Who Owns The Earth?

Q

Psalm 89:11 says both the Heavens and the Earth belong to God. Psalm 115:16 says, The heavens are the Lord ‘s, but the earth he has given to the children of man. One verse says both belong to God but the other says earth is man’s. I don’t believe there are contradictions in God’s Word, so I’m wondering how these two verses can be correct at the same time.

A

The Lord directly asserted His ownership of Earth in both Exodus 9:29 and Psalm 24:1 and Paul confirmed it in 1 Cor. 10:26, using Psalm 24:1 as his authority. Once you understand that He has given us the use of the Earth, rather than granted us ownership of it, the apparent contradiction goes away.

Also, if the Lord doesn’t own the Earth He couldn’t have redeemed it with His death, and would have no legal basis for invading it at the End of the Age.