Pastor Mark Stafford

 

All Power Belongs to God

A Study on God’s Omnipotence as seen in Psalms 62

God’s power is both infinite and undiminishing. His power is displayed in creation, but His creative works only give us a glimpse of the power that He possesses.  We could think of His works like a battery.

A battery stores power that was given to it from another much more powerful source. When energized, that battery makes a display of the power it was given, but the power it displays is just a fraction of what is available at the source. We know the power in a cell phone battery is far less substantial than the Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant that recharged that battery.

It would be foolish to assume that the power in this battery is all the power that exists. The source that charged the battery has to be greater than the energy stored within the battery itself.

In a similar way, we can’t assume that all the power we see in God’s creation is all the power that God has. The source that made our world is far greater than the world itself.  When Job described God’s power, he talked about it this way (in Job 26:12-14)

“By his power he stilled the sea; by his understanding he shattered Rahab (probably a large sea creature). 13 By his wind the heavens were made fair; his hand pierced the fleeing serpent. 14 Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?”

What we see expressed in nature is nothing but a glimpse of God’s power.  The Source is much greater.  We should not think of God’s power being limited simply to the actions He performs.  God’s power is only partially displayed in the things He made.

Most of His power is veiled. Not even a fraction of His power is used up by what we observe in creation.  His actions show only a part of His unlimited power; He protects us from its full force.

There is an unusual and fascinating scripture in Habakkuk 3. The prophet talks about an incredible vision where he sees God shaking nations, scattering mountains, sinking hills, and making the sun and moon stand still.

You would think that God’s supernatural “dirtwork” would be displaying God’s power. However, verse 4 says this demonstration was a way that God veiled His power. Habakkuk inferred that God’s power is so immense that tossing about mountains, nations, and planets conceals more about God’s might than it reveals.

God and power are so inseparable in the Bible that the terms are reciprocal. In Mark 14:61, Jesus was asked if He was the Christ.  In verse 62 Jesus replied, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” When Jesus spoke of ruling at the right hand of God, He referred to God the Father simply as “Power.”

God and power are often together in the Bible. Theologians often used the term “omnipotence” to describe God’s limitless power.  Stephen Charnock was a 17th century theological writer and he wrote a book called The Existence and Attributes of God.  In this book he write this description of God’s power:

  • The power of God is that ability and strength whereby He can bring to pass whatever He pleases, whatever His infinite wisdom can direct, and whatever the infinite purity of His will may resolve.
  • God’s power is like himself: infinite, eternal, incompressible; it can neither be checked, restrained nor frustrated by the creature
  • As His essence is immense, not to be confined in place; as it is eternal, not to be measured by time; so it is almighty, not to be limited in regard to action

In response to Charnock’s comments, author John Snyder writes these words:

Almighty, all-powerful, omnipotent, unlimited in regard to action – these are the childish words we use to express something of the mere edges of His glorious power.

Snyder points out that our best attempts to describe God’s power fall utterly short of reality. That being said, I am going to try to explain something about God’s power.

In today’s teaching, we’ll be considering what it says about God’s omnipotence in Psalm 62. Specifically, we’ll be looking at the phrase in verse 11 that simply says, “power belongs to God.” Those four words have massive implications. Explaining their most basic implications will consume the majority of our time this morning.

God’s power refers to His strength to make things happen. It also speaks of the right and authority to carry out His perfect will.  An entity could be very powerful and still lack the authority or the morality to use that strength righteously and effectively.  For example: a righteous grandmother for example, may firmly believe in the Bible, but she lacks the authority and position to affect national policy. A mob boss is relatively powerful, but he lacks the morality to use his influence for righteous purposes. God does not lack power, righteousness, or the authority to use His power.  God rules in perfect power and in perfect righteousness.

 

#1 God Possesses all Power – Psalm 62:11, 115:3

The simplest way of understanding the phrase “power belongs to God” is that God possesses unlimited power.  He’s omnipotent.  This scripture implies that God possess two kinds of power: absolute power and ordinate power.

  • Absolute power is what God’s unlimited power enables Him to do if He wanted to do it. In God’s case, He can do whatever He wants to do, but in His perfect wisdom He carefully chooses how He exerts His power. God’s absolute power is what God can
  • His ordinate power is what God ordains to do. Given all the options and choices He could make, it is what He wills to accomplish in His infinite wisdom.  God’s ordinate power is what God does

Sometimes in His perfect wisdom, God chooses not to do everything He can do. For example, in God’s absolute power:

  • He could have kept Adam from eating the apple on the Tree. (He could have not created the tree in the first place.)
  • In His absolute power, God could have sent twelve legions of angels to remove Jesus from the cross.
  • In His absolute power, God could have created a Porsche and parked it in my driveway.

