Category: Uncategorized

Psalm 34:4-5 I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.

The human response of seeking the Lord has great reward. The Lord promises to hear us when we seek Him and deliver us from all our fears, worries, doubts, frustrations, and anxieties. Seeking the Lord and no one else means trusting the Lord alone to be my deliverer from both eternal death and from everyday problems. Jesus says, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things that you worry about will be added to you.”

This is not so easy in real life, but the Spirit gives us the power of the gospel unto salvation for those who believe. We seek the Lord to help us seek the Lord. We hear the Gospel and believe His Word of promise, and our faith is strengthened. We believe He will deliver us from all fears.

We look unto Him and our spirit is lightened. We feel fresh and new inside and are not disappointed. Colossians 3:1-2: “If then you have been raised with Christ (and we have), seek the things that are above…Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” The old saying should be rephrased: “He”s so heavenly-minded that it makes him earthly good.” In our fallen state in a fallen world we need constant Gospel reminders to look to Him in all things.

Psalm 34:2-3 My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.

God promises great blessings to His people. The response of the soul (the person) is to boast in the Lord. Brag about your God. Tell everyone how good He is and what great things He has done. The boast is in the Lord, not in ourselves, in our own ability, or in our own good works. Bragging on God implies trust in Him to be big enough and good enough to take care of matters. We are proud of our God. St. Paul says that we glory (boast) in the cross of Christ. In the cross we see the glory of God, and it looks like love, mercy, kindness, and forgiveness. We boast in it and tell the world what great things God has done for us.

We magnify the Lord, making Him bigger in our minds than we ever imagined before. We can’t make Him bigger than He already is, but we expand our minds to try to comprehend how high, deep, wide, and long the love of God is. We exalt Him to the highest place of glory and honor that we can imagine. We lift up Jesus in our hearts and minds to come closer to reality.

Boast in the Lord and magnify Him to expand our faith to begin to embrace the exceeding greatness of His power for us and His love toward us. Make the Gospel a big deal. Brag on the Lord. Make Him bigger. Lift Him up.

Psalm 34:1 I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

We are encouraged to respond to the salvation, blessing, and presence of God with blessing and praise. And this response is to be at all times and continually, because God is always good and His mercy endures forever. There is never a time when He is not good and never a moment when He is not merciful. Therefore, we can and we will bless and praise the Lord always as a regular pattern of our life. Our life is prayer, as David says.

To bless the Lord is to say good things to God and about God. To praise the Lord is to lift Him up to the highest place of worship and regard in our minds. We look to the Lord for every good and never cease thanking Him for it. We naturally become neglectful and forgetful and distracted by the things of the world. For this reason we are faithful and intentional in our weekly worship and in our daily devotions. Then we live through each day with blessing and praise in our thoughts and on our lips.

We praise and bless the Lord always, no matter the circumstances nor how bad we may be feeling. Our emotions and surroundings do not change the truth that the Lord is always good to us, that He is always kind and merciful. We respond by faith in the Word and Promise of God, and not to the feelings of the moment. We can honestly bless at all times, for God is present with mercy. We thank God in everything for all things work together for good.

Psalm 33:21-22 For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. Let thy mercy be upon us, according as we hope in thee.

Faith in the holy name of Jesus brings joy into the heart, and we rejoice in Him. This inner joy of the heart is constant. It is not affected by outward circumstances and emotional feelings. At times, the trust that causes joy affects our emotions and we feel good, but the variable emotions do not affect the heart joy. Faith looks at the gospel truth always, and then the feelings follow. We do not gut check our feelings to see how we are doing; we check out the objective promises of the Word of God, and He tells us how we are doing.

The truth, and the sure hope, is in Jesus and His mercy. We know we have hope because we have seen the Cross and heard the Gospel. Jesus’ love never fails and His mercy endures. Romans 8:24-25: “For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” Faith possesses what we hope for. Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” The mercy of God in the Gospel of Christ guarantees it. Therefore, we respond with joy and hope.

Psalm 33:20 Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield.

When in trouble or in need we are told to wait for the Lord. “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.” He is our help and our shield. He sees our need and hears our prayers. He will come to aid us in our need and protect and defend us in every trouble. He is always there to help and defend His children. We wait for Him to act and we look to no one else.

We wait in faith. Waiting is trusting. We believe God will hear and act in His time and way. It may take some time for the Lord to work out everything for our good. In the meantime, while we wait, we hold on to His promises and we believe. It may seem to take some time, but His timing is always right. As they say, “God is not in a hurry, but He is never late.” The waiting time is for us to maintain and grow our faith.

The OT believers waited a long time for the promised Messiah, but in the fullness of time He came. So we hang on to His promises and trust Him to be our help and shield. In one sense, we spend our lives waiting for the Lord. We live our lives in prayer and faith.

