Written by Preached by Sam Knox
“Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole I thank
whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of
circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of
chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds, and
shall find, me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with
punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my
soul.”
The English poet, William Ernest Henley (1849–1903), is remembered mainly for a single poem,“Invictus” (Latin for “unconquered”): Henley wrote “Invictus” when he was 27 years old, having battled Tuberculosis of the bone for years, to which he had lost a leg and which eventually killed him at age 53. He was an avowed atheist, so the only place he could look for strength was himself. He didn’t believe there was any larger purpose to his pain. It was just “the bludgeonings of chance.” His only hope was to take his bludgeonings like a man, which to him meant a stoic resolve never to surrender. The poem is one of the most famous in the English language and many facing adversity have drawn strength from the poems defiant tone. However, in reality it is a testament to the soul’s propensity to rely on itself rather than seek help from anywhere else. We could call this pride.In the same vein that was King Nebuchadnezzar’s conviction too – until seven seasons of madness drove him to live with the animals until he acknowledged that the Lord God in heaven was the Master of his fate and the Captain of his soul.
(v. 37). – Daniel 4 We have hope because Christ is the master of our fate and the conquer of our soul. Today we Start our first Psalm in the
summer psalm series. Psalm 33 Where we will see the Power Of God! who is sovereign with steadfast love.
“Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of
heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride
he is able to humble”
1. Psalm33:1-3ACALLTOPRAISE
2. Psalm33:4-9THEPOWEROFHISWORD
3. Psalm33:10-17THEPOWEROFHISSOVEREIGNCONTROL 4. Psalm33:18-22THEPOWEROFHISSTEADFASTLOVE
Psalm 33:1-3 A Call To Praise
1 Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous!
Praise befits the upright. 2 Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings! 3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
We do not know much about the context of Psalm 33. What is undeniable is that Psalm 33 is connected with the previous Psalm in theme. Psalm 32 ends with an imperative to give praise to God. Psalm 33 picks up that theme, expanding upon it. “Psalm 32 ended by calling on the righteous to sing praises to God. This note is picked up on in Psalm 33, almost as if its first three verses were written as an elaboration of Psalm 32:11.” The closing
benediction of Psalm 32, Psalm 33: “
leads to the opening exhortation of
.”
shout for joy, all you upright in heart!”
“Be glad in the Lord and rejoice , O righteous; and
1 Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous! Praise befits the
upright.
The opening call to worship is straightforward too. It contains six imperatives in which the righteous are called upon to “sing joyfully,” “praise,” “make music,” “sing,” “play,” and “shout” their thanks to God. An imperative is a command, and as it comes in a plural form it is a call for all of God’s people.
They are to do it loudly, which the last verb specifically commands. And they are to do it with instruments, as if the human voice by itself is not enough. .Verse 1 we could translate, “You all, all of you, rejoice in the Lord!” Of course, the call is not issued to just anyone, but to God’s people. Who, by virtue of God’s choosing and faithfulness, have become righteous and upright. They are commanded to rejoice because that is what the upright do.
Notice there is something very beautiful and gracious in the opening of this Psalm. The man of God cannot be content in blessing God by himself alone, but he calls upon all the redeemed to join in the Hallelujah, think psalm 34 “Oh, magnify
For the Lord is entitled to the
everlasting praises of his creatures. “
LORD! Praise the LORD!”; and especially let the redeemed of the Lord, for they have peculiar praises to bring
Psalm 33 begins with a call to praise. Psalm 33 begins with exhortations to make music. But why? Why should we sing? When we ask for a reason to praise God, the rest of Psalm 33 answers: we are to praise God because He is sovereign. We are to praise God because He is in control.Psalm 33 was written to those addressed as “righteous ones” and “the upright” (v. 1). That is, it is written to those who know God personally and who are seeking to please Him by living obedient lives. But even these people need to be exhorted to “sing for joy in the Lord” (v. 1), to “give thanks to the Lord” and “sing praises to Him” (v. 2).
This Psalm reminds us that the word of the LORD is upright, the counsel of the LORD stands forever, and the LORD sees all things. The proper response, according to the Psalmist, is for His people to praise the LORD.
the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!”
Let everything that has breath praise the
Music belongs to God who is the Chief Musician. His world resonates with song because God designed not only the voice and ear, but the heart and spirit. Whatever creativity you and I express comes from God the Creator who not only inspires the praise but gives us the gifts with which to express his praise. Psalm 150 has similar themes as 33.
