19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his word,
obeying the voice of his word!
21 Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
his ministers, who do his will!
Our Summer Psalm meditation on Psalm 103 began with a private call to praise. David raises the stakes here as he concludes this song. Not only does he rouse his own drowsy soul to bless the Lord, here he extends the call into the spiritual world!
The Bible teaches there is an unseen realm that exists outside of human awareness. Yes–we really do believe in angels and demons and seraphim and cherubim–created beings who, I don’t know, live in another dimension, or are simply invisible most times. It’s a mystery to me. There are hosts of beings who praise God day and night. There are some who are God’s messengers, doing things to serve God’s purposes in the world. Some are avengers. Some look over us and protect us.
I don’t claim to understand this population of God’s creation. But I believe in them because the Bible teaches it. And David believed in them too. In fact, he believed he could order them around. He shouts to the spirits–”Hey up there! Remember Jehovah? The King of kings and Lord of lords? He has the highest, biggest, most glorious throne and has total dominion over all y’all!”
Okay, he says it more poetically than that. But David’s praise rises up and acknowledges God’s rule and reign over everything. I love this quote from Abraham Kuyper, 19th century theologian, pastor and prime minister of the Netherlands:
“There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!”
David expands that domain to all domains, terrestrial and extraterrestrial, physical and spiritual, if there is a person or a place or a thing–God is Sovereign over it!
We believe in things we cannot see and cannot possibly understand, and we believe that even there
19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his word,
obeying the voice of his word!
21 Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
his ministers, who do his will!