On this journey of life, to find our way, we must always remember where we are ultimately heading. Psalm 97 gives us a powerful poetic picture of this. This psalm celebrates the reign of God, and, in particular the culmination of this reign in the great day of judgement. This, in the Bible, is not viewed with dread or fear. Neither should it be viewed with dread or fear by any Christians. No, the prospect of God’s future judgement is a theme of great celebration and joy throughout the Bible, and the psalms in particular. This day of judgement will be the day when God is manifest in all his glory and when he finally puts the world right. This will involve a great purging of the earth, after which God’s people will receive their inheritance: a new heavens and a new earth. So, the psalmist says, “Rejoice in the Lord, you who are righteous”. That’s the key. To look forward to this day with joy, you must be righteous. And there is only one way of getting yourself right with God. Not by your own efforts. We should, of course do our best to live godly lives. But this isn’t what marks us as ‘righteous,’ since none of us will ever be perfect. We are made righteous by depending on God to save us, that is, by trusting in Jesus Christ and entrusting our lives to him. This puts us right where God wants us: dependently resting in God’s hands like little children. That’s faith, and that’s what gives us confident joy in the face of the coming judgement.
Entrust yourself to Jesus.
Read Psalm 97
