Day 196: Psalm 33- No Invisible Children

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.
 
Meditation
I love preaching the Gospel and Psalm 33 reminds me of preaching the Gospel to a crowd in Gulu, Northern Uganda. For years the LRA had taken children from this region and forced them to be child soldiers. A ministry called Invisible Children brought attention to the atrocity a few years before I was there. Our team was helping plant a church and I was able to speak to a large crowd. I focused on verse 13- God sees all the children of humanity- There are no invisible children.
 
The steadfast love of the Lord is celebrated in this Psalm of praise seen in the celebration of the power of God’s word, the unchanging nature of God’s character, and God’s sovereign rule as King over all the earth- all nations and all peoples.
 
This chorus of celebration re-orients the hope of the worshipper from “false hopes” (17) of our world to the only true hope we have, the steadfast love of our covenant keeping God. The climactic prayer is a plea for hope to sustain, a refreshing reality for worshippers of the One True God.
 
We praise God as our Creator and King who rules by His Word. God’s love holds His people, providing hope. God sits on the throne of Heaven and His eyes see all the children of humanity- even you. There are no invisible children. When our hearts hope in the steadfast love of the Lord, we trust Him for our care, finding gladness indiscriminate of our circumstances.
 
Richly Dwelling
-The Lord’s steadfast love will not leave you or forsake you. Do you trust His love? Why or why not?
 
-God sits on the throne of Heaven and sees all the children of humanity- even you. This means He is not distracted with global concerns and forgetting to care for you, His child. How does the gaze of God give you gladness and peace?
 
-If no child is out of the sight of the Lord how can you grow in seeing His children, loving them and serving them in the name of Jesus?
 
Key Verse
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,