1 Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise
him in his mighty heavens!a 2 Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to
his excellent greatness! 3 Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and
harp! 4 Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! 5
Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! 6 Let
everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!
The prophet Zephaniah challenged the people of God to sing, could sing was because God rejoiced over them in song.
The reason they
you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his
“Sing, O Daughter of
Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart.”
“The Lord your God is with
love, he will rejoice over you with singing”
(Zeph 3:14-17). The story of the people of God is not only spoken but sung. The prophet Isaiah described God’s love in a song. “I will sing to the one I love a song about his vineyard” (Isa 5:1). Our lord Jesus sang with his disciples,in matthew 26 he sang a hymn with them at the Last Supper (Mt 26:30); and according to the author of Hebrews, he continues to sing,
(Heb 2:12). To be filled with the Spirit of God is to sing and make music in our hearts to the Lord (Eph5:19-20). From the beginning, music has accompanied the work of God. Creation was formed “while the morning stars sang
(Job 38:7). Surely it is impossible for us to imagine or “the skies proclaim the . When Moses and the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, they celebrated the Exodus with a song to the Lord, which began, “I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted.” The Lord had done more than give them something
to sing about. The Lord himself was their song. Moses sang, (Ex 15:1,2)
“I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will
sing your praises”
together and all the angels shouted for joy”
work of his hands”
“the heavens declaring the glory of God ”
“The Lord is my
strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him”
Beloved Does God and all that He is cause you to rejoice? Scripture calls us to meditate on the attributes of God. I recently read about a Christian man from Africa who was visiting a traditional church in the U.S. During the sermon this man would give a strong “amen” and “hallelujah” periodically. His expressions of worship were much more enthusiastic than the church that he was visiting. After a while one of the deacons in this church was annoyed by his expressions and approached him in the pew where he was sitting, requesting that he quiet down. The man replied “sir I am just praising the Lord” and the deacons replied promptly with “we do not praise the Lord here”. Sadly this is true for many churches they “do not praise the Lord” in a way that the bible exhorts God’s people to. Charles spurgeon rightly says:
The psalmist has given us the call to worship a praise God. Through the remaining verses we will see God’s attribute of his power through his word, sovereignty and steadfast love. Praising God for who he is not just for what he has done is our proper response. We see the big picture of God’s faithfulness, sovereignty, providential protection, and unfailing love. The psalmist is telling the truth about God, who he is and what he has done. Psalm 33 roots this new song of praise in the blessing of God’s faithful word – the creative, electing, powerful, and redeeming word of God. In verses 4-9 lets see the power of His word.
praise. To delight ourselves in God is most truly to extol him, even if we let no
our God, ours for ever and ever, should wake within us an unceasing and
“Rejoice in the Lord. Joy is the soul of
notes of song proceed from our lips. That God is, and that he is such a God, and
overflowing joy. To rejoice in temporal comforts is dangerous, to rejoice in self is
foolish, to rejoice in sin is fatal, but to rejoice in God is heavenly.” Charles
Spurgeon
5. Psalm33:4-9THEPOWEROFHISWORD
4 For the word of the LORD is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness. 5 He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD. 6 By the word of the LORD
the heavens were made,
and by the breath of his mouth all their host. 7 He gathers the waters of the
sea as a heap;
he puts the deeps in storehouses. 8 Let all the earth fear the LORD;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
Praise should always be on the lips of the righteous. They are always speaking of the goodness of the Lord. High on their list of praise will be gratitude for the Word of the Lord.
As we read through this section, you can’t help but see the greatness of God, as we are given a short list of His attributes. We see that He is worthy of praise, He is right – just – true, He is faithful, He is love, He is righteous, He is powerful, He is creator – just to name a few – all found in this group of verses. God is worthy of our praise simply because of Who He is. But if that is not enough we get a glimpse of what He has done to deserve our praise. We see that His word, his breath, his commands can not only be trusted but that His word is very powerful. We see in verse 6 that it was by His word that all things were created. We see that God has the power to speak all things into existence. Not only that, in verse 9 we see those created things obey the words spoken.
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! 9 For he spoke, and it
came to be;
| 4 For the word of the LORD is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. |
| 5 He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of |
the LORD. 6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath
of his mouth all their host.
