January 11, 2020 -- Psalm 119:91 -- Glorious God: All things are Your servants
/By your appointment they stand to this day,
for all things are your servants.
Psalm 119:91 English Standard Version
The word “appointment” is a translation of the Hebrew word which in other places in this psalm has been translated as “judgment”. The word has a richness to it. One sense that word can carry is: something binding, put together according to a building plan. Think of it—the heavens and the earth, the starry hosts and the creatures of the earth, the generations of man past and the generations of man to come—all stand as God’s servants. He has the blueprint and determines their purposes. He knows why each is made. All things, from the smallest as-yet-undiscovered particle to the grandest configuration of stars, from the tiniest virus to the largest blue whale, from the poorest person who thinks he is forgotten to the richest, most feted person—all things and all creatures and all people in all they are and all they do show they are servants of God.
Matthew Henry puts it this way:
All the creatures answer the ends of their creation;
shall man, who alone is endued with reason,
be the only unprofitable burden of the earth?
M. Henry Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible Nashville: Thomas Nelson, page 556
A good war general anticipates the moves of his enemies. A master chess player will anticipate the moves of his opponents and will plan moves and counter moves five and ten steps ahead of where the game is. An enemy army is free to act however it will, even if their opponents have anticipated their attacks. A chess player matching himself against a chess master will be free to move his chess pieces as he sees fit, even if the master has already anticipated his moves. Knowing this, is it not true that the King of Glory, Who made all things, will have perfect knowledge as to how His free-thinking creatures will act? He will never be surprised. He will never be thwarted in His plans for the creation and the final purposes of His putting all things together.
Christians are the willing servants of the Most High God. In Jesus Christ we have seen the love of God declared to all generations. Our hearts are bound to Jesus by the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit. We live in fear of the LORD—Proverbs describes the fear of the LORD as the beginning of wisdom. A king, who sees a huge army approaching, would be wise to calculate his own strength and realizing he is out-matched hastens to make peace with the general of the opposing army. We see the infinite power of God. We know our feeble rebellion will not even have the least impact against Him. The right response is this: we are to fall in worship before Him. We accept the peace He offers us through the blood of the cross. Failing that know all who oppose Him will be crushed and their punishment will last through all the ages of eternity in hell. The reason for such punishment is they have refused the cross of Jesus Christ.
Is God unjust? Not at all. He has the rescue ladder high against the burning building of this age. Those who, even though they are feeling the tongues of intense fire and are about to be consumed, refuse His help are fully culpable for their own unwillingness to be rescued. Jesus is described, in Galatians, as the One Who rescued us from this present evil age, giving Himself for our sins. In Jesus Christ we are rescued from the consequences of our sins and we bring glory and honour, praise and delight to God the Father by this rescue and by our thankfulness to Him. The Spirit of God makes us deeply aware of the treasure that is ours in Christ. The Spirit takes the Word of God and feeds our souls with an ever greater awareness of the terrible majesty of God—The God of Vengeance Who is also the Source of every good gift.
Praise is Your right, God Most High! You alone live in unapproachable light. Blessed are You, God our Father, for the great gift of Jesus Christ—by Whom we have been rescued and because of Him our sins are fully, forever paid for! Lord Jesus, Captain of Salvation, direct our lives by Your Word and Holy Spirit. Make us aware how to live and fight as Your servants in this age which is so clouded with the dark schemes of the devil and flooded with godlessness. Remind us, Jesus our Good Shepherd, that You have brought us into the care of our Father in heaven and therefore nothing, no one, and no power, can ever snatch us out of His Hand. Enable us to live as Light-bears and ambassadors for Your great Name. Amen.
