Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
Praise the LORD with the harp;
make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully, and shout for joy.
For the word of the LORD is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.
The LORD loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of his unfailing love.
By the word of the LORD were the heavens made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
He gathers the waters of the sea into jars;
he puts the deep into storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the LORD;
let all the people of the world revere him.
For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
The LORD foils the plans of the nations;
he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he chose for his inheritance.
From heaven the LORD looks down
and sees all mankind;
from his dwelling place he watches
all who live on earth—
he who forms the hearts of all,
who considers everything they do.
No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.
A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength it cannot save.
But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.
We wait in hope for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.
In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD,
even as we put our hope in you.
My Understanding: Psalm 32 is a psalm of confession of sin and praise for God’s forgiveness. The psalmist spoke of how, as long as he had unconfessed sin in his heart, God’s hand was heavy upon him, and he was weighed down with the guilt of his sin. Yet, once he acknowledged his sin to God, and he no longer covered up his iniquity, the Lord forgave the guilt of his sin. He, thus, proclaimed how joyful and peaceful is he whose sins are forgiven; whose sins God does not count against him, and in whose spirit is no deceit.
The psalmist cautioned his readers and listeners against being stubborn like a mule, which has no understanding, but must be controlled by bit and bridle in order for it to submit. And, he warned of the many woes that face those whose deeds are wicked. He was basically saying that we should not have stubborn and rebellious hearts that refuse to repent of our sins and thus we must have to go through great suffering in order for the Lord to turn us in the right direction. God will discipline those he loves. “When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world” (I Co. 11:32 NIV). Though, not all discipline is the result of our sin, but is for the purpose of making us holy.
Then, the psalmist called upon the godly to pray to the Lord. God is their hiding place. He will protect them from trouble and surround them with songs of deliverance. He will instruct those who are in a right relationship with God - by God’s grace and through faith in Jesus Christ, via repentance and obedience - in the way they should go. He will counsel them and watch over them. His unfailing love surrounds the man or woman who trusts in the Lord. The righteous, i.e. “all you who are upright in heart,” then should be glad, and rejoice, and sing to the Lord.
Sing to the Lord
Psalm 33 picks up right where Psalm 32 lets off, because it begins by calling the reader and/or the listener, i.e. those who are righteous, to sing to the Lord. The righteous are not those who are merely good deed doers, but are those who have come to true faith in Jesus Christ by God’s grace via repentance (turning from sin) and turning to walk in obedience to Christ. They are made righteous, not because of the things they have done, but because of what Jesus Christ did in dying on the cross for our sins, and in being resurrected back to life in conquering death, hell, Satan and sin so that we could go free – free from the ultimate penalty of sin (eternity in hell), and free from the control of sin over our daily lives. And, it is because Jesus came to set us free from the control of sin over our day-to-day lives that he will use his divine discipline to correct us and to bring us back when we stray away from his perfect will for our lives by falling into sin’s deceitfulness all over again.
Yet, when we confess our sins to God, and we submit to his will for our lives, then we can walk about in freedom, because Jesus has set us free from that control of sin, i.e. from that grip that sin had on our lives. Then our hearts can truly sing praise to the Lord for the great things He has done! We can shout for joy at our newfound freedom! “For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.” In other words, it is God’s holy word that convicts of our hearts of sin, and his words are true, and it is because he loves righteousness and justice, and because he loves us, that he will discipline us when we go astray, in order to bring us back into a right relationship with him. I am so thankful he loves me that much!
Stand in Awe
When we consider all the mighty works of God’s hands, it should cause us to stand in awe of, to respect, admire, honor, and to revere our God for who he is and for all he has done. And, if we truly are honoring, respecting and revering the Lord, then it should bring us to our knees in humble obedience to his words, and it should lead us to honest confession and repentance of all sin. We cannot honor God if we are doing it with our lips only. Our lifestyles must match our words. Our praise to God for all he has done must be evidenced in how we live out our daily lives. That is truly how we praise him and honor him.
Because God is God he will foil (hinder) and thwart (frustrate; prevent) the selfish plans and purposes of people and nations. He will allow evil to reign for a time, but not forever. He will show mankind how futile it is to put their trust in man and in the works and idols of men, which offer them no hope of salvation. Because he is a God of love, and because he loves righteousness and justice, he will judge and discipline mankind in order to bring men and women to repentance. His plans will stand firm forever, and “the purposes of his heart through all generations.” And, his main purpose for mankind is that we believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, that we come to repentance and obedience in humble submission to God, and that we walk in daily fellowship with our Lord, honoring him as holy, and allowing him to do his work of grace in our hearts in transforming us into Christ’s likeness, i.e. in making us holy. Joyful and peaceful are those whose God is their Lord and master.
For those of us who fear (honor and respect) the Lord, and who hope in his unfailing love, he watches over us. He may not keep us from physical suffering, and we will all die a physical death one day, unless we are alive when Christ returns for his bride. There are no promises that we won’t be mistreated, face injustices, be persecuted, and/or even put to death for our faith in Christ Jesus, for our testimony of his saving grace, and for the sake of the full gospel message. Yet, the Lord Jesus will keep us safe in our relationship with him, he will provide a way of escape out from under the temptation to sin, he will fill us with his peace and joy, even in times of great distress, he will give us guidance and direction when we are confused and we wonder which way to go, and he will nurture us with his love, encouragement, and his tender mercies, which are new each morning.
So, when going through times of great difficulty we can place our hope in the Lord, and we can wait for him to act on our behalf according to his righteousness and justice and mercy, for he is our help and our shield, and none other. True freedom is freedom of the Spirit, even when under physical constraints. True hope is in our relationship with Jesus Christ for eternity, not in external circumstances. True peace is not based upon what is happening all around us, but is founded in true faith in Jesus Christ. So, our hearts can rejoice even if all hell is breaking loose all around us, because we trust in the Lord and not in mankind. God’s love will see us through any and all circumstances we must go through in this life. And, he will see the righteous safely into his eternal kingdom. So, we should never lose hope!
HOW GREAT THOU ART / Carl G. Boberg and R.J. Hughes
O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.
When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!
No comments:
Post a Comment