The very first thing we are told about God in Scripture is that He speaks and He made everything with His Word. His Word is powerful and by it God not only created all that is but currently sustains all
that is by the word of His power . God spoke through the prophet Isaiah saying “
(Is. 40:8 ESV) and
(Isaiah 55:11 ESV). David who was a man after God’s own heart loved & treasured greatly the word of God. The
longest Psalm and chapter in the bible is an expression of His love for the word of God (Psalm 119). Those who worship God in “spirit & truth” love God’s word and take heed to it. The word of God gives us many reasons to worship God and it fuels the passionate praise of the true worshipper. In the
NT Paul exhorted the Colossians to (Colossians 3:16).
God’s creative work & governing work are faithful.all his work is done in faithfulness. He didn’t just wind up the world like a clock and let it go. God has been faithfully governing and caring for His creation as a Faithful Creator.The Author and perfecter of our faith who started the work that he has begun in us He certainly will be faithful to complete (Philippians 1:6) and he is currently working in His people to (Philippians 2:13). God
is working to bring about His will on the earth.
justice for all who are oppressed” (Psalm 103:6). God loves righteousness & justice
which are also the foundation of His throne. Everything God does is right, just & good. Never has God comprised His righteousness or justice. The earth is filled with the goodness of God. God’s goodness is displayed in even the little details of life on earth. Through the sunrise with birds chirping, through the rain that nourishes the ground, plants and animals.His goodness is also revealed in his
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand
forever.
“My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall
not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper
in the thing for which I sent it.”
“let the word of Christ dwell richly” in
them teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs”
“will and to do His good pleasure”
“The Lord works righteousness and
common grace. David said
“For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work; at the
works of your hands I sing for joy.”
(Psalm 92:4).
“He has caused his wondrous works
.” (Psalm 111:4 ESV); the earth is God’s steadfast love and faithfulness, the
word goodness is the Hebrew word hesed. “lovingkindness; steadfast love; covenant loyalty; grace; mercy; faithfulness; goodness; devotion.” That’s God’s loyal covenant love to his people. hesed is God’s particular and specific love for His chosen and covenant people. “Covenant” stresses the reciprocity of the relationship; but God’s hesed is ultimately beyond the covenant. It will not ultimately be abandoned, even when the human partner is unfaithful.God is faithful and His word is faithful
Everything that exists does so because of Him. By the word of the LORD the heavens were made. We should ponder on this and fear the LORD. Let us stand in awe of Him because He not only brought everything into being but sustains
to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and merciful
full of the steadfast love of the LORD.
it.
Colossians 1:16
says about Christ:
For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.
“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all
things were created through him and for him.”
. In Christ, God’s creative word continues to speak, accomplishing that which God proposes. Faith is created
within us by the gospel. Beloved A Salvation that is done in our own merit is like “ that
As spurgeon says
(Charles Spurgeon)
The psalmist puts a spotlight on the word of God.Notice that he does not present an apologetic for the word of God, that the word of God is inerrant and infallible. Rather, he states it forthrightly as a fact. And he points to creation as evidence. He says that “God spoke the word” and creation came into being.We should see how effortless for Yahweh it was to create. It was by His mere word and his
The war horse”
“is a false hope for salvation,” and by its great might it cannot
rescue.
“God is so great, that till Christ revealed the Father,
Deity was lost in its own infinity to the perception of men. He who attempts to
navigate an infinite ocean must come back to his starting point, never being able
to cross. So the ancient philosophers, disputing as to the Divine Nature, were
baffled by their own ingenuity, they had to confess that they comprehended
nothing of God except that He was incomprehensible. Without Christ, men can
only find out ABOUT GOD that they can never find HIM.”
breath Thepsalmistthengoesontoconsidertheoceans(Ps.33:7).God
The
only ocean that the psalmist may have seen would have most likely been the Mediterranean Sea, or perhaps the Red Sea. He would not have known that the world’s oceans cover two-thirds of the earth’s surface. If you have ever flown over an ocean you know how vast and huge they are. But the psalmist pictures God as piling the water together as a farmer would pile a heap of grain in a barn. This may be a reference to God’s stacking up the waters of the Red Sea when He brought Israel safely through, or it may be a poetic description of God keeping the mighty oceans within their boundaries.God gathered up the waters, which often symbolize the forces of chaos that threaten order and goodness, and confined them to a bottle. Because God has created in this way, the psalmist suggests that the whole earth, not just Israel, should stand in respect and admiration of God. There is no
area of the universe where He is not exerting His power. “
From a blade of grass to the stars of the sky, everything and everyone is dependent upon His immeasurable power for its existence.9 For he spoke, and it
came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. Recall Job where he is challenged to explain the origin of the earth, the expanse of the sea, the light of dawn, the ocean depths, the formation of snow, lightning, and rain, and the order of the
“By the word of the Lord the heavens were made…”
heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in
When I look at your
place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care
for him?”
stars and seasons..the Lord asks: question
(Job 38:18). The Lord raises another
“Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the
earth? Tell me, if you know all this”
“Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself?
