Pastoral Reflection from Rev Kenneth I Macleod
Reflection for the Week of 22nd March 2020 from Rev Kenneth I Macleod
“The Lord sits enthroned forever: He has established His throne for justice, and He judges the world with righteousness; He judges the peoples with uprightness. The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. ” Psalm 9:7-9
One of the themes of this Psalm is God’s rule over everything and everyone. We see that it’s a kingly rule because the Lord sits on a throne - v4 “You have sat on the throne giving righteous judgement.” V7 “The Lord sits enthroned.” “He has established His throne for justice.” What a comfort that is to us, in our ever changing, fragile, threatening world, where fear and uncertainty lay hold upon us; where an unseen enemy threatens our very life, to know that God sits upon His throne, not as a disinterested observer, but Someone who is actively involved in all that is happening. We also see that this throne is like the Lord Himself-eternal. We cannot separate the Lord from His throne as it’s an everlasting throne. The Lord’s rule is forever.
There are many wonderful aspects to God’s rule from His throne, but here we see that He has established His throne for justice and He judges the world with righteousness. That is a tremendous truth as there is so much injustice in this world. There are so many hearts that have been torn apart and crushed by injustice; so many people’s lives have been broken by injustice, but there can never be any injustice in God’s rule from heaven. David who penned this Psalm and had experienced so much deception and betrayal in his life looked forward to the day when all the wrongs would be righted. “The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble” (verse 9). A stronghold is a place of refuge. It’s somewhere secure where we can hide in times of trouble. Now the Lord doesn’t have some geographical location we have to go to in order to find this refuge. The wonderful thing is that He is that stronghold and refuge. We simply have to go to Him.
He is a Stronghold because He is the All-Powerful One. There are awesome forces and powers in this world. Many have experienced the devastation caused by the power of earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, tsunamis and bombs. We have seen pictures of the impact of their power, but no force or power in this world comes even remotely close to the power of the living God. The Word of His power brought into being the whole creation. He spoke into being what had never existed before. The sun, moon, planets, stars, the world. In fact He counts the number of the stars and names them one by one. He also brought the human race into existence-a glaring truth many today deny or forget. So as our all-powerful Creator God, He alone is suitably qualified to be for us a stronghold.
Despite the Awesome power that belongs to Him, He is also a Caring and Gracious God. Were it not for His grace He would not be a stronghold for us. Our sin separates us from God and disqualifies us from sheltering under His protection. Had it not been for His grace we would have been left entirely to ourselves, without any hope or help from heaven (sadly the way many people chose to try and live). However in His love, mercy and grace He made provision to deal with our sin-to bridge the gap and remove the barrier our rebellion brought about.
We know that provision was in and through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus became the sacrifice for sin. He went in our place to deal with our sin, something we could not and would not deal with ourselves, in order to make us right with God. Jesus by His loving sacrifice has made a way for us to go to God and so we can go to Him anytime of any day or night and ask Him to be our refuge and strength. We need to remember it is by His grace we know all this. Wouldn’t it be awful if there was a stronghold available in times of trouble and we didn’t know about it? However the Lord has made all this known to us in His Word.
Today, as we are in unchartered territory, facing a deadly enemy we cannot see, it is imperative that we take ourselves to Jesus Christ the true stronghold. He can keep us as no one else can. He is able to quieten your troubled heart. He is able to bring peace to your anxious mind. He promises to be a sun and shield to those who rest in Him. He promises to be a hiding place for those who abide in Him. God is speaking to the whole world through the voice of Providence-may we all turn to hear His voice in His Word.
I pray you all keep safe and well and that you know God’s protection and grace. May God’s Hand be upon us all for good. May we remember prayerfully all who have contracted this awful virus and also the families of those who have lost loved ones.
God bless-love and prayers. Kenny
