Psalm 33--The Steadfast Love of the LORD

Psalm 33
English Standard Version

The Steadfast Love of the LORD
33 Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous!
    Praise befits the upright.
2 Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre;
    make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
3 Sing to him a new song;
    play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

4 For the word of the LORD is upright,
    and all his work is done in faithfulness.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
    the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD.

6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
    and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;
    he puts the deeps 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 came to be;
    he commanded, and it stood firm.

10 The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
    he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
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 whom he has chosen as his heritage!

13 The LORD looks down from heaven;
    he sees all the children of man;
14 from where he sits enthroned he looks out
    on all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 he who fashions the hearts of them all
    and observes all their deeds.
16 The king is not saved by his great army;
    a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
17 The war horse is a false hope for salvation,
    and by its great might it cannot rescue.

18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him,
    on those who hope in his steadfast love,
19 that he may deliver their soul from death
    and keep them alive in famine.

​20 Our soul waits for the LORD;
    he is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart is glad in him,
    because we trust in his holy name.
22 Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us,
    even as we hope in you.

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The praises of the LORD are to be on the lips of those who are righteous and upright.  We are to sing to Him a new song--the song of our redemption and salvation--with instruments and with our voices.

We see where it says "the word of the LORD is upright" and we assume this means the Scripture, which we call the Word of God, but what if this is describing the second person of the Trinity who is called The Word of God and The Word of the LORD?  "...All His work is done in faithfulness."  Does that take on a new meaning to you?  For His name is "Faithful and True"!  He loves righteousness and justice for He is also called The Righteous One and Just.  The earth is full of the steadfast (unshakable) love of the LORD as we see revealed through the Son.

Again, we see the Word of the LORD at work in creation.  We know from the book of Colossians that the Son of God is the Creator of all things (we also know this from John 1).  He made the heavens and all the celestial bodies--the sun, moon, starts and planets--and the seas and all that is in them.  There is even an indication here of the fountains of the deep that were stored up for the time of the Flood.

Everyone in the whole earth should stand in awe of Him--God our Creator!  For He spoke and it came into being and by His command was everything established.  This should bring about a holy fear of the LORD.  He literally spoke us into existence and can speak us out of existence too.

Even if every nation gathered together in rebellion against the LORD, they could not stand against Him (we'll see this in the end times when Jesus returns as the Conquering King and destroys all His enemies with the sword that comes out of His mouth).  He makes their wisdom and their plans to be folly, and no one can defeat His plans for all people in all generations (that is the gospel of Jesus Christ).  The people that worship Him are those He has chosen for Himself from among the nations, and those people will be blessed for worshiping Him as the LORD.  While this promise is written here to the nation of Israel, we know that God has extended this grace to all those who have been grafted into the Vine (see Romans 11).

The LORD looks down from His throne in heaven on high and sees that the people trust in their own strength and military might to be their salvation, but the LORD says that neither the king, nor his army are safe from Him if they stand in opposition to Him.  They believe in a false salvation and false savior (the antichrist) who cannot save them.

"The eye of the LORD" represents His blessing for those who fear Him, but for those who live in rebellion to Him, they fear that He sees everything and knows all their thoughts and motivations--not just their external deeds.  Those of us who belong to the LORD need not be afraid of Him, but we do have a holy reverence for Him (the fear of the LORD that is the beginning of wisdom).  Those who fear Him hope in His steadfast love and know that nothing can hurt them--not even death or famine--unless His love permits it.  Ultimately, whether happens to us in this life, we are still sure that He will safely deliver us to the joy that has been promised to us that is living in complete communion with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit and with each other.

David was waiting for the deliverance that the LORD that would be provided in both the First Coming and Second Coming of Christ, and we still currently wait expectantly for the Second Coming--both for our rescue and for God's judgment to be poured out on those who have chosen the path of rebellion.  However, we also look forward to the LORD's salvation that He provides whenever anyone comes to Him by grace through faith because the LORD has chosen to reveal Himself to them.  So then we all rejoice and hope in the LORD and trust in His steadfast love.

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