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Daily Devotion: Psalm 33:10-13

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Psalm 33:10-13    "The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.  (11)  The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.  (12)  Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.  (13)  The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men."

The theme of these verses points us toward the LORD.  The LORD overrides the counsel of the heathen. The LORD gives good and right instructions. The LORD is the source of all blessings for any nation. The LORD blesses the people He has chosen. The LORD looks down from heaven and sees what is happening.  The next question that would come to the natural mind would be something like this:  "If the Lord sees and knows, why does He allow things to continue as they are?"  Would that be a fair assessment of what we hear and see from all around us?

Let's take God's Word to look at it from another direction.  We do not have to wonder what God's intentions are toward us.  Let's first look at the words of Jesus.  "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46)  Why would I even have the right to say Jesus is my Lord if I'm not going to do what He tells me to do.  On the night of His betrayal, Jesus spoke these words:  "Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am." (John 13:13)  He then went on to say, "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." (John 13:17)

Please stay with me on this because there is rhyme to my reasoning. Let's look at the words of God in the Old Testament. They are familiar. We have heard many sermons on them. We hear them quoted all the time. We see them written quite often. But let's look at them for just a moment as we consider that the LORD is our God.  "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14)  

We quite often hear people asking, "When is God going to do something about all the evil that is in the world right now?"  We hear verse 14 quite often, but let's look at verse 15:  "Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place." (2 Chronicles 7:15)  If you allow me to put this in my everyday language, I picture it something like this.  People are asking, "When is God going to do something about all this?" And in the meanwhile, I picture God asking, "When are my people going to turn to me in true repentance?"  He has promised blessings IF we do those things. May I submit to us (and I realize this may sound harsh), quoting the verse, or writing the verse, is not praying the prayer of repentance, seeking forgiveness for ourselves and our nation. We must not only quote it, we must live it from the heart.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD. But that nation's blessings come through doing the things the Lord commands us to do.  May we, as a nation, fall on our knees before the LORD God Almighty in humble submission to His will for us.

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