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Psalm 93. We're going to finish the Psalms one day. We hit them from time to time, a

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few here and a few there. Before you know it, we'll be at the end of the book. Psalm

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93. This is a relatively short Psalm. We don't really know who wrote this Psalm, but it's

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a good Psalm. So let's pray and we'll get started. God, we come to you. We thank you

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for the freedom to come into this place tonight to worship you. I pray, God, that your Holy

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Spirit would be among us. I pray that you free the distractions of the world from our

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minds tonight, dear Lord, that in these few moments we would gain strength from your Word.

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I pray that you would help us to stay focused, dear Lord, and that your Holy Spirit would

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speak to us and that we would listen to your Word, gain strength from it, and live by it.

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I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Psalm 93 verse 1. The Lord reigns. Now, we can stop

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there for a moment. Just the first three words of this Psalm are a good reminder to us in

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our life that the Lord is the one who reigns. The Lord is the one who is in control. Sometimes

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we need to be reminded of that. Sometimes life is difficult. Sometimes life is tough.

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Sometimes we wonder how we're going to make it. We wonder what's going to go on in our

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world and in our lives, whatever it may be. But we need to remember that the Lord reigns,

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that no matter what we see in this world, no matter what occurs, the Lord reigns. He

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is robed in majesty. The Lord is robed, enveloped in strength. Now, this is a beautiful imagery

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here. We think about the Lord being strong in this language here, that he is robed in

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majesty, that he is enveloped in strength, which is good for us because a lot of times

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we are weak. We go through life and life is very difficult. We go through hard times and

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we just wonder how we're going to make it through, how we're going to get through these

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difficulties we may be up against. But we need to remember that it is the Lord's strength

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that will help us to overcome whatever we are up against. So there may be things in

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your life that you say, I don't know how I'm going to make it through this, or there's

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no way I'm going to make it through this. And if we were left to our own strength, that

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would be true. There would be some things in our life that we simply could not make

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it through. But I suspect for probably most of you in here, if not everybody, you can

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probably think back to a time in your life where when something occurred, you thought

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to yourself, I don't know how I'm going to make it. I don't know how I'm going to make

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it. But through prayer, through you seeking the Lord, through brothers and sisters in

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Christ praying for you, you were able to make it. And you're still able to make it through

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things that you never dreamed that you could make it through. And that is because the Lord's

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strength is great. So the Lord is enveloped in strength. He's robed in majesty. He is

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the one who reigns. He is the one who we come here to worship tonight. And it's important

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for us to ask this question, is the Lord reigning in your life? Is the Lord the Lord of your

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life today? Is he your source of strength today? Because if he's not, then there is

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no strength because it's only the Lord's strength that can help us to overcome those things

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that we come up against. The world is firmly established. It cannot be shaken. Now, this

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is a good verse for us to consider. But at the same time, we look around at our world

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today. And sometimes it seems as though the world is shaken. Sometimes we see things go

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on that are really bad and that are really horrible and that are really painful. And

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we may wonder what's going on. Is God aware of what's going on? Is God paying attention?

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Does God care? But we need to be reminded of the fact that there is nothing that occurs

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that God does not allow to occur. And we need to remember that, that nothing occurs that

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God does not allow to occur. Now that brings up another question that may be hard for us

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to wrap our heads around to. And that is, well, if everything can only occur because

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God allows it, then why does God allow some of the things to occur that he allows to occur?

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Well, that's a question that may not have an easy answer, but we just have to trust

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in the Lord with all our heart and not rely on our own understanding. And what we can

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know is that everything that the Lord allows, it is for the good of his kingdom. That everything

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the Lord allows, it is to maximize those who are going to enter into his kingdom. So while

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we may say if only good happened all the time, then certainly that may result in more people

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coming into the kingdom of God. Well, that's likely not the case because when do we seek

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God the most? We usually seek God the most when we're in the most difficult times. We

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seek God the most when there is no hope in anything else. And so maybe God allows things

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to happen in our lives and in our world to get people's attention, to remind people that

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he is the one who reigns, that he is the one who is in control, that he is the only one

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who has the strength to deliver us. Nonetheless, there are still difficult things that go on

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in this world, but what we must remember is that God is in control and there is nothing

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that happens apart from God. There is nothing that happens that God does not know about.

