Friday May 12, 2023

 

A time ago the Holy Spirit led me to read and to meditate on Psalm 33. And that’s where I have stayed. 

I have decided to memorize it – verse by verse. 

Study it – verse by verse. 

And now, share my simple reflections here – verse by verse. 

Somehow I believe it to be a God-given project for me for the next weeks, and months. 

But I don’t necessarily want to be in this adventure all alone. And so, I invite you to join me in it. Because this psalm speaks of “The Steadfast Love of the Lord” – and it would be so meaningful to have a psalm such as this kept deeply in our hearts. Right? Now, it won’t be a “light” or an easy project – because memorizing and studying God’s Word are hard work. But I do believe and trust that it will be eternally worthwhile for each one of us! 

So, let’s start…

For today, let’s read the psalm through, once or twice at least, to get a feel for it in its totality: 

 

“Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!

Praise befits the upright.

 

Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;

make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!

 

Sing to him a new song;

play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

 

For the word of the Lord is upright,

and all his work is done in faithfulness.

 

He loves righteousness and justice;

the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.

 

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,

and by the breath of his mouth all their host.

 

He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;

he puts the deeps in storehouses.

 

Let all the earth fear the Lord;

let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!

 

For he spoke, and it came to be;

he commanded, and it stood firm.

 

The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;

he frustrates the plans of the peoples.

 

The counsel of the Lord stands forever,

the plans of his heart to all generations.

 

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,

the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

 

The Lord looks down from heaven;

he sees all the children of man;

 

from where he sits enthroned he looks out

on all the inhabitants of the earth,

 

he who fashions the hearts of them all

and observes all their deeds.

 

The king is not saved by his great army;

a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.

 

The war horse is a false hope for salvation,

and by its great might it cannot rescue.

 

Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,

on those who hope in his steadfast love,

 

that he may deliver their soul from death

and keep them alive in famine.

This psalm is a psalm of worship, most probably penned by David. In the first verses, the psalmist calls us to praise God – and then in the rest of the psalm we are provided with solid reasons why He is worthy of our praise: 

• first, because He is a righteous and faithful, just and loving God in all His words and in all His works
• secondly, because He is the God whose powerful voice of command created everything from nothing
• thirdly, because He is the sovereign God over all nations and all peoples: sovereign in His counsel and plans, and sovereign in His strength to save
• and fourthly, because He is a God of steadfast love, of deliverance, of help and of life for all those who fear Him, and for all those who wait for Him and trust Him

What a psalm! What beautiful, uplifting, empowering words to fill our minds and hearts for the next weeks and months! 

I can’t wait to start! How about you? Are you ready to join me? 

I invite you to end today’s time of reflection listening to “The Glory Is Yours”, sung by Elevation Worship: 

Because, there is…

“Nobody beside You,

There will never be anyone, anything like You.”

Here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDf7eYS4wVM

May you be richly blessed this week! 

+ REFLECTIONS