Psalm 33:4-5 "Oh, For The Love of God!"

Psalm 33:4-5

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.

Comments:

"Oh, for the love of God!"

Perhaps you have heard someone say, "Oh, For The Love of God!" in exasperation at one thing or another...or maybe said it yourself. But what if we use it as a prompt to get us thinking about the things that God loves. This passage might put a new spin on it for us. Yes, he loves the world (John 3:16), but what does he love to see in the world? In times like this, it is important for us to realize how important righteousness (innocence) and justice (for all) are to God. This is what he loves to see, for it is what is best for his people. I once posted these verses and commented, “Who could have a problem with such a God as this? My point exactly!” But of course, in a fallen world there will always be those who would have a problem. In this case, the ones who would find fault would be those who are crooked, unfaithful, and committed to injustice. Verse 1 encourages us to "Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright” It is fitting for us to praise God--like custom-made clothes! Will we choose to see God's faithfulness and love at work in the world today with awe, or just pollute our lives with complaining and discontent because its not all about us?

We need to look for God at work in the world. Yet we also see injustice rear its ugly head in moments of acute oppression, not only in places like Kabul, Paris, Munich, New Orleans, Dallas, where the violence is shockingly senseless, but also in the routinely unjust systems that keep the marginalized and powerless down and out. How can we stop the violence? How can we defend against an attack? Where do we look for solutions? Too often our first response is to arm ourselves and fight back. To some extent this approach is effective, in the short-term, in keeping our power and standard of living. However, such methods of avoiding death are not effective in actually providing life.

We are infected with sin and the weapons and ways of the world are of no use in combating a spiritual attack. Later in Psalm 33, the author makes this clear,

v.16-19 "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."

Where is our trust? I have been doing some freelance writing this summer on the life of King David from 1 & 2 Samuel, and have been impressed with his settled conviction to trust in the Lord for his deliverance. Sure he was a great soldier, but it wasn’t in weapons and strength that he ultimately put his trust. While he would defend others, he did not defend himself or raise himself up despite being "the Lord's anointed." In fact, it is possible that David wrote this very psalm (though untitled, it is sandwiched between two other psalms by David). Continuing on through the history of Israel recorded in Kings & Chronicles the two nations, Israel & Judah, made a habit of looking for someone/something else to trust other than God. It didn't work out so well for them. I would much rather hope in God, even during a famine!

v. 20-22 "Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.

For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name.

Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you."

As we hope in the Lord together, may we stop defending our own actions and motivation in favor of listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit directing our efforts to advocate for justice for others.

Psalm 32:5,8-9 "Confession & Counsel"

Psalm 32:5

"I acknowledged my sin to you,

and I did not cover my iniquity;

I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,"

and you forgave the iniquity of my sin."

Comments:

The first five times (out of the six) that I commented on this psalm (back in the pre-blog Facebook days), I focused on v. 5 and the importance of confession in the process of forgiveness. Here are those brief comments, rescued from the digital dust heap of news feed oblivion.

1. Forgiveness always begins with confession. We can't be saved until we admit that we need to be! (2/2010)
2. Our forgiveness starts with our confession to the Lord Jesus that He is right and that we have been wrong, and then as a matter of integrity we extend the forgiveness we have received from him to others who have sinned against us. It is the path to freedom and joy! (8/2010)
3. Confession is always the path to take with God...since covering, concealing, and complaining are completely ineffective, not to mention stupid, considering who we are trying to convince. What a blessing it is to be forgiven! (3/2011)
4. I am so glad that I don't have to confess all my faults and failures to another person but can go directly to the Lord. I am also glad that when I do confess the Lord doesn't reject me but cleanses me, hides me from danger, preserves me from trouble, and surrounds me with deliverance! (9/2011)
5. The more we know Jesus, the more we know that we are not Him. Yet he loves us. Remember "a bruised reed he will not break" (Isa 42:3) but those who are stiff-necked in refusing to confess will be broken. (3/2012)

Then in May of 2013, I changed it up and commented on v. 6-7 instead…

Therefore let everyone who is godly
    offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found;
surely in the rush of great waters,
    they shall not reach him.

You are a hiding place for me;
    you preserve me from trouble;
    you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah

Comment: The tsunami of circumstances and of crisis will not overwhelm the one who prays in the days of peace (preparing for a crisis before it happens). I wonder if we listen really close if we can hear a bit of God’s "shouts of deliverance" surrounding us? (5/2013)

Now, three years have passed since I last commented on this psalm but for today I will pick up where I left off and briefly consider Psalm 32:8-9.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
    I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
    which must be curbed with bit and bridle,
    or it will not stay near you.

Comments: In verse 8 there is a change of voice. It is no longer the psalmist proclaiming blessing (v.1) or giving his testimony (v.3-5) or declaring his faith in God for deliverance (v.6-7). These two verses record the offering exhortation to the congregation to seek the Lord. This is the Lord speaking to the psalmist and the people alike with the instruction of wisdom. We would do well to be teachable to the instruction of the Lord. He is not the cosmic killjoy many have made him out to be. He is the one who restores joy, protects us, and surrounds us with” shouts of deliverance” (v.7).

While he may deliver us with a shout he desires to counsel us with his eye. While we are not an overly quiet family, we live near a family that seems to shout all the time. God’s family is not that way. He doesn’t constantly shout at us out of anger and frustration. Instead, he wants us to know him so well that we will respond to a simple look. For this to be the case we must know God well enough to understand and respond. This comes only by spending consistent time reading through the whole of the Scriptures, meditating on them, and listening in our times of prayer as well as speaking.

I remember hearing a message in Beaverton about 15 years ago, by Brooklyn Tabernacle’s Jim Cymbala, where he spoke about two ideas in v. 8. The first idea being that the Lord says “with my eye upon you” in the sense that there is never a moment when he will take his eye off of us. We are never out of his loving sight. The second idea he shared was that the Lord says, “I will counsel you with my eye” meaning that by the very movement of his eye we will know his leading. However, if we are like the metaphorical horse in this passage then we need a bit and bridle to control us. 

Do we have that kind of eye-to-eye intimacy with our Father that we can clearly understand his counsel? Is it our great desire to please him because he has loved us so well? Or does God have to use the “bit and bridle” of emergencies and crises to bring us close? 

Our honest confession to the Lord, and obeying the Lord's gentle counsel to us brings both forgiveness and freedom!