“The LORD is exalted, for He dwells on high.”
He is Our Stability as Our Supreme Lord
The sure foundation of our stability in unstable times (or at any time for that matter!) is the LORD Himself. Our stability and security is linked to who He is. And our text tells us in verse 5.
Supreme as Our Sovereign LORD
He is the LORD, “exalted . . . dwell[ing] on high.” What does this speak of but of the Lord’s transcendence–His unrivaled supremacy over all. He is high–not a local deity of the hills or the valleys, but the Lord over all, above all. He is above our times. He is blessedly undisturbed and unaffected by them “for He dwells on high”. As exalted He is not challenged by our times or our enemies or troubles. They present no unsolvable dilemmas for Him. He abides and rules where He “sees” all things. High enough to know the end from the beginning because He is the One who has declared and determined the times (Isa. 46:9-10)! Really, He is over our times. He is supremely sovereign over our times. As David confessed in Psalm 31:15, “My times are in Your hands”.
“My minutes and hours, my circumstances and challenges, my fallings and risings, my provisions and deprivations, my schedule and my surprises, my detours and my delays–all of what concerns me—are in Your hands. And in Your hands nothing is ‘out of control.’”
Supreme as Our Unchanging LORD
The times change, but the Lord changes not! The times are turbulent, but the Lord is a Rock. The times are untrustworthy, but the Lord is steadfast and sure. Everything is shifting, but our Lord on high is One “with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow” (Js. 1:17). Circumstances change, but the Lord does not. In and through the apparent chaos and randomness of the times the current of His perfect, wise and holy purpose for us is running to His blessed shore!
This is the instability of modern theology–in that conceives a changing, developing, even a learning “God”! And whatever the well-intentioned, but ignorant theologian seeks to do, he is surely cutting away all moorings of stability for souls. A “god” who changes with the times is not the God of Isaiah, not the God whom our Bibles reveals.
Supreme as Our Loving LORD
As David declares in Psalm 138:8:
“The LORD will accomplish what concerns me; Your loving kindness, O LORD, is everlasting; do not forsake the works of Your hands.”
He won’t! He can’t! Why can’t He? Because He is the LORD who has graciously committed Himself to rescue and redeem us for Himself for His glory, who bought us by the blood of His Son, and sealed us by His Spirit! He cannot and will not deny Himself!
How shall I find stability when, in the words of the hymn writer, “all around my soul gives way”?
He alone is the place to anchor our souls
Beloved, if my little boat were rocking violently on the raging seas it would be no help (security) to throw my anchor to another boat on the same sea! I would have to find something not dependent upon the movement of the sea itself. We shall surely be unstable tethered to anything or anyone else but Him. Is not our instability fostered in looking away from Him to other supposed confidences? We need no other security.
Let this be an anchor for your soul, dear one, this blessed truth, “The LORD is exalted, for He dwells on high.” This means that we will have to lift up our eyes to Him. High looks are needed to be really stable. Stability is not gained by low-looking. Guard yourself from too much looking on the times and troubles around you. Remember Peter on the sea? Our troubles may be high, but our Help is higher! He is on high to help. “He waits on high to have compassion on you” (Isa. 30:18). The Lord will be willing to find us low, but we must be willing seek Him high.
Blessings in Christ.
