Psalm 33

1 Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.

2 Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.

3 Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise.

4 For the word of the Lord is right; and all his works are done in truth.

5 He loves righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

6 By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

7 He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap: he lays up the depth in storehouses.

8 Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.

9 For he spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.

10 The Lord brings the counsel of the heathen to nought: he makes the devices of the people of none effect.

11 The counsel of the Lord stands for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.

13 The Lord looks from heaven; he beholds all the sons of men.

14 From the place of his habitation he looks upon all the inhabitants of the earth.

15 He fashions their hearts alike; he considers all their works.

16 There is no king saved by the multitude of a host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.

17 A horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.

18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy.

19 To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.

20 Our soul waits for the Lord: he is our help and our shield.

21 For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.

22 Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in thee. (KJV)

Question: What does a man who fears God do when the nation he loves and is proud to be called am American 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.

I was blessed by having great Bible teachers early in my life.  One of these teachers taught me the important lesson of understanding the importance of carefully studying the lessons on living given to us in the scriptures.  One of these lessons is found in Genesis chapter thirteen.  Both Abram and Lot were blessed greatly by the Lord which caused issues over who was going to use the best grazing land.  We know from Genesis 14:14 that he had three hundred and eighteen trained armed servants in his household after Lot had departed and moved toward Sodom.  This number does not include their families are the other servants in Abram’s household. So, at this time in Genesis chapter thirteen we are told that Abram was very rich in cattle, silver, and gold.   Since the land could not support such a large group of people Abram gave Lot the chose of moving left (south) or right (north) and then he would move to the other direction.  However, Lot looked to the east toward the plains of the Jordan, where he pitched his tent toward Sodom.  This was not one of the directions that Abram had given to Lot. 

In Genesis 13:13 we read “But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly” which was probably the reason why Abram did not offer this chose to Lot.  It was not long later we see that Lot moved not only toward Sodom, but dwell there.  II Peter 2:7,8 reads “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.”  This is why John writes in I John 2:15,16 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”  

As I study verse fifteen ” He fashions their hearts alike; he considers all their works “, 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. Why God has given man the right of a free will to choose I cannot answer; however, I know we have the ability to decide the way in which we walk.  Do we walk toward Sodom (the way of the world) or dwell in the plains that the Lord has set before us? 

The phase “The people who he has Chosen for his own inheritance” makes the term “Free Will” a difficult subject to understand when studying the Ephesians 1:4,5 How can we have free will if “He has already chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.”  The answer is found in verse 13 of this chapter “In whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation in whom also after ye believed, ye were sealed with the holy Spirit of promise.”  The gospel of our salvation in Christ was knew even before the creation of Adam.  The key is the phase whosoever believes on Him.  As I John 5:12 states “He that has the Son hath life and he that had not the Son of God hath not life” To have the Son or not to have the Son is how simple this “Free Will” decision we must make.      

Verse 9 For he spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.

This is another verse at that reveals the work of Christ in the Gospels.  In Luke chapter seven we are given the story of the centurion’s servant who was sick and ready to die.  This story takes place right after the Lord had given his sermon on the mount.  As he had ended all his sayings, and he entered into Capernaum he sent the elders of the town to beseech Christ to come and heal his servant.  However, when Jesus was nearing his house, he sends friends to Jesus stating not to trouble himself to come to his house since he was not worthy but for Jesus just to speak the words and he knew his servant would be healed.  When Jesus heard these words, he marvels at him and stated that he had not found so great faith no not even in Israel.  Here a Roman centurion faith in the Lord’s ability to heal was so much greater than even his disciple’s.  How does our faith compare to centurion’s faith when we take our request to the Lord?