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And one day all this whole world is going to be said and done for us. And one day we're

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going to stand in the presence of God and that's going to be a good day. But until that

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day comes while we live in this world, we must know that we serve a God who is the ruler

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of everything that takes place. He is the one that allows everything to take place and

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he is the one who is in control. Verse two, your throne has been established from the

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beginning. You are from eternity. So God has always been, he will always be. He has always

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been on the throne. He has always been the one who is ruled. He has always been the one

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who is in control. That is the Lord that we serve. So no matter what happens in this world,

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God has always been and God will always be. God is the only thing that is eternal, that

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has always been, that will always be. Now you and I, we will have eternal life when

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we leave this whole world and one day when we leave this whole world, one day this whole

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world will be gone, but God will be eternal. We need to not forget that truth. Verse three,

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the floods have lifted up, Lord. The floods have lifted up their voice. The floods lift

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up their pounding waves greater than the roar of many waters. The mighty breakers of the

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sea, the Lord on high is majestic. Now we see this language about floods and you know

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oftentimes we may talk about storms in our life. We use that kind of language. We understand

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that when floods come or waters raise, we understand the power of water, floods in a

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raging sea and waves that are tossing and turning. That is a powerful force, maybe one

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of the most powerful forces on this earth. I mean, you think about the millions of tons

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of water that are in the ocean or that flow through these big rivers that we see around

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the world, the Mississippi River being a prime example and rivers are a powerful force so

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much so that rivers go where they choose. Rivers can't be stopped. If you go back and

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you study and you look at rivers, you will see that rivers change their course pretty

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often. Some rivers change their course very rapidly and anybody that's lived by a river

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even for maybe 30, 40, 50 years, you can look and you can see that that river's course changes

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course from time to time. Water is a powerful, powerful thing. You ever been out on a boat

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or maybe some of you have been in the ocean when a storm blows up and those waves are

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tossing and turning. It's a powerful force when storms come, when waters come. But what

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does it say here? It talks of the floods and the power of the floods, but what does it

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say? God is more powerful than that. So even the most powerful things that we come up against

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in this world, God is more powerful than that. Whatever we are up against in our life, no

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matter how difficult it may be, no matter how much we may question, I don't know if

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I'm going to make it through this. I don't know if I can make it through this. We have

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to remember that God is more powerful than whatever we are up against. Verse five, Lord,

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your testimonies are completely reliable. Holiness is the beauty of your house for all

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the days to come. Your testimonies are completely reliable. So everything we see in God's Word

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is completely reliable. Every word that was spoken, every word that was written is completely

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reliable. We can trust in every word that God gives us, every testimony of every event

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that God has done throughout the scripture, every miracle that's occurred, whether it's

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the parting of the Red Sea or the healing of the sick or restoring the sight of the

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blind, whatever it may be, these are testimonies time and time again of the works of God and

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the goodness of God and the way that God has delivered his people time and time again.

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We see example after example after example. And so we have in God's Word these testimonies

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that testify to who God is, that he keeps his promises, that he protects his people,

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that he delivers those who are his, that he comes to those who would seek him. And so

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we need to realize that. We need to look at those moments in God's Word where God worked

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mightily for his people and know that the same God that worked in scripture is the same

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God who works in our life. The same God who heard the prayers of his people in scripture

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is the same God who hears our prayers. The same God who healed those people in scripture

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is the same God that we pray for healing for in our lives or the lives of those that we

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love. The same God that led the people of Israel through the Red Sea and they crossed

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on dry ground when he parted the waters is the same God that we serve today. He's the

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same God that works miracles today. He's the same God who reigns today, who reign then,

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and who will reign forevermore. And he is our eternal source of strength if we would

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seek him. And so does the Lord reign in our life today. Because if he doesn't, when those

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flood waters come, when the seas begin to toss and turn, and the waves begin to crash

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in, we will be beaten down and there's nothing we can do about it. But if we allow the Lord

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to reign in our life, if we seek him, if we trust him, if we praise him, if we allow his

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strength that envelops him to envelop us, then God will give us the strength to make

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it through this world. And his word promises us that and shows us the truth of that time

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and time again. So let us trust in the Lord today. Let's pray. Father God, we come to

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you, we thank you for your good word. And I pray, dear Lord, that we would never forget

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that you are in control. God, we don't understand why you do things the way you do. It doesn't

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make sense to us. But even your word tells us, God, that your ways are higher than our

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ways and your thoughts are higher than our thoughts. God, we can't comprehend all the

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things that we see, but God, we can know for a fact that you are in control. And there

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is nothing that occurs in this world, dear Lord, that is not according to your plan.

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So God, even when we are walking in accordance to your plan and the things that you allow,

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dear Lord, even the tough things, God, I pray that we would trust you and that even in those

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things that you would use them to draw us closer to you. I pray, dear Lord, that we

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would trust you, that we would trust your word and the truth of your word and the testimonies

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of your word. God, as we've seen your power and your deliverance time and again, God,

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I pray that we would see it in our own lives. God, that we would continue to testify about

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your goodness. That, God, our lives would be a testimony of your power to those we come

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into contact with. And I ask these things in Jesus' name, Amen.