PSALM 75. IN GOD'S GOOD TIME. In verse two of this psalm the phrase is found, "When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly." There is another translation of this which reads: "When I shall take a set time I will judge uprightly." Martin Luther comments, "This is a psalm of consolation.", and if ever a man was in need of consolation it was Luther. The time is coming when God will deal with the wicked. God moves in His own time - in God's Good Time. Even though this is so, when one is going through the mill it is difficult to realise what God is doing in your life. Martin Luther contended for the Faith. He had a revelation based upon God's promise, "The just shall live by faith." The psalmist Asaph rejoices in this way, "Unto Thee do we give thanks O God, for that Thy Name is near Thy Wondrous Works declare." What a delightful phrase: Your wondrous works declare that your 'Name is near'. When the Old Testament Prophets talk about the Name of God, they talk about the Presence of God. We ought to be very careful how we use the Name of God, because to use that Name is to invoke the Presence of Almighty God. When you blaspheme you say it in the very Face of God - HE IS THERE. God's presence is declared by His wonderful works. His works give Him reality. There are any things which God does in our lives which we could call wondrous, or wonderful things. This second verse is given a clearer translation by Dr. Campbell Morgan: "When I shall find the set time, I will judge uprightly." When the proper time has come, God will judge and judge uprightly. God's time is always the right time. There is a time for everything under the sun. From the very beginning of things it is God who has set the time. The Universe runs to order, it also runs to set timing. If man had set the time for all things there would be an Union Meeting in every generation to regulate the timing of things to meet the outlook of that day and age. Imagine the arguments in an United Nations Galactic Timing Committee, trying to agree whether there should be six hours or eight hours of sunshine each day. If men could adjust the timing of the Universe the result would be complete disaster in one generation. We are safe in the hands of God. Everything comes in God's Good Time. God has a time-table. This does not mean that He is a mechanical God. He is a methodical God. He has planned the end from the beginning, and all things work according to His purpose. When the time to prove all things has come, He will judge aright. There are three things in particular mentioned in this psalm, which come in God's good time. First of all, in God's good time there is going to be a dissolution of this earth. Asaph the seer sings, "The earth and all its inhabitants are dissolved." Reading the Bible, one discovers that God has promised a New Heaven and a New earth. God has the final solution in His Hand, and in His set time there will be a dissolution of all these things around us. In the New Testament, Peter writes, "The elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness." (2 Peter 3.10-12.) We are hasting to the coming Day of God. He has that very final solution, and He is waiting for the right time, not to destroy everything, but to cleanse everything. Many peculiar things have been said about the end of the world. Preachers refer to the power of the Atomic Arsenal already in existence. God needs no Atomic Bomb. He is capable of dissolving all things in His Set Time. the Scripture makes it very clear that there will be a New Heaven and a New Earth. Another thing which will come in God's Good Time is the promotion of people. God warns the fools, the boasters, those who make gestures of arrogance (who lift up the horn), and those who are stiff necked (a gesture of pride), with these words: "Promotion comes not from earthly direction but God is the judge." He it is who puts down one and sets up another. Final promotion comes from Him. In God's good time, He will promote the right people. At present, living in the midst of an arrogant generation, the child of God can confidently leave all his affairs in the hands of God. Having served Him in the ministry for 56 years I can truthfully say that every promotion has come from the hand of God. God is still on the throne. All over the world there is a throwing off of restriction; a disregard of authority; a rising up in anger, amongst all nations. Ever increasing arrogance is revealing itself in the hearts of men. They have disregarded the Laws of God. But in God's Good Time He will move. Living in this mechanical age, we know very well that if we purchase a piece of machinery, we are in deep trouble if we use it in total disregard of the maker's instructions. Yet, today, the majority are trying to run their lives with total disregard of the Maker's Instructions. Therefore, we have the evidence of catastrophic events taking place, and pending, worldwide, because mankind wants to forge ahead ignoring the Maker's Instructions. In God's good time all comes to pass. "Promotion comes from God." sings Asaph. It is God who raises up one man, and puts down another. The seer calls man 'stiff necked'. They are full of pride, and in their pride, arrogance, and boastfulness men turn against God. But despite all they do, it is God who elevates and God who brings low, and He does it all in His good time. Nothing can happen unless God brings us to the set time. Nothing is more vain, nor more useless, than to glory in an empty thing. Everything is empty apart from God. If God is in a project, a plan, an action proposed, then all will be well. This is particularly true if He indicates that the time is right. God, by His nature, His Word, His Grace, His Blessing, is Wondrous. When He indicates the right time, everything is Wonderful. Few men believe that He rules the Universe, and that the progress of the human race is an object of His particular planning. But in the end every person who fights against God will discover that he is fighting against time. Every man of glory fighting for success, has died short of time. In every case his work is not complete, and those who succeed him lose his vision. God's reply to all men is, "When I find the set time." We ought always to bear in mind these four precepts:- 1. There is a set time for everything. 2. The set time is always the right time. 3. In the right time your cup is full. 4. Only God knows the set time. Copyright (c) 1996, Hedley Palmer. 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