One of the lifechanging names of God for me was El Elyon or The Most High God, Sovereign God. I did not really grasp the Sovereignty of God until I read the Old Testament. Woven in the stories of their trials, tribulations and rebellions against God, I saw how God watched over all and was always in control, Sovereign. How do we know that God is always in control? Scripture gives us many examples so that we can know it is a truth about God’s nature and character. It is a truth we cand depend upon.

To start us off, I want to use Psalm 91:1-2. Here the Psalmist points us to the Most High God who is our protector as He holds us within His sheltered wings! “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
² I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

The Kings of Judah were not all followers of the Most High God but here are the prayers of David, Solomon and Josephat which point us towards the Most High Sovereign God. King David’s prayer before the assembled Israelites at the dedication of Solomon as king. 1 Chronicles 29:10-13 “ Therefore David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: “Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. ¹¹ Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. ¹² Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. ¹³ And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.” David recognized the true power and majesty of God and how all belongs to Him.

Solomon prayed before after bringing the ark into the temple. 1 Kings 8:21-23 “Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven, ²³ and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart;” I love the acknowledgement of God’s sovereign control of all above and on and under the earth, and His steadfast love for those who follow Him.

Here King Jehoshaphat prayed before a battle and beseeched God to give them victory. 2 Chronicles 20:5-6 “And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, ⁶ and said, “O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you.” He knew that if God was with them they could not be defeated! He knew that God was bigger than their enemies and was in control.

Isaiah 45:7 speaks of God revealing Himself and His sovereignty, “I form light and create darkness;
    I make well-being and create calamity;  I am the Lord, who does all these things.”

Jesus also reveals God’s sovereignty in regard to those who follow Him. John 10:27-29 “ My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” I love these verses and take great comfort in know that God has me and no one or nothing can take me away from Sovereign God.

Paul makes a plea to the Athenians in his speech to their ‘unknown’ God in Acts 17:24-27 “ The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, ²⁵ nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. ²⁶ And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, ²⁷ that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,” They were not aware of Jesus and Paul was making him known to them in a very clever way so that they would see the truth of Sovereign God.

There are so many wonderful scriptures that describe the truth of our Sovereign God. Because Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead, I can call upon Sovereign God praising Him for his provision, protection and steadfast love towards me.

Linda