What a great song this is!

Psalm 33

¹ Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
² Praise the Lord with the harp;
make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
³ Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully, and shout for joy.

⁴ For the word of the Lord is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.
⁵ The Lord loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of his unfailing love.

⁶ By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
⁷ He gathers the waters of the sea into jars;
he puts the deep into storehouses.
⁸ Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the people of the world revere him.
⁹ For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.

¹⁰ The Lord foils the plans of the nations;
he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
¹¹ But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.

¹² Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people he chose for his inheritance.
¹³ From heaven the Lord looks down
and sees all mankind;
¹⁴ from his dwelling place he watches
all who live on earth—
¹⁵ he who forms the hearts of all,
who considers everything they do.

¹⁶ No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.
¹⁷ A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength it cannot save.
¹⁸ But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
¹⁹ to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.

²⁰ We wait in hope for the Lord;
he is our help and our shield.
²¹ In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
²² May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,
even as we put our hope in you.

What a great description of God’s character, his intentions and his actions! His words are right and true and he is faithful in all he does. His words have power – power to do good and to create. He loves righteousness and justice. He is sovereign. He is in control of all people including national leaders. His plans – the plans of his heart – stand forever. They cannot be thwarted. He does what he says he will do.

In response to who God is, we are to revere him, to fear him, to hope in him and to trust him. To trust him to deliver us from death. We are to praise him and to sing to him.

When we look at God’s character and compare it to our own we see how far short we fall of being like him. We might think we are Godly and that we express God’s character in our own lives – in how we live and how we treat others. But we don’t need to go far before we are aware of our own hypocrisy born of our own sinfulness. How our actions fail to match our professions of faith or our words of intention. We are quick to judge others as not making the grade or living up to their promises.

But we can be thankful that Jesus – our brother – demonstrated perfect righteousness, perfect justice and love that we can only strive for. His death and resurrection opened the way for us to enjoy the character of God as a loving heavenly Father and not a severe judge. He took that judgement so we needn’t. We are accepted as hopeless sinners who forgive one another as we are forgiven. That gives us even greater reasons to praise him!

Head: What do you find the most difficult aspect of God’s character to believe or trust from this Psalm?

Heart: Let this Psalm flood your inner being today as you go about your life

Hands: What would you do differently from today to better live your life in response to God’s character as expressed in this Psalm?

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for who you are. I thank you for your character displayed in these words and the power you possess. I especially thank you that your eyes are on those who fear you and trust in your unfailing love. I thank you for that love. Help us to respond well to your love and the hope we have in you.

A song to listen to:

Saved my soul

Tim Hewlett- Creek Road Presbyterian Church- Carina