Let us complete
our study of Psalm 33. I have entitled this Psalm, The Praise
Of Jehovah. We want to look at verses 18-22 which I have
called The Comfort Of Worship. O how our hearts have been
warmed in this Psalm to worship the Lord in Spirit and Truth. Our
text this week says,
Behold,
the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope
in his mercy; To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them
alive in famine. Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and
our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have
trusted in his holy name. Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us,
according as we hope in thee.
In verses 18-19
let us look at a Comforting Security. We are told in verse
18 the
eye of the LORD is upon them
It is a great comfort
to our hearts to know His eyes are upon us. For the child of God
this is a great comfort but for them that walk in disobedience it is
an alarming fear. These are His eyes of love. O dear child of God,
He does care for His own. There are His eyes of control. Our Lord
controls all things both good and evil. We are told that His eyes
are upon
them
We are given words by David to describe them.
I am convinced that His eyes are not upon all in the same way. His
eyes are upon them that
fear him, The word fear
has the idea of a reverential awe and respect for. They who fear
God need not fear anything else. This fear is the source of many
things. Solomon said, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of
wisdom. His eyes are also upon them that
hope in his
mercy; The word mercy means to withhold from one what
they deserve. The word hope means confident expectation.
Our Lords eyes are looking upon the ones who have the confidence
that the Lord is going to withhold from them what they deserve. His
eyes, we are told in verse 19, will keep us from
death,
and keep us
alive
in time of national trouble such as famine.
This is a comforting security for my heart.
In verses 20-21
we see A Comforting Soul. We find the word our
used several times in our text. It speaks of our personal
possession. What a blessing to know something about the Lords love
to me personally. David says His soul
waiteth
for the
Lord. There are many ways to wait. We can wait while pacing in
frenzy. We can wait in a peaceful repose. May our soul take on His
easy yoke and light burden while we wait. We are told that He is
our
help
in time of labor and our
shield
in a
time of battle. In verse 21 Davids heart breaks out in rejoicing.
The root of faith in due time bears the flower of rejoicing.
Doubts breed sorrow, confidence creates joy. (Spurgeon) Worry
is a dark room where only negatives can be developed. Let us learn
to rejoice in our hearts and it will make its way to our outward
person in time.
In verse 22 we
have A Confident Supplication. This is a powerful prayer
for mercy. David asks for mercy to be
upon
him.
Remember, mercy is God withholding from us what we deserve. He says
let it be according to our
hope
Our Lord has said in
other places according to your faith be it unto you. Let us not
forget that even when our hope is weak our Lord has promised to do
for us above what we ask or even think.
Let us go to
our places of worship these days whether it be for public or private
worship with a greater zeal to worship our Lord in Spirit and in
Truth. He is still seeking such to worship Him.
