Psalm 33
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Let's pray together. Our Father, we are so grateful to belong to You through Christ and His amazing work that He has done for us. Indeed, the Father can look upon Him and pardon us because He is satisfied with what His Son has done. And so, Lord, we acknowledge before You that we owe everything to You. And we pray this morning that Your Spirit would be at work through Your Word and that we would see you in your majesty and your mercy, your greatness and your goodness in fresh ways this morning that would lead us to long to know you better and follow you with greater faithfulness.
Do this good work, we pray in Christ's name. Amen. Well, it's a joy to be with you here at this wonderful church. It's one that I have known primarily through Rachel, although Owen and Bethany, who are here this morning as well. Went to Third Avenue for a time as well some years back, but we have just tracked with you in your history here and are so grateful for the work of grace that is happening here at Third Avenue, and it's a privilege. I thank the elders for the privilege of being here this morning. The title of my sermon is Fearing the God of Awesome Greatness and abundant goodness from Psalm 33.
You might want to get the little one-page, one-sheet handout that's in the bulletin to follow along. It'll help you track with the sermon this morning. First of all, just a few words of introduction, fear of this world versus fear of God. Fear is a reality that most Christians face regularly, and in these last years, for many, even more forcefully. Sometimes fear can be so strong and relentless that it nearly captivates and paralyzes even committed Christians. Fear of an unknown future, of uncertain finances, of difficult relationships. Fear of unwanted and unpredictable health problems. Fear of carrying out one's responsibilities when feeling inadequate or incapable, fear of violence or natural disasters, fear of cultural developments hostile to our deepest Christian convictions, and
so much more. For most people, including most Christians, even deeply committed Christians, fear at some level is inescapable. And yet, there is hope. One of the great ironies of the Christian life and one of the most important truths that we can ever know is this. Fear can indeed be overcome, but it can only be overcome through fear.
More specifically, fear of this world in any manifestation or form can only be overcome through fear of God. As we grow in the fear of the Lord, fear of this world diminishes. Fear God and fear nothing else. One of my favorite lines in all of hymnody is the second verse of John Newton's Amazing Grace.
You all know this verse, don't you? "'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed." There it is. grace that teaches us to fear God is the same grace that delivers us from our fears of this world. As we grow in the fear of the Lord, fear of this world diminishes. Well, this brings us now then to Psalm 33, and I want to just make a few comments of introduction about the psalm before we look at it together. First of all, Psalm 33 is a psalm of David, although it lacks the superscription that would tell you so, that you find in all of the 41 Psalms of the first book of the Psalms, all of them are Psalms of David, but four of them do not have a superscription that says a Psalm of David. Psalm 1, Psalm 2, Psalm 10, and our Psalm, Psalm 33. There is good argumentation
in each of those that these indeed are Psalms of David, but I won't go through the other ones with you. But for Psalm 33, one of the main reasons for thinking that it is a Psalm of David also is because of the conceptual connection between the end of Psalm 32 and the beginning of Psalm 33. Look, if you have your Bibles open, to the last verse of Psalm 32. I'll be reading, by the way, from the New American Standard translation in case you'll notice it's a little different, perhaps from the one that you are using. Verse 11 of Psalm 32 reads, Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones, and shout for joy all you who are upright in heart. Then Psalm 33 verse 1 begins, Sing for joy in the Lord, you righteous ones.
