Psalm 24:1-2 He's Got the Whole World in His Hands

Whether as a pastor or as an evangelist, I have had many opportunities to participate in children’s ministry events. One of my favorite parts of children’s ministry is the music. It always amazes me how some of the most timeless, deep truths of Scripture can be simplified into children’s songs. What a blessing! We can use these simple songs to teach the deep things of God!

One such song, with which I’m sure we’re all familiar, is “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.” There are so many different verses to this song that have been added by various composers throughout the ages. But the basic one, which gets stuck in our heads, is just a repetition of a beautiful thought:

“He’s got the whole world in His hands;

He’s got the whole wide world in His hands;

He’s got the whole world in His hands;

He’s got the whole world in His hands."

God is so great that He holds the entire world, and everything therein, in His Holy Hands! This wonderful truth comes from today’s scripture reading.

Please read Psalm 24:1-2.

Not only does God hold the world in His hands, but He is completely sovereign over it! Unlike all of Israel’s pagan neighbors, they did not worship some local deity. The false ‘gods’ that their neighbors worshipped claimed to be ‘god’ over the plain, or ‘god’ of this river, or ‘god’ over the clouds. But the One True God is not limited to one part of creation; He is God of all creation!

While the Israelites understood that they worshipped a Universal God, they failed to fully apply this truth. If God is God over the whole world, then there was no reason for them to keep gentiles from worshipping Him. While God had promised a specific tract of land to the Jews, all lands belong to Him, and all peoples on all those lands belong to Him. No one should be kept from worshipping the Lord of all Creation!

Why does the whole world belong to God? Verse 2 tells us that it is because He created the whole world. Surely the maker has a right to possess that which He has made?!

Using language familiar to the people of His time, David describes God as having founded the earth upon the seas and establishing it upon the waters. This fit with the cosmic theology of the day—the general belief that the earth was suspended on a vast sea with no bottom. How was the earth suspended on this sea? God has made it!

Of course, today, we have a little better understanding of gravity and the spherical nature of the earth. But the basic truth still remains: God created this beautiful planet. In fact, God created the entire universe! And so He has a right of authority over His creation.

Interestingly, all of creation obeys His authority: the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the worms underground, and all life on the earth. Everything obeys its creator… except for man. We are the only part of God’s creation that rebels against our Creator. And still, He loves us!

Praise God! The Lord of all Creation! He has the whole world in His hands. And still He thinks of me.