Psalm 33:18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear Him, upon them that hope in his mercy.

Blessing from God is for those who respond to Him with fear and hope. The eye of the Lord is upon them. God is always present, He cares, and He is watching. The eye is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, He watches to find out our sins in thought, word, and deed. Thus we fear His punishment and separation from Him, leading us to repentance and faith for forgiveness. On the other hand, He watches over us to protect and bless with love and grace.

God is also looking for those who hope in His mercy. He powerfully desires to show us mercy and grant forgiveness. God can be merciful because of Christ, and those who repent and believe the Gospel can be sure of mercy. He carefully searches for those who hope in mercy, who believe Jesus. Being omnipresent, His search won’t miss the heart that fears (repents) and hopes (believes) in mercy.

We live in fear and hope every day, that is, we repent and believe the gospel. This kind of faith response needs to be nurtured and repeated constantly. It helps to be reminded that the Lord is always here to watch us and watch over us. For this reason we are in church weekly and in prayer daily.

Psalm 33:1-3 Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright. Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise.

Rejoicing in the Lord includes praising Him with singing and with musical instruments. David responds to God with worshipful psalms and songs using a lyre or harp. Today we might use an organ, a piano, or a guitar, but the expression is still the same: rejoice, praise, sing. Beautiful music is an appropriate way to rejoice and praise the Lord.

Since God is always good and His mercy endures, it is fitting to sing and praise the Lord when believers gather and also to make melody in our heart to the Lord all during the day. This is one way we rejoice in the Lord. We also rejoice with shouts, prayer, thanksgiving, hearing the gospel, and by doing good and kind deeds to others. Much joy in the Lord is experienced when we live uprightly by faith. The abiding joy in the Lord finds expression in our feelings, our face, our words, and our interactions. The joy and peace of believing enters our hearts and comes out through our lips.

Psalm 32:11 Be glad in the Lord; and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all that are upright in heart.

Joy is our response to God, His goodness, His gospel, His mercy, and His love. Inner joy is the hallmark of the Christian. It is a deep, abiding joy, that nothing and no one can take away from us. Joy is produced by the Holy Spirit as a fruit. It is a given. It is earned and granted by Jesus by grace in His death and resurrection, and implanted personally in the heart by the Holy Spirit through the faith created by Him.

We are told to “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I will say, rejoice [Philippians 4:4].” The key phrase is “in the Lord.” We will find no lasting joy in our self, which is dead in sin, nor in the world, which is passing away. But in Him we have joy. And that possession is “always,” all the time, no matter what is going on, no matter the circumstances, and no matter what our emotions are feeling. Emotions are fleeting. The joy of faith is eternal.

We draw on God’s implanted joy, and we are glad and shout for joy. And we rejoice by faith, not because we feel good, but because it is true. God said it. God gives it. And I believe it. The command to rejoice does not mean make it up or put it on. It means to respond to the inner truth of God’s abiding love. Rejoice by confessing sin, receiving forgiveness, and then thanking Him all through the day, no matter the outward circumstances that try to rob you of true, spiritual joy. Rejoice by faith, for it is really true, and let that joy affect your feelings in time. Then we can give a shout. For we are righteous in Him.

Psalm 32:6, 10 For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the flood of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him….Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about.

In a time of need (which is every day) believers (the godly) may pray unto the Lord for He is always nearby and ready to help and save. Floods of great waters may threaten, but it will not come near to you. Waters is a metaphor for any kind of trouble that may threaten us. But Jesus says we don’t have to worry; He will be present to save and deliver.

As long as we live in a sinful world sorrows will surround the wicked. We are counted among the sinners who deserve death and judgment. Sorrows are a part of life on earth. But mercy is also present and it is stronger, for the Gospel promises mercy and salvation to those who trust in the Lord. And it overcomes. Mercy is stronger than sorrow. Mercy compasses us about and overwhelms the sorrows that also surround us. We may not feel that at times, but it is an unseen truth that we can believe. So we pray and trust. Look to the gospel promise. Look upon Jesus. Look to Almighty God the Father.

Psalm 31:24 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.

The Bible offers several exhortations to be courageous. Courage faces fear with faith in God. It looks at the future and the unknown with the eyes of faith fixed on God, and we are able to move forward. Faith sees the sunshine behind the clouds and takes courage. And when we step out in faith and begin to act, the Lord comes in to strengthen. It begins with a mustard seed faith and it grows. The Holy Spirit grants the beginning of faith through the Gospel, and the continued nurturing of the Word strengthens and grows our faith.

This promise is for all those who hope in the Lord, and not in any other worldly thing. Hope in the Lord does not disappoint. We trust the Lord and hope in the Lord, and we are strong and courageous. Because God in Christ is good and strong for us, we can apply the faith that He grants. Take heart and face it all with courage. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”