Praise is becoming to the upright. So indeed, it does seem to be that it continues on from Psalm 32, perhaps at one time, one unit together, one psalm together that was divided. But nonetheless, it's very clear that David, who in Psalm 32 confessed his sin and experienced renewal then in his relationship with God, now in Psalm 33 is commending all of us to be those who fear the Lord and walk in His ways. So, Psalm 33, a psalm of David. Secondly, it is a psalm of praise, calling for God's people to praise Him, give thanks to Him, sing joyfully to Him in light of God's awesome greatness and abundant goodness, as we'll see momentarily. Five imperatives are given in the opening three verses of the psalm, calling the people of God to joyous celebration over His great character and His work and His words. Look with me, Psalm 33, verses 1 to 3. Count them with
me. Five imperatives. One, sing for joy in the Lord, O you His righteous ones. Praise is becoming to the upright. Two, give thanks to the Lord with the lyre. Three, sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings. Four, sing to Him a new song. Five, play skillfully with a shout of joy. Isn't that amazing? So, five imperatives that are given that call the people of God to sing to God, to praise Him, to give thanks to Him, and primarily it's owing to His Word and works and character, as you can see from verses 4 and 5. So, verse 4, why should we sing to the Lord? Why should we praise him? Why give thanks to him and sing songs of joy to him? Verse 4, for the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. So the word of the Lord, the work of the Lord manifest the character of God, his faithfulness, his uprightness.
As that is continued then in verse 5, God loves righteousness and justice. The earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord. So the character of God is exhibited in God's word that he gives and God's works that he accomplishes. These help us see the greatness of God and the mercy of God toward his people. So after verses one to five, then the rest of the psalm is devoted to two pictures of who God is, his awesome greatness and abundant goodness that center on the fear of the Lord in each of those sections, as we will see.
So I invite you now to look at these sections on the fear of the Lord that we'll see in the remaining portion of the psalm. So first of all, Roman numeral 1, fearing the God of awesome greatness from Psalm 33, verses 6 through 12. And if you'd like to follow along, I'll read that section that we can see what is here before we take a look at it. And when we do look at it, I want to develop it with three different topics or themes for each one of them.
First of all, the context of this section, then the content of the fear of the Lord, which will be in verse 8, as we'll see in a moment here, and then what I like to call canonical witness, that is the witness of this text in other places in Scripture where we see the same thing that is taught. So, context, content, and canonical witness. Let's read verses 6 to 12 of Psalm 33. By the word of the Lord, the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth, all of their host.
He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap. He lays up the deeps and storehouses. All of the earth, let all of the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him, for He spoke, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood fast. The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations. He frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart from generation to generation.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. the people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance. Well, the first instance of the fear of God comes in verse 8. Look at it again with me. Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. And I believe that fear, in this portion of the psalm, Fearing God is a trembling sense of awe and wonder, of amazement and astonishment before God's unmatched power, wisdom, majesty, and righteous authority over all of the earth.
Consider verses 6 to 12 and observe with me these three aspects of the context first. the content of fear of the Lord in verse 8, and then some passages that witness, canonical witness of this same truth. First of all, the context. Well, verse 6 begins with one of the most glorious statements in all the Bible of the creation that is done by God. So verse 6, by the word of the Lord, the heavens were made, by the breath of His mouth, all of their hosts. And I think it's obvious that the psalmist here is reflecting upon Genesis 1, the creation account that we have that begins the whole Bible, where you see there God speaks and brings into existence a universe. In all of the days of creation, they all begin the same way. Then God said, then God said, then God said. So indeed, God speaks and brings into existence a universe. Now, it may be that what I've said so far is all that is intended to be
understood from verse 6 here. By the word of the Lord, His word that is spoken, let there be, and by the breath of His mouth, when you speak, breath comes out. So maybe that's all that the author intended here, but I suspect it's more. I suspect that by the Holy Spirit, who was working in David, the author of this statement, that the Holy Spirit intended there to be a richer meaning than merely God spoke and brought into existence the universe, because in Hebrew, the word dabar that is used here for by the Word of the Lord has its Greek equivalent in the New Testament of logos. And of course, we remember how John begins his gospel. In the beginning, so tying again to Genesis 1, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Well, how does that happened according to John. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. The Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. Listen, all things came into being by Him, and apart from Him
nothing came into being that has come into being. So indeed, Christ, the Son of the Father, the Word of God, the Word of the Father, is the agent of the Father's creating the universe. This Word is the Son. So perhaps by the word of the Lord the heavens were made is meant to be anticipating the teaching of the New Testament where the creation happens by Christ who brings it about. And then also I wonder ruach, the word for spirit in verse 6, by the breath of his mouth all of their hosts, that ruach is the term oftentimes used in the Old Testament for the Holy Spirit. So indeed, the Spirit is present, as we know, in Genesis 1-2, where He is hovering over the waters of the world that is yet unformed. And there the Spirit is mentioned, I think, to help us understand He too participates in creation, in bringing about the created world.
