The LORD reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake. – Psalm 99:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 14, 2019): Psalm 98 & 99

Is he dead or alive? It seems like an easy question, but often it is a problematic one, especially in times of conflict for people of power. There are often political reasons that favor either the life or death of a political leader. And so the decision of whether someone is alive or dead begins to have very little to do with whether the brain is still functioning or whether the heart is still beating. There is something more.

And so, when a political leader disappears off of the world stage for a period, the questions begin to swirl. Is he, or she, still alive? Or are his advisors hiding death in order to continue their time in power, or to keep the people in line with the direction of the elite? And maybe one of the examples of this dance of death is the demise of Adolf Hitler at the close of World War II. The best explanation of Hitler’s death that we possess indicates that Adolf Hitler committed suicide, either by poison or by shooting himself, and then his soldiers burned his body. The last step is an interesting one. It prevents the body from being examined. So those who wish Adolf Hitler to be alive can claim that he still secretly walks the earth. Those who desire him to be dead have no proof that that is true. The reaction by some was swift. The Russians photographed the dead body of the dictator. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, and we tend to believe what it is that we see. And so a photograph of Adolf Hitler’s unburned dead body exists, but it would have to be a fake if Hitler’s body was actually burned, as seems to be the case. Of course, others are equally convinced that Hitler never did die, or at least he did not die at the end of the Second World War.   

The psalmist opens up the Psalm with the words “The Lord reigns.” Psalm 99 is not the only Psalm that opens up with these words. Psalm 93 and 97 also open up with the same three words. But here the Psalmist doubles down. God reigns, and he sits on his throne. This is not the story of a ruler who has disappeared off of the public stage. He is sitting on his throne. He not only is reigning, but there can be no doubt that he is alive and not dead.

The Psalmist argument is directed at the “God is Dead” movement of every age. They are wrong. The Lord reigns, he sits enthroned between the cherubim, and that is all that we need to know. 

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 100