Do you have an arm like God’s, and can you voice thunder like his?”
(40:8-9). Job is compelled to see that God’s control extends not only to nature but to human
justice as well.
(Job 11:7-9)Beloved
(Psalm 145:3) Here the words of Henry Law:
“gathers
the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deeps in storehouses.”
7 “Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the
limit of the Almighty? 8 It is higher than heaven[a]—what can you do? Deeper than
Sheol—what can you know? 9 Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than
the sea.
3 “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,and his
greatness is unsearchable.”
“We adore
the glory of the eternal Trinity. We adore the Word, co-eternal and co-efficient
with the Father. By Him were all things made, and without Him was not anything
made that was made. We adore the Spirit moving upon the face of the waters. We
adore triune omnipotence. Without effort or tedious process the word is spoken,
and all creation bolts into life, confirmed in perfect beauty. Who will not revere
such glorious power? Throughout earth’s length and breadth, man’s posture
should be reverence and awe.” Henry law
So what should our response be to this kind of God? We are to stand in awe of…to fear the Lord. We are to respect the Lord’s power and His authority. And we demonstrate this awe, fear, and respect through our obedience. We have a choice each day and many times each day, to either choose to do things our way or we can submit ourselves to the authority of this great God by living according to His Word. That is what the author is speaking of in verse 8 as there is a call for all the earth to fear the Lord. It has the idea that everyone is to demonstrate respect for the Lord’s power and His authority, the power and authority of His very words. This respect is shown as we live our lives in obedience to Him.
Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of
him! Praise is an expression of the fear of the Lord, standing in awe of God. God’s Word commands all the nations of the world and the people within to fear and praise Him. In God’s sovereignty, He rules not only the vast universe, but the nations of the earth. We are not to just stand in awe of His might alone, but in His might and plans, we are to see His character. We are to worship God not only for His absolute power, but also for what He allows to happen in his sovereign
control.As Matthew Henry rightly says “
Let’s look at verses 10-17 and see the power of his sovereign control
so full of God’s goodness, should be so empty of his praises, and that of the
that that cannot be said of us. As God’s “righteous ones,” let’s lean hard on Him to
What a pity it is that this earth, which is
multitudes that live upon his bounty there are so few that live to his glory!” I hope
work through us for His glory. When we see Him deliver our souls from death and
keep us alive in famine (v. 19), our response will be to sing and praise Him
exuberantly with thankful hearts.”
Psalm 33:10-17 THE POWER OF HIS SOVEREIGN CONTROL
10 The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples. 11 The counsel of the LORD stands
forever,
the plans of his heart to all generations. 12 Blessed is the nation whose God is
the LORD,
the people whom he has chosen as his heritage! 13 The LORD looks down from
heaven;
he sees all the children of man; 14 from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, 15 he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds. 16 The king is not saved by his great army;
and by its great might it cannot rescue.
Sovereignty is the teaching that God is king, supreme ruler and lawgiver of the entire universe. Nothing is outside of God’s control, He is all powerful. Since we know that God is good, just and loving, the fact that God is sovereign is certainly something to praise Him for.God’s goodness and his greatness do not stop with creation. God is not finished with creation once it has been set in place. Rather, God continues to act in decisive ways in his creation. For those who plot and scheme, God is there to frustrate their plans. On the other hand, those who look to God’s counsel will find that God’s counsel stands the test of time. Blessings will fall on those whom God has chosen. .
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. 17 The war horse is a false hope
for salvation,
the Psalm highlights the ways of God. He contrasts the counsel of the nations with the counsel of the Lord in verses 10 and 11. We might say that the ways or even the wisdom of the world God brings to nothing. Yet, ways of the Lord, the wisdom of the Lord stands forever, “to all generations” (verse 11 B). The psalmist explains that the counsel of the Lord is sure to stand forever. God’s plans, alone, are capable of lasting from generation to generation
(v.11). This is precisely what Solomon says in Proverbs 19:21,
The apostle
Paul also wrote about the ways and wisdom of God in the ways and wisdom of mankind. In 1 Corinthians
(1:18).