So my hunch is, I can't guarantee this, but I do think it's most likely that verse 6 is meant to communicate to us that the Son and the Spirit are the agents of the Father in this creating of the universe that He does. So, verse 6, clearly, creation by the Word of the Lord. Then verse 7, it's so interesting that what the psalmist does is pick some aspect of the work of God in creation to highlight. And what does He pick out? Well, verse 7, here it is. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap, he lays the deep in storehouses. Now, there was a time when I used to think that this verse was probably about the Exodus, you know, because it speaks of the waters that are the sea together as a heap, and so you think of the waters on the right and the left as the people went across the dry Red Sea. That's a possibility, but I don't think so because it seems the context here is not the exodus from Egypt, but creation itself. I mean, you know that from
verse 6, but also He goes back to creation again in verse 9. We'll come to this in a moment, but He says in verse 9, for He spoke and it was done. He commanded and it stood fast. So here is creation as a context. So what could verse 7 be about? Well, what it could be about is days 2 and 3 of the creation week where God separates waters above from waters below and then separates waters below from the land and creates then dry land with waters that surround. So indeed, the seas of the earth and the clouds of the heavens with the water that is in them, which then raises the question, why would this be focused on by the psalmist as amazing, right? Because this is obviously the point of all of this is to highlight how incredible God is, how powerful and awesome He is. Well, here's what I think it is, my friends, is that when you think about the waters below,
there is more to those waters below than all of us, any of us, has any full idea. My goodness, It's incredible what is there, the seas of the world that encompass the vast majority of this world with all of its creatures and its vegetation as well, all the plant life and the animal life that is there. It is an amazing thing that is necessary for life on this planet earth. And then the waters above also are amazing. Now, this I learned because of my study for this text.
I just, you know, pondered the question, what is amazing about the waters above? Well, it occurred to me, a lot of water comes down from the clouds at particular times, doesn't it? Sometimes huge storms dump tons of water. I mean, literally so. We'll see in a moment. So, I went to a helpful research tool, Google, and put in the question, how much water comes down on, here it is, one acre of land with one inch of rain?
one acre of land, one inch of rain, guess how much water comes down? 27,000 gallons of water. Just one acre, one inch, 27,000 gallons of water. Now, how much does a gallon weigh? Well, a little over eight pounds. So do the math, right? Let's make it easy. Let's make it 25,000 gallons and eight pounds of water, what does that come to? 200,000 pounds or 100 tons of water that was up there in the sky, in the clouds, suspended above the earth, that came down in droplets of rain as one inch of rain on one acre of land. I mean, one person I read on this said it's like picturing hundreds, even thousands of empire state buildings hovering up there in the sky.
That's the weight that is there. And all that weight, just imagine, with gravity at work, it just all dropped at once. It would destroy us. But how amazing it is that all that weight drops in droplets and brings, for the most part, beneficial rain to the earth. It's really quite an amazing thing. So, indeed, verse 7 is speaking of the waters above, the waters below, and how astonishing God is. Verse 9, moving on now, does again reassert the authority of God in creation.
He spoke, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood fast. So, indeed, the authority of God in creation that then is communicated as the authority of God in providential rulership in verses 10 and 11. So in verses 10 and 11, we read that the Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations. He frustrates the plans of peoples. I mean, we think we know so much. Rulers of this world think that they're in charge. They think that they can plan and bring about exactly what they would want, and they're the ones who are ultimately responsible for what happens in this world. Oh no, God nullifies their plans. He frustrates the plans of those peoples. But in contrast, verse 11, the counsel of the Lord stands forever. The plans of His heart from generation into generation. His will is done. His purposes cannot be frustrated or defeated. He is the
sovereign ruler whose design and plan and purpose will be accomplished, and nothing can thwart what God has designed. So, indeed, verse 12, blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the true God of Israel, the people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance. So the context of this section of the psalm clearly is highlighting the awesome greatness of God as displayed in creation and as displayed in providential rulership over all things.
