The Lord Jehovah Reigns
The Lord Jehovah Reigns
The Lord Jehovah reigns,
His throne is built on high;
The garments He assumes
Are light and majesty;
His glories shine with beams so bright,
No mortal eye can bear the sight.
The thunders of His hand
Keep the wide world in awe;
His wrath and justice stand
To guard His holy law;
And where His love resolves to bless,
His truth confirms and seals the grace.
Through all His mighty works
Amazing wisdom shines,
Confounds the powers of hell,
And breaks their dark designs;
Strong is His arm, and shall fulfill
His great decrees and sovereign will.
And will this sovereign King
Of glory condescend;
And will He write His name
My Father and my Friend?
I love His name, I love His Word;
Join all my powers to praise the Lord!
OUR GOD is an awesome God. In the Psalms, we continually read of the mighty acts of the sovereign Lord. He created the heavens and the earth. He hung the stars in the sky and gives orders to the sun and moon. Some psalms even speak of thunder as God’s voice. And Isaac Watts picks up that theme here. The fact is, the greatness of God is a terribly fearful thing.
But the psalms have a softer theme as well, one that is developed broadly in the New Testament. And Isaac Watts, the latter-day psalmist, presents this to us as well. Our Lord is a tender Shepherd. He is one who cares for us. In the context of God’s greatness, the last stanza of today’s hymn is quite stunning. The sovereign King does “condescend.” He does call Himself our Father and Friend. This is the essence of the gospel: the mighty God seeks a relationship with the people He created.
The Lord will reign forever. He will be your God, O Jerusalem, throughout the generations. Praise the Lord!
Psalm 146:10
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