The theologian John Robbins says that:
“Many are the
plans in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the Lord, it will stand”.
“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are
perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God”
tend to get themselves confused. Assuming that God is exactly like human
than causes them. Sometimes men conceive of God as actually being
“When men think about God, they
beings, only bigger and older, they think that God reacts to events rather
uninformed about the future or the details of the universe, and they imagine
that He is surprised by events just as we sometimes are. God neither reacts to
nor is surprised by events. He knows all things because He planned all things
and carries out all His plans. God always acts for a purpose. And from the
beginning He intended to display His glory by redeeming a people for
Himself. History is the execution of God’s plan. History makes sense only if
one assumes God is sovereign. If there were events in history outside God’s
plan and control, then it would become an irrational affair. It would be a
‘tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.’” John
Robbins
“The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans
of the peoples.The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to
all generations.Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he
has chosen as his heritage! “
(33:10-12) God frustrates & nullifies the plans of the peoples but His plans stand firm. Why do the nations rage & plot in vain?
The Lord sits in the Heavens and laughs (Psalm 2). This is what the Apostles quoted in reference to the Jewish rulers plotting against Jesus and having
Him crucified. (Acts 4) Isaiah 40:8 says that
This is a humbling & comforting truth. We are to trust in his word for Our
(Psalm 31:15)we are not in control. God is! He is the
& the End and knows the future. This should be comforting for us because
God’s plans are always good. God is worshipped in Heaven for this very reason.
Rev. 4:11 (ESV). Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who is Sovereign over human history.
The Bible is clear that God sets up and takes down the most powerful kings in history for His own sovereign purposes. Whether it was Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, or Artaxerxes, God used them to further His purposes for His chosen people. Of course, none of those men knew God or were seeking to follow God. They were making decisions that they thought would further their own agendas. But behind the scenes, God providentially used their decisions to further His agenda. They were responsible for their decisions and they will answer to God for those decisions. And yet God used those decisions to implement His own counsel and plans.
Recall the story of Joseph. Joseph, after being sold to foreigners by his own brothers, endured many trials—including imprisonment—before ascending to the position of Pharaoh’s right hand man. When famine struck the land, Joseph’s
”The grass withers, the flower
fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.”
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and
“times are in his hand”
Alpha & Omega, Beginning
power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were
created.”
brothers needed to buy food from him or else they would perish. Joseph’s reply to them clearly demonstrates God’s control over the situation, “what you meant for evil, God meant for good in order to . . . preserve many people”(Gen. 50:20). Along those same lines, the apostle Paul teaches us in Romans 8:28 that, “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God”.
Beloved Our sovereign and most righteous God is indeed causing all things to worktogetherforgood.These passagesgiveushopeandpeacetoknowthatGod is sovereign and in control. No amount of sin and evil in the world is capable of frustrating God’s plans. You may be the victim of someone else’s sin, you may be suffering terribly, yet the Bible confirms that God will not waste your suffering. We are to trust in the power of his sovereign control.
Verses 16 and 17 tell us
The word appears three times here. What is the psalmist saying? Go ahead, increase military
spending. Trust in horses, trust in the army, trust in military might. Go ahead, trust in technology. Rely on it. But as we read in 1 Thessalonians 5:3,
Should we place our trust in a great army, the great strength of a warrior, or the great strength of a horse?. No Because when we put our hope in horses and legs, then horses and legs get the glory, not God. God is mightier and greater than
these. To use the words of David in Psalm 20,
He controls all things, is he not the warrior par excellence? He is the Creator, the Sovereign Lord, and the
almighty. As we read in the Westminster Shorter Catechism, “God is a Spirit,
“No king is saved by the size of his army”—literally, by his
great army—”no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is vain hope for
deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save.”
“great”
are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains
on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”
“While people
“some boast in chariots and some in
horses, but we will trust in the name of the Lord, our God”
infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness,
(Q. 4). Because of this, the people of God need not be afraid. Because of this, God’s righteous ones can sing and shout. A king may have
a mighty army and strong warriors; his horses may have great strength. But on the day of battle God alone decides who wins. And God can make the stronger or the weaker win—whichever his plan determines. He has a thousand ways of making the weaker triumph over the stronger, and getting glory for his own
name.As John Newton says:
justice, goodness and truth”
“The kings of the earth are continually disturbing the
world with their schemes of ambition. They expect to carry everything before
them, and have seldom any higher end in view, than the gratification of their own
passions. But in all they do they are but servants of the great King and Lord, and
fulfill his purposes, as the instruments he employs to inflict prescribed
punishment upon transgressors against him, or to open a way for the spread of
his Gospel. They had one thing in view, he had another.” John Newton
Psalm 33:18-22 THE POWER OF HIS STEADFAST LOVE
18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love, 19 that he may deliver their soul from
death
and keep them alive in famine. 20 Our soul waits for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield. 21 For our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name. 22 Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon
us,
even as we hope in you.