He is the great and mighty sovereign one who spoke and brought it into being and who rules over it with meticulous providential regulation. Great is the Lord. So now, let's look at the content of verse 8 in particular in terms of the fear of the Lord. Tucked in the middle here of this passage is this amazing statement on the fear of the Lord. Verse 8, let all the earth fear the Lord, let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
Now, consider the parallelism of verse 8. To fear God, in verse 8, is to stand in awe of Him for His greatness, power, majesty, and authority. Do you see it? So, notice the parallelism. I mean, so Hebrew poetry is not like English poetry, which often has rhyming, right? The cat sat on the mat, so we have rhyming that goes on in much of English poetry. But in Hebrew poetry, it's parallelism.
And here we have in verse 8 what's called synonymous parallelism, where you have two statements that are made, one after the other, in which they say the same thing but in different ways, right? So notice, the first statement in verse 8 is, let all the earth fear the Lord. The second statement is saying the same thing in a different way. Let all the inhabitants of the world, you can see how that matches with let all the earth, right? let all the inhabitants of the world now stand in awe of him.
So stand in awe of him is what tells us what it means here to fear the Lord, to stand in awe of God, to be amazed at his greatness, his wisdom, his power, his authority, his sovereign rulership over all things, that he is the God who speaks into existence a universe and regulates all that happens in the created order that He has made. So stand in awe of the Lord. This refers then to the awesome greatness of God.
Now, I want to look at just a few passages with you for canonical witness that help us see other places where this same idea of the fear of the Lord is communicated in the Bible. I just have three of them. There are many, many more we could look at. This is one of the main themes of the fear of the Lord in the Bible, is the awesome greatness of God to stand before Him and be awestruck at His greatness. But here are three passages, Psalm 96, verses four to six. You can turn if you want or I'll just read it to you here.
Psalm 96, verses four to six, for great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. He is to be feared above all gods, For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him. Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. So do you see it? It's the very same themes that we see in this text here. The Lord is great and greatly to be praised, to be feared above all gods.
Because of what? For indeed, the gods of the peoples are nothing, they're idols. but He, the Lord, made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before Him. Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. So indeed, the mighty God, the glorious God, who created all things, is the one who is to be feared. Fear the God of awesome greatness. Psalm 90, verse 11. Who understands the power of your anger and your fury according to the fear that is due you?
Now, this text adds an element that is not in Psalm 33 that I want to highlight for us at this point. Listen again, Psalm 90, verse 11, who understands the power of your anger and your fury according to the fear that is due you? In some passages, the awesome greatness of God is a greatness that is displayed powerfully in judgment. So indeed, there are times where the fear of the Lord is quite literally a trembling before Him because you know no one can withstand the power of God Almighty when God is against you in judgment.
I mean, you think, goodness, this is the God who just in the opening chapters of the book of Genesis brings a flood upon the entire world because He is so angry at the sin of the people. Chapters later, brings fire and brimstone upon Sodom and Gomorrah because of the wickedness and sin of those people. So, the fear of the Lord sometimes is a fear that is elicited from the very anger and fury, the wrath of God that is directed toward unrepentant sinners who will not turn from their wicked ways.
So one other passage on that is Exodus 14, verses 30 and 31, where we read this. Let me give you context here real quickly. This is a statement made after the exodus from Egypt. The Israelites have been delivered. They've crossed the Red Sea. And when they got to the other side of the Red Sea, you may remember that they had gotten there without the Egyptian army pursuing them because God had continued to put a cloud over the Egyptian army so they could not see how to go, where to proceed.
It was not apparent to them that there was this pathway that was still open until God told Moses, raise your staff, Moses. And as he did, he removed the cloud so that the Egyptian army could see the way forward, and they went for it. They're on the pathway, the dry ground that God had prepared for the Israelites. They're now taking that and pursuing the Egyptians. And then God closed the waters down upon them, and the entire Egyptian army was killed.
