May the mumbling commence!
Praise the Lord. Sing to the Lord. Give your best and shout for joy. What wonderful injunctions we find at the beginning of Psalm 33! Then, from verses 4 to 19, the pslam describes why we worship the Lord. Read the reasons below:
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.
In Purple, we have the majesty of the Lord on display. The word of the Lord is right and true, because God is faithful. God’s love is built upon righteousness and justice tempered by His unfailing love. Even though God is on high, He looks down on humanity, whom He formed with loving care. Our Creator cares about our every step. These are reasons enough to praise the Lord!
But there is more! In Green, we see the wonder of the Creator in creation. God spoke and it was. The Lord God Almighty gathers the deep seas in storehouses; He is Sovereign over all the chaos of our lives. Let us revere the Lord for the creation that He has given us to care for.
But, what about when things aren’t so good in our lives? The Psalmist knew those times as well. In Red, we see a nation at war. We are told nearly daily that the United States is deep in the midst of the war on terror. There was Iraq; there is Afghanistan. Do we trust in the might of our armies? Do we trust in the trained army, navy, air force, and marine specialists? Do we trust in smart bombs or nuclear missiles or tanks or Apache helicopters?
In the times of the Psalmist, there was no hope in the army or the warrior or the horse. Things are no different today. Our hope is not in our might (which by the way does NOT equal right). If we have any hope at all, it is in reverence for the Lord. There is hope in God’s unfailing love. Yes, God loves us even in our violence and greed. In God, there is life – in the midst of the destruction and death of war that tears us even further asunder from our enemies and in the midst of famine and drought.
To revere the Lord in times of stress and valleys takes a special skill that I need to develop. It is a skill a majority of Americans need to develop – the skill of patience, a fruit of the Spirit. Read from verse 20: “We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.” Yes, there’s that four letter word that begins with “w.” Wait. God grant us patience!
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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