However, His ordinate power has kept him from doing those things. It has been His will that none of those things happens. Why? Because God, in His infinite wisdom, had better plans. We have to accept that if we ask God to do something and He doesn’t do it, it’s because, in His wisdom, He has a better plan in mind. God is able to accomplish whatever He pleases and He works without restraint.  What God wills, He does.

God’s power is as great, and even greater, than His will. Our power is usually significantly less than our will. Unlike us, God does not depend on an outside source to supply His power. He is the source of His own power and doesn’t need to acquire anything outside Himself.

  1. H. Spurgeon states it well, “God’s power is like Himself, self-existent, self-sustained. The mightiest of men cannot add so much as a shadow of increased power to the Omnipotent One. He sits on no buttressed throne and leans on no assisting arm. His court is not maintained by His courtiers, nor does it borrow its splendor from His creatures. He is Himself the great central source and Originator of all power.”

Psalms 115:3 tells us that, “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.” God’s power is every bit as great, and even greater, than His will.  God has the ability to make happen anything He wants to make happen.

This attribute of God makes all of His other attributes possible and meaningful.

  • Because of God’s power, His mercy is not just feeble pity. His mercy turns into action and delivers us from despair and from the bondage of sin.
  • Because of God’s power, His promises will come to pass. They are not just well-wishes.  We can depend on everything God says He will do for His people.
  • Because of His power, He never utters an empty threat. He’s no spiritual scarecrow. God’s power is real, infinite, and eternal.  It does not run out.  It cannot be reined in, held back, or slowed down by any of His creatures.

God’s own power is the foundation of His authority in the universe. He’s not like an earthly king…

An earthly king’s power comes from his subjects. Without either the willing or forced consent of the people, an earthly king has no power. In order to act, he needs to be able move generals, armies, authorities, and resources in a way that accomplishes his purposes. No earthly king has ultimate power in themselves. They are leaders whose power depends on the actions of their subordinates. If soldiers refuse to fight, police refuse to enforce the law, or the people refuse to pay taxes, an earthly king’s power can diminish overnight!

God’s power is totally different, coming from a different source. It is completely in Himself.  He does not draw resources, power, or authority from His people.  Without His people, He would still be all powerful.  He is whole and complete in and of Himself.  When our scripture today says, “Power belongs to God,” it means that all the power we have is derived from God. We have power “on loan from God.” As the source of all power, God delegates it to creation while needing nothing from His creation to sustain His power perfectly.

 

#2 God Delegates Power and it Never Diminishes – Psalm 62:11, Isaiah 41:10

If God gave 1% of His power to His creatures and kept 99% for Himself, then He would no longer be omnipotent. He’d just be incredibly powerful, but far short of all-powerful, about 1% short.  If an entity had 99% of all the power in the universe, that entity would be astounding, but he would not be the God of the Bible.

Sometimes people think about God like an old car battery. An old battery retains power for a while. Then after time goes on, little by little, the battery gives away its power until it has nothing left to give. One day, instead of starting up, the car just makes a sickening click. God’s not like that, He never runs out of charge. The God of the Bible can lend out power all day long and never have to recharge.

When the Bible describes God, it often uses the scriptural word “almighty.” “Almighty” has the exact same meaning as “omnipotent.”  Almighty means “having an infinite and absolute plentitude of power.” The ESV translation of the Bible uses the word “Almighty” to describe God 58 times.  In the Bible, “almighty” is never used to describe anything other than God.

When you use the words “infinite,” “absolute,” and “almighty” you can only be talking about one person: the God of the Bible. The limited power we possess to move things or people into action is not really ours at all.  Any power we use ultimately still belongs to God.

God delegates power to His creation without subtracting anything away from His perfect being.  God delegates power but does not give power away.

  • When God gives power to an archangel, He still retains that power.
  • When God pours out power on a man, He still retains that power

God can’t give any of Himself away. He can’t relinquish His power because if He did, He’d be less powerful then He was before.  If He were less powerful than He was before, He would not be perfect. A non-perfect God is not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible does not ever run down.

  • God still has the same amount of power that He had before He created the heavens and the earth, the sun and the moon, the angels and mankind.
  • God will never have any more power than He has right now because He currently possesses all power.