Do you remember this? Okay. So here's the statement that comes at the end of that passage. Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians. And Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. When Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord. And they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses. So indeed, there are times when the fear of God, this awesome greatness of God, is the greatness of the power of God manifest in judgment.
There are other times, as our text here indicates, it is the greatness of God manifest in his works of creation and providence and at times of salvation. So indeed, God is worthy of our deepest respect and awareness of His awesome greatness, for He is the great and living God. So fearing God because of His awesome greatness is part of what is involved in proper fear of the Lord.
But now we move on to Roman numeral 2, fearing the God of abundant goodness. And this we see in verses 13 to 22. So take a moment and follow along with me as I read the rest of the psalm, Psalm 33, verses 13 to 22. The Lord looks from heaven. He sees all the sons of men. From his dwelling place, he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth. He who fashions the hearts of them all, he who understands all of their works.
The king is not saved by a mighty army. A warrior is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a false hope for victory, nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength. Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope for His steadfast love, to deliver their soul from death, to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord. He is our help and our shield, for our heart rejoices in Him because we trust in His holy name.
Let your lovingkindness, O Lord, or your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us according as we have hoped in you. So indeed, the second instance of the fear of the Lord comes now at verse 18, where he says, behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope for His steadfast love. Here, fearing God is a confident and expectant trust that God will provide, protect, sustain, and demonstrate His abundant goodness toward those who look to Him alone for their deepest needs and longings. You know, years ago, I did a study on the fear of the Lord from every text in the Bible. I used a computer program, obviously, to get all of them printed out for me, and I took days looking at the context for every instance of the fear of the Lord or fearing God or to fear
God in any form of it, and discovered there really are two main meanings of the fear of the Lord in the Bible, and both of them are in this one psalm. It's one of the beauties of this psalm together. And the second one, the first one, I think, is one that we would all more naturally think is what fear of the Lord means, to behold the God of awesome greatness and tremble before that power and that might and that glory and splendor. Yes. But here is a second meaning of the fear of the Lord that is as prominent in the Bible as the first one, and that is fearing the God of abundant goodness, that our hope is in Him, that we look to Him for all that we need, and He is a faithful God who will watch over His people and assure them that as we trust Him, our very lives are in His hands and He will care for us. So indeed, fear the Lord as the God of abundant goodness toward us. Now again, what I'd like to do in this section is consider the same
three things again. Context, first of all, and then the content of the fear of the Lord in verse 18, and then some canonical witness that we'll consider at the end of that as well. So first of all, the context. Notice in verses 13 and 14 that the psalmist here is really highlighting what might be thought of as the omnipresence of God. He sees everything. He is everywhere present, and He knows it all. There's nothing hidden from Him. So verses 13 and 14, the Lord looks from heaven. He sees all the sons of men. From His dwelling place, He looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth. Do you see it? So there's nothing hidden from His view.
And of course, this in itself should be an encouraging thing for Christian people to recognize that because they realize that no matter where they go, no matter what they're doing, no matter who they're with, what kind of area that they're traveling in, God is seeing it all. He is there. And as a believer, you know that He will help you in that. So this is a comforting statement for believers. it's also a sobering statement for all of us, particularly unbelievers, but for believers as well because you realize God sees everything. Huh. That means there are no private actions that we can get away with, right? Nobody else sees it, we think. Think again. Oh, yes, God is there. He sees it all. So, indeed, it's a, you know, it's a two-sided idea, isn't it?
The omnipresence of God, yes, comforting to think of God's strength, more of that in a bit here, but also sobering to realize He knows all that we do. So indeed, to live lives before Him, knowing His presence with us at every moment. And then verse 15, it expands on God who sees it all. He also knows exactly who we are and what we're going through in life. Verse 15, he who fashions the hearts of all people, he understands all of their works.
