Tag: Psalm 115:3

Does He or Doesn’t He?

pastortravislv

Sometimes, when we read something in Scripture, we need to be sure that we are really willing to consider what its truth means. It is one thing to read a psalm and hear the psalmist speak of the need for clean hands and a pure heart if you are to ascend the hill of the Lord, but when sincerely considered, that concept shows us that we cannot approach God without righteousness given to us as a gift. When Jesus says he is the only way to God in John 14:6, that means something significant for the entire human race.

In Psalm 115, we see another claim of the Lord’s that we must consider.

Psalm 115:3

Our God is in the heavens;
he does all that he pleases.

This little verse is not hard to understand or interpret. God is in the heavens. He is not a statue on earth. He is not confined to the borders of any land. He is the God who looks over the whole globe. He is omnipresent.

But the second line is the one we need to think about. The Bible says of the Lord, “He does all that he pleases.” This is the line that I want to ask, “Does he or doesn’t he?” Is this true? If it is—and of course it is—then we must know something about the Lord.

God does all that he pleases. This means that God is never thwarted. God is never defeated. God is never on his throne wishing something would take place but incapable of making it take place. There is no good that God is telling us that he wishes he could pull off were he not confined. There is no evil that God wishes he could prevent if it were not for some power or some restriction he faces. God does all that he pleases.

The question for us is, “Does he, or doesn’t he?” If God does all that he pleases, you and I must grasp that God is truly sovereign. That raises problems for us, of course. It reminds us that we must learn to accept the decisions, judgments, and ways of the Lord. God’s ways are not our ways. He does not run the universe by our standards. He will not do all that we please. And we have no way of knowing what we would do in the Lord’s position, as we lack his power, his knowledge, and his perfection.

But, Christians, if you grasp that God does all that he pleases, then you can submit to him in trust. God is not defeated. He has not lost control of the world. He has not found himself incapable of fixing a government or a broken-down vehicle. God is God. God does what God pleases. God will not be defeated. And this should lead us to hope, to surrender, and to worship.

True or False

pastortravislv1 Comment

Sometimes we have to look at a claim in Scripture and make a very clear, very personal decision. We have to answer a very simple question. Is what God inspired here true or false? Hopefully, that decision is already made by your commitment to the word of God, but in the reality in which we live, there will be times that truths hit us in the face and force us to again deal with the implications of a passage from the start.

Think about it. There are things in Scripture that, if you accept them as true, must inform all the rest of your theology. There are things in Scripture that, if you accept them as true, they will impact the way you see the entire universe. True or false is a big question.

Psalm 115:3

Our God is in the heavens;
he does all that he pleases.

This claim is massive, absolutely massive. Is it true or false? If it is true, what does it say? If it is not true, well, then all of Scripture is out of whack.

The psalmist is comparing the real God to the idols of the nations. Our God is real, statues are false gods. The God of the Bible is real. Other gods of other religions are not. This is the claim.

But then, here in verse 3, the psalmist makes another claim, a worldview changing, theology altering claim. God does whatever he pleases.

Is that true? Does God do all that God pleases? If he does, then God is sovereign, and sovereign over all things. God is not just sovereign over some things while leaving other things to chance. If God does all that he pleases, then God is not, at any point, sitting in heaven disappointed that humanity will not do the thing he wanted them to do in their free will. If God does all that he pleases, then God is pleased, in the end, with the outcome of all human history. If God does all he pleases, no human being overrides the command of God to God’s sorrow. If God does all he pleases, eternally we will see that God was truly the Lord over all.

Ask yourself how your worldview must change if it is true that God does all that he pleases. What changes if you realize that you do not thwart God’s will, and neither does anyone else? What changes when you realize that there is no plan of God’s that will go unaccomplished? What changes when you see that there truly is no molecule in the universe outside of God’s control and no thing in the universe over which God cannot declare ownership?

This is a big truth. It raises big questions. And we who love thinking we are in control will struggle. But let yourself ask the true or false question? God does all that he pleases—true or false? If it is true, then you and I have to work from a point of view that places God highest and demonstrates that we are his subjects, not his rulers or judges.