Psalm 24:1-2 - March 11, 2009

Ps 24:1-2 Of David. A psalm.
"The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; 2 for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters." NIV

Everything and everyone belongs to the Lord! There is no one and there is nothing that exists that has rights apart from accountability to and dependence upon the Lord. All things come from God and all things return to him. Living securely in this knowledge is a great anchor to our lives and also the source of discovering our purpose in life. One of the great lies underneath the argument for evolution and the denial of God is the reality that to embrace evolution and to deny that we are created by a creator leaves man’s existence as meaningless. If we are but an accident of biology and chemistry then we have no innate purpose. If we are not God’s possession then there is no ultimate reason for living and man has no real value. If this is true then all men are not created equal and who can decide right from wrong. If there is no creator who has assigned value to his creation, if God is not Lord and judge of all that he has created, then each man is a law unto himself.
Where does the right to make laws come from. Apart from there being a creator that we are accountable to then there are no absolutes and the only thing that determines right from wrong is whatever customs and cultures a group of people find unity about becomes right and wrong for that group. To kill is a matter of the preference of the people not a moral absolute. The oppression of women, the abuse of children and every other violation of what God’s word establishes as a moral absolute is now easily discarded in the name of whatever rules the strongest majority declares to be right.The implications of David’s decree, as he announces the Lord’s dominion, are huge in their significance. As man accepts the reality of a creator now we have an obligation to that creator.
If God has created everything and owns everything then all men must yield to his right over his creation. In Lev. 25:23-24 we get a glimpse at the impact of these implications as God declares prophetically through Moses “the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants.” How does a person live who is just a tenant, a guest in a foreign land? Even our lives are not our own as Paul states in 1 Cor 6:19-20. If we are the possession of God and living as foreigners in this land this must affect how we live. We are not owners of that which the Lord has entrusted to us. Rather we are stewards of what God has placed in our care and we are responsible to him for that stewardship; first of all for every possession he has given us and more importantly for the very lives that we live. From the moment we enter into this reality every choice is intended to be a reflection of that stewardship. What are the owner’s desires for his possession?
The pages of scripture are filled with the answer to that question. God has plainly stated what he expects of this stewardship. However, he has not only stated the responsibilities of stewardship, he has clearly stated its rewards as well. In Ex 19:5-6 God announces a tremendous promise for his people, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” The reward of faithfulness is that we are set apart out of all of God’s creation as both his treasured possession and as his representatives to mankind. Solomon takes this concept even further as he speaks in terms of a divine romance by saying in S.S. 2:16 “My lover is mine and I am his” When we fully give ourselves to the Lord’s ownership, in return he gives us himself! Today give God all that you are and receive in return the reward of a divine romance.