So God knows you better than you know you. Do you believe that? He fashioned you. He made you. He knows how you work. I mean, this is tremendously comforting for people who are puzzled by their own lives, right? Trying to understand why I do this, why I think this way, why I'm troubled in these kinds of ways. Why I have these patterns of life and so on. Well, you know what? God gets it. He understands this. So indeed, we look to Him as the great counselor, right?
The wonderful counselor. Mighty God. So indeed, the one who can know with certainty what's going on and what needs to be done. And because that is the case, then verses 16 and 17 highlight how foolish it is to go elsewhere, to think that help can be found, that strength can be marshaled somewhere else. So verses 16 and 17, the king is not saved by a mighty army.
You would think so, wouldn't you? I mean, a mighty army, what else would a king want but that? Well, a king is not saved by a mighty army. A warrior is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a false hope for victory, nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength. So, indeed, we tend to think that if we just had the resources that we could think up, that we could imagine, if we just had those resources, everything would be fine. But indeed, looking, as it were, horizontally is a huge mistake for us as finite creatures instead of looking first and foremost vertically, right?
I just think for many of us, myself included, because I've, you know, in preparing this sermon, I have reflected back on my own life, and I can think of a number of times where I was guilty of the very thing I'm talking about right now, and that is when something happens when there's some issue that you're facing, that your first instinct is to go horizontal. You know, what can other people do to help me? Maybe mom and dad, you know, they can help. Maybe my friends down the street. Maybe somebody at work, you know, they know how to solve this problem.
And so, we go horizontal. We think of all the things there, and then maybe down the line, you know, fourth, fifth, sixth consideration is, oh, what about God? Huh. Well, my friends, this just should not be, should it? Indeed, we need to cultivate a reflex, develop a new reflex in which we go vertical. First, here are these two words, first and foremost. First and foremost.
First, because we realize our only true help is from the Lord. Look again, verse 16, a king is not saved by a mighty army. A warrior is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a false hope of victory. So indeed, you realize these, going horizontal is foolish in the end, because the only hope you really have is in the Lord, is going to Him. So go to Him first. The reason I say foremost rather than exclusively is not merely because it doesn't start with F, with the letter F to keep alliteration. It's not that. But it isn't exclusive because God often uses means, which are horizontal means. So it may be mom and dad. It may be a co-worker. It may be some way that God uses another person to help you in your time of need. But here's the question. Upon what is my hope resting? Where is my hope fixed? Is it on the horizontal means or is on God. He is foremost in my hope. It's on Him. So, indeed, context here is this glorious statement
of God's presence everywhere and His ability to bring help to His people that nothing else can do. Okay, I'm going to skip verse 18 because we'll come back to it on the fear of the Lord. And then what the psalmist does is he applies this in a very personal way to his own life before the Lord. Verse 19, what has the Lord done for David? And literally he did this, right? To deliver his soul from death, to keep them alive in famine. So you think of many of the Psalms of David that talk about how distressed he was, deep despair many times over the enemies that were pursuing him, fearing for his own life, not having food to eat. And so indeed he has understood that the trials that he's talking about here, and he says that the Lord is the one who delivered him.
Verse 20, our soul waits for the Lord. He is our help and our shield. For our heart rejoices in Him because we trust in His holy name. So verse 22, it's almost as if he makes a bargain with God. So here's how I know it's going to work, says David. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us according as we have hoped in you. I get it, he says.
We must put our hope in the Lord. And if we don't, if we don't put our hope there, then we cannot count on your deliverance of us because we have turned away from you to something else. So let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us according as we have hoped in you. So it's very clear that David is highlighting this God of abundant goodness, who is the one we look to as the one who alone can provide for our deepest needs.
Now, verse 18, let's think of the content of the fear of the Lord in verse 18 itself. And notice again how helped we are with the synonymous parallelism in verse 18. To fear the Lord here is to hope for His steadfast love, to wait for Him, to trust in Him, to depend upon Him. So, indeed, notice the parallelism. Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who… So, here is the fear of the Lord restated, another way of saying the same thing. The eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope or wait or trust in His steadfast love. So here is the fear of the Lord. You go to Him alone as your only final hope, your only foremost hope that you look to. You go to Him as that hope. And indeed, He will be the one who provides for you all that you need as you go to Him.
