Psalm 33:6-19 6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were 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 deep 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 nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. 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 He has chosen as His own inheritance. 13 The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men. 14 From the place of His dwelling He looks On all the inhabitants of the earth; 15 He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works. 16 No king is saved by the multitude of an army; A mighty man is not delivered by great strength. 17 A horse is a vain hope for safety; Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength. 18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope in His mercy, 19 To deliver their soul from death, And to keep them alive in famine. odb.org/2014/03/25/whos-at-the-center/ Recently, I had what for me was a “Copernican moment”: I am not at the center of the universe. The world doesn’t revolve around me. It doesn’t move at my pace, in my terms, nor in accord with my preferences. Though we might wish it to be otherwise, life is not all about us. Everything revolves around the Lord. In Psalm 33, we read that all nature revolves around Him and His control (vv.6-9). He assigned the sea its boundaries and locked the ocean in vast reservoirs. Everything in nature operates in accordance with the laws He has set. The nations also revolve around the Lord (vv.10-12). No plan or scheme can stand up against God’s. Ultimately, it is the Lord’s plan that will stand forever. His intentions can never be shaken. Finally, the lives of all humanity revolve around the Lord (vv.13-19). God sees the whole human race. He made our hearts, and He understands everything we do. And He has the power to intervene in our lives and deliver us from situations spinning out of control. Our life is created to be centered on God, not self. How thankful we can be to serve such a powerful God, who has every aspect of our lives under His control. Teach me, Lord, to live out the truth of Psalm 33. May I revere You as I should. May I and all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of You, for Your counsel and plans stand forever. When we die to all about us, we live to God above us. Insight In this song of praise, the psalmist calls the righteous to praise God for His Word and His work (vv.1-3). He celebrates God’s power in creation—“He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast” (vv.6-9)—and points to the special privilege and blessedness of being God’s chosen people (v.12).
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 12:57:24 +0000