Universal Ruler? The psalmist rejoices that God is King over all nations, over all the earth. This kind of rejoicing in God’s liberation is what comes easy, and God’s sovereignty is readily celebrated when, as he declares, 3He subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet. 4 He chose our heritage for us, the pride of Jacob whom he loves.
When things don’t go our way, it’s a horse of a different colour.
Truth be told, God has given to human beings free will. We choose to let God’s rule take effect in our lives, or we choose not to. And when things go awry, we usually explain is as bad luck, even though this might well be the case. Because some are sure to be bad-lucky when others, especially the more powerful, choose to ignore God’s sovereign place, set themselves up as gods, and abuse other people. They misappropriate what belongs to others, even their homelands. They use whatever might they can muster and present themselves as the All Mighty, rather than as the just sort-of-mighty. They claim that one must act from a position of strength, ignoring the fact that God does give weak people strength.
Abuse and unfair advantage is really sinful as it encourages some people to believe that the sort0of-mighty have the last say.
In actuality, they don’t. Their show will come to an end. The tide turns when it’s least expected to do so, because 8 God is king over the nations. God sits on his holy throne.
That’s why it’s such a shock when demigods come to face their reality. Some like John Newton, see their slave-trading dirty ways and ask God to help them come clean. Some lose faith in themselves and in God, just as they have moved others to do.
What a messy situation it is we find ourselves in.
May God help us to listen well to the psalmist.7 For God is the king of all the earth.; sing praises with a psalm.