Sovereign

SOVEREIGN: Supreme in power; possessing supreme dominion.

I doubt many of us have anyone in our lives we’d consider to be supreme in power or possessing supreme dominion. And most of us would probably like to keep it that way. But one man, a very long time ago, recognised someone as supreme—sovereign.

What more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Sovereign Lord.

2 Samuel 7:20 (NIV)

This wasn’t the only time David referred to God as Sovereign Lord, either. Seven times in this passage, David repeats the moniker.

Maybe you’re a believer in the meaning behind numbers in the Bible, maybe you’re not. But no matter how you put it, saying something seven times over the span of eleven verses seems rather significant, and maybe more so because of the importance of the number seven.

Seven, you see, is the number of completion or spiritual perfection. We see it first in Genesis. On the seventh day, God rested because creation was complete. In the account of David, God has just announced to the king though the prophet, Nathan, that David’s kingdom will endure forever. God has made an everlasting covenant, a covenant that will never be broken. That’s some pretty weighty news for a man who was anointed king as a shepherd boy in the field.

David responds by referring to God as Sovereign Lord, acknowledging God’s supreme dominion over him. For many men, news that their lineage would last forever could have gone straight to their heads. But not David.

Do as you promised, so that your name will be great forever. Then men will say, ‘The Lord Almighty is God over Israel!’ And the house of your servant David will be established before you.

2 Samuel 7:25b-26 (NIV)

Hundreds of years before Jesus arrived on the earth, God’s covenant with man was made and acknowledged to be complete by the man with whom the covenant was made. David couldn’t have known that his lineage wouldn’t sit on an earthly throne forever. Nor could he have known that God Himself would plant a seed in one of his descendants. A seed that would grow up to be known as the Son of David.

God, though, being sovereign, knew exactly what He was doing when He made such a great promise to David. He set in motion an extravagant plan to save mankind from their sinfulness. Unlike David, God knew that the man with whom He made a covenant would stumble and fall. So would his son who succeeded him on the throne. And so would countless others in the long line of King David.

Yet it wasn’t so much the obedience that God was looking for—He knew the standards He set before men were impossible to keep, but He was looking for willing humility.

For the Lord takes delight in his people;
he crowns the humble with salvation.

Psalm 149:4 (NIV)

David’s humility earned him a crown which led to salvation for all. Like David, we can never know the far reaching effects of our willingness to set ourselves aside and acknowledge God as Sovereign Lord, supreme in power. The best that we can do is humble ourselves before the Lord, accept what He has so freely given to us, and continue to chase after his heart like David did.

Read: 2 Samuel 7-9, Luke 19:1-28

Be mad, have faith

It’s that time of year. The time of year when many television stations begin to air one cheesy movie after another. I’m a sucker for them. I’ll watch over again movies I’ve seen every year since I was a kid. They were cheesy then, and they’re even more cheesy now.

In one particular film, a very profound point was made. A woman – who claimed to be an unbeliever – was ranting about her life. Her cheating husband, the parents who abandoned her. She was mad at God for all of it. But then someone (of course the man she’d end up falling in love with and marrying by the end of the move) pointed out to her that you can’t be mad at someone you don’t believe in.

There are a lot of people these days mad for a lot of reasons. And a lot of people asking how God could have allowed all of this to happen. There has to be a measure of belief for that question to even be asked. To me, people who start a question with, “If God really exists…” are looking for a reason to believe. They are searching for faith.

What an opportunity we have as believers to show God to the world.

If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14 (NKJV)

It only takes a little faith to start something big. We’ve all heard about the mustard seed – something tiny can produce something massive in comparison.

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Hebrews 11:6 (ESV)

Both the Old and New Testaments say the same thing, turn to God, seek Him, He will reward you.

Now is not the time to stand and point fingers. Now is the time to get on your knees and seek the God who wants to reward us. The God who wants to see our lands healed and restored to what they were intended to be – for the United States, one nation under God, for Canada, God having dominion from sea to sea.

Sometimes, it’s okay to be mad at God. At the very least, it means you have the faith needed to draw near to Him. Just don’t stay mad.

Daily Bible reading: Ezekiel 10-12, Hebrews 11:1-19