God Promises the Earth is His

Psalms 24:1-2 The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; 2 for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.
 
AT times God’s promises are not written in specific language such as, “I will…” or “The LORD says.” We can see in Scriptures as this one that God’s promises are understood within the declarations of God’s character. This psalm promises God is sovereign over the earth.
   Do we know this? Maybe we do, but most likely we can have our doubts as difficult circumstances in our lives and in the world seem to occur at random. God wants you to know that even amid human and natural turmoil, he has his strong hand on the world.
   That lesson is the theme of many psalms, the epistles and wisdom literature such as Ecclesiastes. But perhaps we learn this lesson most directly in Job. When God allowed Satan to destroy Job’s wealth, family and health, Job sought to plead his case before the LORD. He wanted an answer for his suffering. Job asked the LORD, “If I have sinned, what have I done to you, O watcher of men? Why have you made me your target? Have I become a burden to you? (Job 7:20)
   God’s response is summarized here: Job 38:35 “Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’? 36 Who endowed the heart with wisdom or gave understanding to the mind? 37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens 38 when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together?” Job could only respond with, “My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:5-6)
   Job released his questions and his accusations into worship. What God had done and allowed Satan to do was under God’s providence. In his suffering, Job learned to revere God more deeply than when he knew physical prosperity. Job’s story concludes with the LORD blessing Job with twice the wealth he had before his trials.
   Not all stories of suffering end this way, do they? Too many times suffering is the road to a life that is less than before the suffering. But as we understand God’s authority over the earth, we come to more completely know he reigns over heaven. If you believe the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it, you will understand he has
has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. (Ecclesiastes 3:11-12)