The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength; indeed, the world is established, firm and secure. Your throne was established long ago; you are from all eternity. The seas have lifted up, Lord, the seas have lifted up their voice; the seas have lifted up their pounding waves. Mightier than the thunder of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea—the Lord on high is mighty. Your statutes, Lord, stand firm; holiness adorns your house for endless days. (Psalm 93)
What do the seas have to do with anything in this Psalm? Three times we hear how the seas have lifted up, and three times we hear that the Lord is mightier than those seas. This is the Psalmists’ way of describing how “the world is established, firm and secure,” how God’s throne is established, firm and secure, and how God’s statues are established, firm and secure.
In the world of the Psalms, the seas were emblematic of all the chaotic forces of the world that threatened to upend and destroy all that is settled, good, and sure. In Creation God subdues the seas: he tames the waters and sets boundaries for them bringing order out of the chaos that is “very good.” In so doing, God establishes the world, firm and secure, and by virtue of that fact, he also becomes King over all that he has established. This of course means that his statutes are firm and decisive for the world and all who live in it, for it is his realm.
What’s interesting here is that God’s statutes are not just rules for people to live under, but they are one and the same statues that govern all of Creation. The same statutes and boundaries that the seas must obey and that the world lives out, are the very same ones that we—who are formed from the dust of the earth—must also abide by.
That’s a bit different relationship to the Creation than we usually consider ourselves to have, though, isn’t it? We tend to grab hold more of the Creational command to rule over the earth and subdue it. But here: no distinction is made between the people and the earth they inhabit. All stand equally under the firmly established statutes of the Kingdom of God.
There is an invitation in this psalm then to humble ourselves: before God, certainly, but also in our own eyes and in our relationship to the earth. It is not a limitless resource for us to consume to our hearts content. No: boundaries have been established not only for the seas, but also for us people. There are limits, firmly fixed, beyond which we cannot go.
Pastor Michael mentioned it yesterday, but it deserves underlining: Sabbath is the practice that restores the balance between not only Creator and Creature, but also between Creature and Creation under the rule of the Creator. It is one day a week when we cease our labours and give not just ourselves, but also the earth a break from our labours. It is a statue of restraint imposed upon us, a boundary like that around the seas that we are commanded to observe so that we do not overflow our banks and plunge the world and ourselves with it, back into chaos.
Thankfully, the establishment of the world and its proper functioning is not finally of our doing. It is an order that God, the King, has established. And under his rule and reign it will remain, firm and secure, with or without our faithful observance of boundaries—because he is mighty to tame the chaos: even ours.
That said, why not work with God rather than against him? Sabbath is the statue we have been given to find our good, Creaturely place in the balance of Creation under the rule of the Creator.