Here’s what that means for us: God’s power put alongside His love for His people is the great antidote for our fear. God spoke these words through the prophet in Isaiah 41:10

“fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Imagine a jumbo jet in flight. Inside this jet, a gnat is buzzing around. The gnat lands for a moment inside the plane and then begins being torn apart by fear. The jet, with the added passengers and luggage, weighs almost 900,000 pounds. The gnat is concerned that the jumbo jet may not be able to handle the extra weight of its tiny body resting on the back of the seat. He’s flapping his wings and saying “I’m afraid this plane won’t be able to hold me up. We’re going to fall out of the sky!”

That would be ridiculous, right? The weight of a gnat (about 2 milligrams) is nothing for a 747 to carry!

Sometimes, like that tiny gnat, we are worried that our burdens are too much for God to hold up. We think the weight of our two milligram problems is too much for God to handle.  The passage we just read said, “I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

The truth of God’s omnipotence is that He can hold us up! He can carry your burdens with ease.  He can carry you when nothing else can.  The same God who controls creation “by the word of his power”

[1] can surely help us in our time of need

 

#3 God is Omnipotent, yet Personal – Psalms 62:5-7, 11-12

The end of verse 11 and the beginning of verse 12 says, “power belongs to God,12     and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.”

When an earthly king sits on his throne, those in the palace call him “your Majesty.” However, when the king’s son comes into the room, he calls the King, “Father.”  Despite His power and authority, our God does not invite us to call him “Your Majesty;” Jesus taught us to call Him “Our Father in heaven.”  AW Tozer in his book “The Attributes of God” illustrates the point with this true story:[2]

One time when Queen Elizabeth was growing up she was walking about the palace with her dignified but kindly old grandfather King George V and the old king left the door open. Little Elizabeth turned to him and said “Grandpa, go close that door.”

And the great king of England went and closed the door at the voice of a little girl! He didn’t pull any of the “your majesty” business with little Elizabeth. She was his granddaughter. The old dignified king just smiled and closed the door because his grand-daughter asked him to.

Our relationship with God is kind of like the relationship of the princess with King George.  We are invited into a special relationship with God the Father.  God does not use His power and authority as an excuse to separate Himself from us.  Instead He says, “call me Father.” He invites us to share our lives and our desires with Him.  We can get intimate with God and He loves it!

  • Psalm 146:9 says, “The Lord protects the strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow, But He thwarts the way of the wicked.”
  • He knows all our troubles and, in His great power, He has the strength to hold us up during trials.

God’s power is the hope behind the beginning of Psalm 62:5-7, where David wrote:

“5 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. 6 He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. 7 On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.”

Application

Do you see how the study of the attributes of God is not just for theology students? These are truths for us, truths that we can build our lives upon.

God is Powerful Enough to be of Real Help in Your Time of Need – Gen 18:14, Num. 11:23

What is the issue you are facing right now? Do you have major marital issues? Do you have a child who is out of control? Are you sick and you don’t seem to be getting any better? Do you have recurring financial issues? Our God is powerful enough to be a genuine hope, help, and strength during those trials.

Do you have a boss at work who is too hard on you and is running you into the ground? God is a mighty rock. He is a refuge.  He can handle that boss.  He can lend you strength.  We can trust the wisdom of our omnipotent God!  Consider how God dealt with people in the Old Testament:

  • Abraham’s wife, Sarah, doubted God’s power in her impossible situation. Her doubt was met with this question: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”[3]
  • Moses questioned how God would provide food for the hungry nation of Israel as they wondered about the wilderness. To Moses’ questioning, God answered “Is the Lord’s hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.”[4]

God’s power is always more than enough to carry out His will. All His works in nature are a demonstration of His great power. I watched this week as four lightning bolts hit the ground simultaneously during a monsoon. Every lightning bolt is a brief snapshot of God’s endless energy, and yet the greatest demonstration of God’s power only represents the smallest fraction of His unlimited might.  That truth gives us ample reason to turn to Him in worship.

God’s Power Draws us in to Worship Him – Exodus 15:11

We admire strength whether we see it in the human body, a piece of machinery, or a powerful army. How much more are we drawn to worship the God of unlimited power?  Exodus 15:11 says,

““Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?     Who is like you, majestic in holiness,     awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?”

God’s Power Gives us Reason to Trust Him – Psalms 27:1

Nothing is too hard for God. We can be confident that He is working perfectly according to His never-ending wisdom and power.  If He had any area of weakness, we might have a reason to worry, but the God of the Bible knows no weakness.  That means:

  • No prayer is too hard for Him to answer.
  • No need to too great for Him to supply.
  • No passion is too strong for Him to subdue.
  • No misery is too deep for Him to relieve.

Psalms 27:1 says,

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”

[1] Hebrews 1:3

[2] Matthew 6:9

[3] Gen 18:14

[4] Num 11:23