Now, it's interesting because verse 18 has a mention of God's look upon the world in a different way than back in verses 13 and 14. In verses 13 and 14, let me remind you, the Lord looks from the heavens, He sees all the sons of men. From His dwelling place, He looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth. But verse 18, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope for His steadfast love.
So here in verse 18, it's a narrower look, isn't it? And I think of this as opposed to the general omnipresence of God, that God sees everything, that verse 18 is speaking rather of the focused, attentive gaze of God on His own children. on his own people. He is riveted in his commitment to care for them, to watch over them, to be there for them when they face their needs and when they cry to him for help.
He will be there. He will not fail. His attentive gaze is upon his own. So here's an illustration. I mean, it's really kind of a feeble illustration because I'm a feeble dad. So, you know, this is how it goes. But I do remember my two girls who are here this morning, Rachel and Bethany sitting here in the congregation, I remember when they were very, very little and I would take them to the playground to learn how to, you know, climb the monkey bars.
I mean, that is really risky, right? Those monkey bars are just kind of dangerous things or the tall steps you have to go up to get to that high slide, you know. So, I was with them at the playground, and verses 13 and 14, I was with all the kids who were there, right? I saw them all. Verse 18, but my eye was on my two. You get it? I mean, I was there for them and watching. I mean, Jody could witness. She saw this a few times. There were a few times when I was there just in time to catch before they hit the ground, you know? So, indeed, it's a feeble analogy because I'm a feeble dad, but this is God, the omnipotent, almighty God with unparalleled, undefeatable, unthwartable plans and purposes for your life. This is God who says, my eye is upon you as you
fear me, as you hope for my steadfast love. What an incredible promise. What an amazing statement from God Himself to His people. So indeed, put your hope in Him. Go to Him for all of your needs, knowing that He has committed Himself to your well-being. I mean, we know this also from Romans 8.28, don't we? Right? God causes all things to work together for good, not some things, not when He can make it happen. You know, I'm trying my hardest that maybe this work sometimes. No. God causes all things to work together for good, for those who love Him and those who are called according to His purpose. So indeed, such is the case. Well, finally, just some canonical witness also from this text. Three passages again here I want to point to that are beautiful restatements of this
in other psalms of Scripture. So Psalm 3119 reads as follows. How great is your goodness which you have stored up for those who fear you. Did you hear it? How great is your goodness that you have stored up for those who fear you, which you have wrought for those who take refuge in you. I mean, it's so similar, isn't it? taking refuge in God, hoping in Him, trusting Him, looking to Him, waiting upon Him, is then what puts you in the position of receiving from God His watch care over your life.
Psalm 34, verses 8 to 10. Psalm 34, verses 8 to 10. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints, for to those who fear Him, there is no want. The young lions lack and suffer hunger, but those who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing. It's interesting, isn't it? He uses young lions, you know, which ought to be able to get anything they want in the forest.
They're the kings of the animals there, the animal kingdom. But young lions, in comparison, lack and suffer hunger. But those who wait upon the Lord, put their hope in God, they shall not be in want of any good thing. Now, by the way, I just think you have to take a moment and explain this in light of the culture that we live in with the prosperity gospel and health and wealth teaching that is so prominent out there. Not here, but other places, quite prominent.
When you read that promise, you shall not be in want of any good thing, you have to be careful that you let God define what truly is good for you, which may involve suffering, affliction, trials. Goodness, God uses difficulties in life for sanctifying purposes and for evangelistic purposes in many cases, right? That the comfort with which we are comforted, we can comfort others, and so indeed the ways in which we have experienced God's grace can be used as testimony to others.