To fear God means that you don’t fear anything else because you know the God who is sovereign, all-powerful, all-wise, all-loving over everything, you fear him. You worship him. You stand in awe of him. You revere him. And because you do, you know there is nothing this world can do to you, nothing any man or woman can do to you, nothing that could happen to you, that can take away your hope because you fear, revere God and your hope is in him and his love for you.Nothing gets past God; He sees all and knows all. “The eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the good and the evil“(Proverbs 15:3). His eye is on me and my hope is in him. 9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless[2] toward him. (2 Chronicles 16:9) As spurgeon says “The Lord’s hand goes with his eye; he sovereignly preserves those whom he graciously observes. Rescues and restorations hedge about the lives of the saints; death cannot touch them till the King signs his warrant and gives him leave, and even then his touch is not so much mortal as immortal; he doth not so much kill us as kill our mortality.” Spurgeon
Note that this is not speaking of the eyes of the Lord as a Judge, but the eyes of a Shepherd, the eyes of the heavenly Father, who sees us every moment of our lives and helps us continually. His love for us is everlasting, and he does not look upon us in wrath, because his wrath is removed from us once and for all. And now we are his chosen ones, his treasure and his inheritance. “those who hope in his steadfast love, 19 that he may deliver their soul from death.” God has delivered us from death. In Christ we are delivered from death, and have crossed from death into life. In Christ we are given eternal life. And not only are we righteous because all our sins are forgiven, but the perfect righteousness of Christ has been granted to us. Church, do you know the power of his Steadfast love that is provided in Christ.
Can you see Romans 8 here? If God is for us, who can be against us? If I fear God and know God, then I don’t fear anything else because I know God is with me. If God is for me, who can be against me? Romans eight goes on to say, “There’s nothing that can separate us. Neither death, nor life angels or demons or the present or the future, nor any powers, neither height, nor depth nor anything else in all
creation can separate us,” from what? From the love of God, in Christ Jesus, our Lord. To fear God is to hope in his steadfast love. The steadfast love of the Lord is the same word I mentioned earlier “hesed.” The demonstration of God’s covenant faithfulness, his loyalty to us, his everlasting love, or as the KJV puts it “his loving kindness,” is available to you and me today. It is a love that is based on a prior relationship. In this case, it is based on the love of God for his people. And steadfast love is fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ who said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”[20] Beloved The fullness of the Lord’s hesed and power of steadfast love is seen in the cross: there the true hasid, Jesus Christ Himself—the only human ever truly to be loyal to the Lord and to His neighbor in every aspect of life—was treated as the covenant breaker and cursed for sin so that we who are unfaithful might be clothed in His faithfulness and thus redeemed. In this way, God’s original covenant purpose to have a people for His praise was faithfully accomplished.We are called to worship God not merely because of what He does, but because of who He is. We are called to worship, know and delight in Him in such a way that our hearts rest in Him.
We hope in the Lord, we rest in the quiet confidence and the deep assurance that the Lord will prevail against the powers of evil. Along with the psalmist we hope in the unfailing love of the Lord, who is our help, our shield, our joy and our confidence. We hope in the Lord, who (Eph
5:2).
(Eph
1:7-10)
May we ever hope in Him
Dorothy Day day wrote a poem titled “Conquered”: in response to invictus
Out of the light that dazzles me, Bright as the sun from pole to pole, I thank the God I know to be, For Christ – the Conqueror of my soul. Since His the sway of circumstance, I would not wince nor cry aloud. Under the rule which men call chance, My head, with joy, is humbly bowed. Beyond this place of sin and tears, That Life with Him and His the Aid, That, spite the menace of the years, Keeps, and will keep me unafraid. I have no fear though straight the gate: He cleared from punishment the scroll. Christ is the Master of my fate! Christ is the Captain of my soul!
“loved us and gave himself up for us”
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in
accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and
understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good
pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their
fulfillment – to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ”
SonRise Community Church 