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 were the heavens 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 rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you.

Question: What does a man who fears God do when the nation he loves and belongs to turns away from God?  In verse eight it states, “let all the earth fear God, let all the people of the world revere him”.  As we look at the world today, we see a world that can be compared to Sodom and Gomorrah.   Are we like Lot and look at this world as our home or are we like Abraham and look for a new heaven and a new earth?  What does a man who fears God do?  He waits in hope for the Lord.

Lot and Abraham gives us two different life styles of righteous man. II Peter 2:7,8 ” And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)” The same environment surrounds the Christian today. The world values today are becoming more like the values of Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot’s decision to live in Sodom and to be part of their filthy lifestyle had a negative influence on his witness to them. When the time came for Lot to make a stand for the Lord, the men of Sodom mocked him and turned against him. We must examine our life daily by staying in God’s Word to make sure the filthy conversations of the wicked is not entering our daily life. By living his life away from Sodom Abraham did not have face the daily influence of Sodom. Sometimes we are faced with the difficult decision of standing up for our beliefs or living a quiet life out of the spotlight.

As I study verse fifteen “he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do”, I have a better understanding of the relationship that man has with God.  God, who forms the hearts of all, the God who is the creator of all the universe has created in us a heart that can make choices.  Man does have a free will to choose the way in which he walks on this earth.  Why we were created with a free will to choose I cannot answer; however, I know we have the ability to decide the way in which we walk.