So indeed, God has good purposes always for His people. But how He defines what brings about that good and how we define it may be different. So please be careful that you don't become God in this and demand that things go easy for you or you get the things you want or the like. Rather, you come with humble hearts and you say, Lord, if you be willing, right? But not my will but yours be done. So indeed, you know God's ways are always best. Do you know that? Are you confident in your heart of hearts, that you know God's ways alone are always best. Well, indeed, this is what we have to have before the Lord and then know with confidence whatever comes into our lives is designed by the good hand of God, the wise hand of God to lead us forward. Finally, Psalm 130 verses 3 and 4, a little twist here, but it's the same idea of the abundant goodness of God, but here it
is, if you, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you that you may be loved. You might think that's the way it ended, right? There's forgiveness with you that you may be loved, that you may be thanked, that you may be appreciated. Well, all that's true, but that's not what it says here. There is forgiveness with you that you may be feared. To fear the Lord is to realize all the goodness I will ever have in life, in this life and the life to come, including forgiveness for my sins is from the hand of a good God.
So indeed, fear the Lord. Look to Him, trust in Him, for His ways are perfect. Well, let's close this with some application points. You see them on your handout, four of them I want to think about with you. the first one is looking at both aspects of the fear of the Lord together in light of how we began the sermon. Remember, we all struggle with fear. Fearing God overcomes fear of this world. So, how does that work? Fear of God conquers, number one, fear of God conquers fear of this world because, number one, God is greater than any and all in the world, and, number two, God is unfailingly good to those who look upon Him, look to Him. So, I would just encourage you to ponder those two points and realize how those two things overcome fear, that God is greater than any and all in the world, so you don't need to fear what other people can do to you. You just don't have to do that,
because you know He is there, and He's greater, and number two, He's for you. He wants to bring good to you. So indeed, do not fear others, fear the Lord. Number two, this focuses upon the awesome greatness of God. Fearing the God of awesome greatness in particular promotes a humility that is deep, genuine, and pervasive. Isn't that true? Who's the great one? Me? You?
Are you kidding? Oh, goodness. He is the great one. What do you have that you've not received? If you've received it, why do you boast as if you've not received it? 1 Corinthians 4, 7, great passage to think about often. Amen? What do you have that you've not received? If you've received it, why do you boast as if you've not received it? So, indeed, he's the great one. anything we have is from Him, we can't take credit for it. So indeed, fearing the God of awesome greatness promotes a humility that is deep and genuine pervasive. It leads to a shunning of sin and a pursuit of righteousness as God is righteous. So indeed, grow in your understanding of the awesome greatness of God, His holiness, His majesty, His purity, His power, His wisdom in all that He does and is.
And by that, be humble before Him and long to live your life in a way that pleases Him. Number three, fearing the God of abundant goodness promotes a hopefulness no matter what happens in life. Isn't that true? You know God is for you. You know nothing can happen that will frustrate His good purposes for you. Wow, what strength there is in that. So fearing the God of abundant goodness promotes a hopefulness no matter what happens in life, along with a freedom to share generously with others.
God is always good, so you know what? I can share. I don't have to clutch onto this. I can be freed up to give and share generously with others, knowing God is committed to do what is best for His own who fear Him and fix their hope upon Him. Final point. We can only know this God of awesome greatness and abundant goodness only through Jesus Christ.
Now, I imagine most of you here this morning have come to God through faith in Christ. Jesus said in John 14, 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. So if there is one this morning, maybe a young person, maybe a visitor here, maybe even a church member, that's a possibility, who though they have learned a lot over the years, perhaps not so in certain cases, but nonetheless have never trusted in Christ.
And you see, you realize so much is at stake in this. Yes, heaven and hell is at stake in this, but also life that you live today and experiencing fulfillment and joy and being able to see transformation in your life is dependent upon Christ and His work within us. So, indeed, come to Christ, give your life to Him, repent of your sin, and only then will you be united with this God of awesome greatness and abundant goodness will be your God, but only through Christ. Let's pray together. Father, thank you for the privilege this morning of looking at this psalm together. We are amazed, Lord, at who you are. You truly are the one who should be the focus of our life's attention, to know you, for to know you is eternal life.
We pray these things in Christ's name. Amen.