if God has allowed you to spurn His holy name
It is only that He might use your rebellion for His glory.
Perhaps it will be like that of Saul, whom God saved to show that even His greatest enemies can be saved and converted to evangelists.
Or perhaps it will be like that of Pharaoh whom God brought to power simply so that He might display His glorious wrath in Pharaoh’s destruction.
But neither man, in their rebellion, caused God one single moment’s grief.
They were sovereignly used for His purpose of glorifying His own name.
And this is something the world needs to understand.
This is something even Christians need to understand.
God will be glorified for all eternity by all creation.
• Some will be the redeemed, who will glorify Him in heaven clothed in white
robes and they will praise Him for His gracious salvation.
• Some will be the judged, who will glorify Him in hell, bearing the full penalty
of their sin and rebellion.
BUT GOD WILL BE GLORIFIED.
He will be glorified in salvation and He will be glorified in judgment.
Asaph wants the wicked world to understand that.
God’s History of Defense, God’s Ease of Victory, God’s Sovereignty over Evil
#4 GOD’S EXPECTATION OF WORSHIP
Psalms 76:11-12
Since God judges.
Since God easily judges.
Since God sovereignly judges.
There is an expected response from the world.
When you hear that God is a roaring lion
And that He will easily destroy all those who rebel against Him
Then it should instantly produce a response in you.
THIS IS THAT RESPONSE.
(11) “Make vows to the LORD your God”
Think in terms of wedding vows here.
• Submit your life to Him.
• Commit your life to Him.
• Devote yourself to Him.
Bow down before Him and pledge your allegiance.
Surrender, wave the white flag, ask for terms of peace.
Sign the treaty.
You get the idea.
(11) “Make vows to the LORD your God AND FULFILL THEM”
Then do what you say.
Ecclesiastes 5:4-7 “When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow! It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. Do not let your speech cause you to sin and do not say in the presence of the messenger of God that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry on account of your voice and destroy the work of your hands? For in many dreams and in many words there is emptiness. Rather, fear God.”
DO NOT SEEK TO DECEIVE HIM.
Psalms 78:34-37 “When He killed them, then they sought Him, And returned and searched diligently for God; And they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer. But they deceived Him with their mouth And lied to Him with their tongue. For their heart was not steadfast toward Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant.”
Isaiah 29:13 “Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,”
Hosea 6:4-6 “What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud And like the dew which goes away early. Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth. For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”
Do not take the name of the Lord in vain.
Submit to Him and then honor that submission.
Luke 6:46 “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”
Since God will certainly judge His enemies.
Then you must submit your life to Him and do what you said.
Seek terms of peace, but do not renege on your offer.
(11) “Let all who are around Him bring gifts to Him who is to be feared.”
What is this?
• It is appeasing offerings.
• It is satisfying gifts.
• It is atoning sacrifices.
Ultimately, for us, it is Jesus Christ.
When you approach this fearful God,
• Do not come to Him in arrogance and boastful pride.
• You come to Him in submission and trembling.
• You come to Him seeking to give whatever He wants, and to make an offering that He will accept.
For when you enter His presence you run the extreme risk
That He might kill you any moment and judge you for all eternity.
So we come to Him with Christ.
We come to Him in the name of the only gift God ever truly accepted.
Hebrews 9:11-12 “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”
Hebrews 10:11-14 “Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”
You must submit yourself to God in all humility
And bring Him the only gift He has ever accepted
And that is the righteous sacrifice of Jesus.
In short, call upon Christ for forgiveness and salvation
That His atonement might cover you as well.
Otherwise you face the holy and living God all alone
AND THERE IS NO WINNING THERE.
For no man can stand before Him or against Him.
(12) “He will cut off the spirit of princes; He is feared by the kings of the earth.”
It doesn’t matter how great or strong they are, none can stand before Him.
Revelation 20:11-15 “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
And this is Asaph’s point exactly.
It is a foolish thing to rebel against God.
He will win and He will win easily.
Psalms 2:10-12 “Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”
