angela hormberg

Tag: God Reigns

  • Psalm 99

    Psalm 99

    Commonplace –

    “Thou answeredst them, O Lord our God: thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions. Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the Lord our God is holy” (Psalm 99:8-9).

    What a testimony to the faithfulness of God! The psalmist notes that Moses, Aaron and Samuel called on the name of the Lord, and He answered them (v. 6). Not only did He answer them, but He forgave them. Yet He is just, so He had to punish their sin. This is the holiness of God, that He is righteous, and He calls us to be righteous.

    What does righteousness look like? It looks like walking the path of holiness and having mercy, when those (including ourselves) come up short walking this path, and giving forgiveness, when it is in our power to do so. It also means that punishment is part of the process for the sinner. Yet we do not relish the struggle of others but only hope that the punishment turns them to God, who alone is their help.

    “In singing this psalm we must set ourselves to exalt the name of God, as it is made known to us in the gospel, which we have much more reason to do than those had who lived under the law” (Henry 499).

    “The foundation of all religion is laid in this truth, That the Lord reigns. God governs the world by his providence, governs the church by his grace, and both by his Son. We are to believe not only that the Lord lives, but that the Lord reigns. That is the triumph of the Christian church” (Henry 499).

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 99.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

    Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

    © 2025 Angela Hormberg

  • Psalm 98

    Psalm 98

    Commonplace –

    “O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvellous things; his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory” (Psalm 98:1).

    “A song of praise for redeeming love is a new song, such a song as had not been sung before; for this is a mystery which is hidden from ages and generations. Converts sing a new song, very different from what they had sung; they change their wonder and change their joy, and therefore change their note. If the grace of God put a new heart into our breasts, it will therewith put a new song into our mouths” (Henry 498).

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 98.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

    Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

    © 2025 Angela Hormberg

  • Psalm 97

    Psalm 97

    Commonplace –

    “Ye that love the Lord, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked” (Psalm 97:10).

    “The Lord reigns; that is the great truth here laid down. The Lord Jehovah reigns, He that made the world governs it; he that gave being gives motion and power, gives law and commission, gives success and event. Every man’s judgment proceeds from the Lord, from His counsel and providence, and in all affairs, both public and private He performs the thing which he himself has appointed” (Henry 495).

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 97.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

    Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

    © 2025 Angela Hormberg

  • Psalm 94

    Psalm 94

    Commonplace –

    “Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?” (Psalm 94:16).

    The psalmist responds to his own query.

    “But the Lord is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge” (Psalm 94:22).

    This week I have been pondering Psalm 23:4:

    “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4).

    In the past, I have rested in the truth that “thou art with me”. Yet, I failed to consider the part I must play, which is “I will fear no evil”. I must WILL myself to be unafraid, and the only way I can do that is to fully believe God is with me.

    I’ll leave you with some insight from Matthew Henry regarding Psalm 94:

    “In singing this psalm we must look abroad upon the pride of oppressors with a holy indignation, and the tears of the oppressed with a holy compassion; but, at the same time, look upwards to the righteous Judge with an entire satisfaction, and look forward, to the end of all these things, with a pleasing hope” (Henry 486).

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 94.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

    Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

    © 2025 Angela Hormberg

  • Psalm 93

    Psalm 93

    Commonplace –

    “The Lord reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved” (Psalm 93:1).

    How wonderful it is to consider God’s majesty. How wonderful it is to be reminded that he created everything. What He established cannot be moved.

    Matthew Henry offered some lovely insights.

    “This short psalm sets forth the honour of the kingdom of God among men, to his glory, the terror of his enemies and the comfort of all his loving subjects” (Henry 485).

    Specifically related to verse 1, Henry noted,

    “Next to the being of God there is nothing that we are more concerned to believe and consider than God’s dominion, that Jehovah is God, and that this God reigns (v.1), not only that he is King of right, and is the owner and proprietor of all persons and things, but that he is King in fact, and does direct and dispose of all the creatures and all their actions according to the counsel of his own will” (Henry 485).

    This is the same comfort that upheld Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in their time of trial, and it is the same truth we stand on in our own trials. God reigns!

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 93.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

    Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

    © 2025 Angela Hormberg