Unfailing love

DEVOTION

PSALMS

UNFAILING LOVE

Ps 33:11-22

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 rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you.

NIV

We might have finished the first ten verses with verse eleven, but it better to begin this section with those words. The plans of the Lord stand firm forever. Just considering his plans are always there, and they are firm, not wavering, not shaky, non- changing, and will always be a solid foundation for our lives. His purpose, the purpose of his heart, side bar, just thinking about the fact God has a heart, brings all sorts of imagery. Well back to the purpose of his heart. His purpose is for us to spend eternity with him, to fellowship with him, to enjoy each other’s company. This is what it was like in the Garden of Eden with Adam. That was his intent, his purpose, but Adam messed that up. However, God never changed his purpose and made a way for us to regain that position, that fellowship. When we make that choice to accept his provision for fellowship he blesses us. When an entire nation lives in that manner he blesses the nation. Historically, we would have to say that Israel is the nation whose God is the LORD. They are the people he chose for his inheritance. But because we also know Israel as a nation rejected Jesus, they had him killed. But we also know that he has declared those who accept Jesus as LORD and Savior as a holy nation, a royal priesthood. He also declares through the Apostle Paul that true Israel is made up of those who have a circumcised heart, rather than simply a circumcised flesh. So then we would have to say we are Israel, God’s chosen people, a holy nation whose Lord is God. He looks down and sees all of mankind, he watches all people and observes their lives. He knows who will and who will not accept his provision for salvation, but he allows each one to make that choice. He formed the heart of every person, he made us in his image, to have a heart like his. He watches to see who will use their heart like his, or who will refuse and shut their heart off. But we who have allowed him to circumcise our heart, to expose it to his purpose for us, will be blessed. Because we fear him, we revere him, we have reverence toward him, and we have hope in his unfailing love, his eyes are upon us and he has delivered us from death and will keep us alive no matter what happens, we will have eternal life. We wait upon him, we live in anticipation of his work in our lives, are hope is in him, both for eternal life and in this life in the here and now. We wait for his purpose to be fulfilled in us. We have a heart full of joy because we trust in him. When men trust in themselves they will not find joy, but only worry, anxiety and frustration, just to name a few. But all that is gone when we put our trust in God. We rejoice in our heart because we are his, and he is our God. His unfailing love is upon us.