FIRM FOUNDATIONS

Opening Prayer

Loving Lord, you alone can save, satisfy, and strengthen my inner being. You are my source of strength and inner healing. I love you Lord.

Read PSALM 33

Psalm 33

¹ Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous;
    it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
² Praise the Lord with the harp;
    make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
³ Sing to him a new song;
    play skillfully, and shout for joy.

⁴ For the word of the Lord is right and true;
    he is faithful in all he does.
⁵ The Lord loves righteousness and justice;
    the earth is full of his unfailing love.

⁶ By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
    their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
⁷ He gathers the waters of the sea into jars^[a];
    he puts the deep into storehouses.
⁸ Let all the earth fear the Lord;
    let all the people of the world revere him.
⁹ For he spoke, and it came to be;
    he commanded, and it stood firm.

¹⁰ The Lord foils the plans of the nations;
    he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
¹¹ But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever,
    the purposes of his heart through all generations.

¹² Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
    the people he chose for his inheritance.
¹³ From heaven the Lord looks down
    and sees all mankind;
¹⁴ from his dwelling place he watches
    all who live on earth—
¹⁵ he who forms the hearts of all,
    who considers everything they do.

¹⁶ No king is saved by the size of his army;
    no warrior escapes by his great strength.
¹⁷ A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
    despite all its great strength it cannot save.
¹⁸ But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,
    on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
¹⁹ to deliver them from death
    and keep them alive in famine.

²⁰ We wait in hope for the Lord;
    he is our help and our shield.
²¹ In him our hearts rejoice,
    for we trust in his holy name.
²² May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,
    even as we put our hope in you.

Footnotes

1. Psalm 33:7 Or sea as into a heap

New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Meditate

‘Let all the world in every corner sing, “My God and King!”.’1

Think Further

The psalms express the many different experiences and moods of the life of faith, but they rest on certain foundational beliefs concerning the God who has revealed himself to Israel. Today’s Psalm is an uninhibited song of praise to the Lord, giving expression to the reality that God is trustworthy and reliable and that his ‘unfailing love’ (v 5) guarantees the security of his worshippers. This poem was clearly intended for public worship, as the opening summons to ‘sing joyfully’ to the accompaniment of an impressive praise band indicates.

The language of the psalm celebrates God’s awesome creative power (vs 6–9), but also confesses his work in the sphere of human history (vs 10–16). Israel is blessed to worship such a God and to be able to recall his intervention in their past history, yet the Lord’s purposes extend beyond this nation and he ‘sees all mankind’ (v 13). While the focal point of the psalm is the blessing which the Lord has bestowed upon the chosen people, the wider context of the whole world and other nations is never forgotten, and the psalmist knows that Israel’s faith and obedience to its Lord forms part of his purpose of grace for those other peoples.

Elsewhere in the psalms we find a contrast to the untroubled praise of this poem in the expression of what has been called a spirituality of disorientation. However, in those dark times the ability to recall faith’s foundations and the joy known in celebrating God’s ‘unfailing love’ (v 22) can bring renewed courage and hope. The beautiful closing verse of this psalm perfectly captures ‘the way in which God’s grace and man’s faith mutually respond to each other’.2

Apply

Meditate on that final verse and make it your heart’s prayer.

Closing prayer

May your unfailing love rest upon me, O Lord, even as I put my trust in you.

Last Updated on February 12, 2023 by kingstar

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