PSALMS 33
Not such a long time ago going back in time say 150 years ago, people didn’t understand the connection between what they did and what happened in the world around them they would follow family traditions and some superstitions. Even if they did, they were a little reluctant to do anything about it.
If you were cold, you lit a fire. If the sun was too hot, you went into the shade and when it grew dark outside, you went to sleep or peered at the pages of a book under the flickering of candlelight. Very basic, very safe! Safe because there was nothing that one could do to majorly change things, so you lived with limited expectations.
Then the industrial age started its relentless march forward. In the past 100 years alone, mankind has learned to fly, harvested the power of the atom and developed small hand-held tools that connect us anywhere in the world.
It hasn’t been a free ride however. Every new innovation has brought new problems. The delicate balance between the many facets that make up creation we call nature and has become very much out of synch. So out of synch it’s causing untold complications that were only now realizing. World’s leaders have called meetings to tackle these unforeseen circumstances, but the meetings are just as frustration as the hoax of environmental global warming that seeks to save. Just as we have developed incongruent in the natural world, so too those involved in decision-making are at odds with each other.
The only way mankind can save itself from its own selfishness is by realizing that all of nature is a finely woven tapestry made according to the Creator’s divine plan. Every time mankind decides to play God and forgets who the real Creator is, the results are catastrophic.
You would suppose that with all the brain power we have harnessed in the last few decades, someone would have figured all this out. The problem is that those involved are too involved. They can’t see the wider picture because they are too entwined in its main objective of the making of money.
Certainly, one of life’s greatest challenges is to be able to see above one’s own interests. The inability to do so leads to the frightening predicament in which the world finds itself today. When we lift ourselves above our own ego, we can perceive the Oneness of The Lords plan and accept that this creation we enjoy is all His doing.
Historically, such obtuse behavior is nothing new. It’s only that today we have the means to wreak havoc, whereas in times past, mankind’s ability to cause damage was more limited.
King David speaks of these concerns as he describes the differences between the worldview of the righteous and that of the egocentric leaders of the materialistic realm.
David joyfully exults in The Lord, O righteous ones! For the upright, praise is fitting. When seeing the glories of the world, the righteous person will feel prompted to sing praises to The Lord. Such praise will be fitting, because it will come from those who truly understand the magnitude of God’s gifts.
In our times, there is no lack of Godly talk from those in positions of power. It sounds good in its place. Two-minute sound bites pitched to the “Holy Squad.” But they don’t mean it deeply, not where it counts, not in their hearts. They are blinded by their own agenda and feel no compunction about using The Lord’s name “Jesus” for their own purposes.
Sing Him a new song. Play well, with jubilation. Every generation has its own particular song of praise to give to Jesus. Each epoch sees the world from its own vantage point and should praise Jesus with the skills He has granted.
For The Lord’s word is straight, and all His deeds are done in faithfulness, unlike the temporal powers here on earth, Jesus’ word is upright, standing on its own, beyond all mankind’s pettiness.
Jesus loves righteousness and justice. Jesus’ kindness fills the earth, Jesus’ tend to view justice and truth and not through the tinted lenses of self- admiration. Clear vision, though, comes only from The Lord. Only He, for whom each human heart is an open book, can measure righteousness and justice. His kindness is far beyond our puny self-interest, and its magnitude can thus fill the whole world.
By the word of God the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth, all their host. David now makes a strong declaration: “The Lord created all you see above you!” With one word it all came, and it can all be taken away.
He gathers together, like a mound, the waters of the sea. He places the deep waters in treasure houses. The world was created with borders. At first, the waters covered everything. Then God gathered up the waters and created boundaries for the land and the sea. This is a vital lesson for mankind. Initially, God created the world without such borders and then devised them. From this we learn that living without borders is chaos. It leads us to drowning in our own anarchy. Rather, look and find your borders. Know where you should delve and where not to. Then the life- giving waters of knowledge will be stored up in treasure houses, ever ready to give us their worth when needed.
Fear God, for God created the world in such a way that man will never be completely at ease or complacent. There must be some tension, a frisson that humbles him. Therefore, He created forces of nature that can never be controlled and are kept in place only through His will.
For He spoke, and it became. He commanded, and it stood. The Lord annuls the council of nations. He foils the thoughts of peoples. God created something from nothingness. This is beyond human understanding, as is the concept that by His command, He continuously allows for matter to exist. If The Lord should withhold His energy for one moment, all would dissolve in the blink of the eye. With this realization of God’s enormity, we can understand how all the councils, meetings and thoughts of man mean nothing. There is an old Yiddish saying, “Mench tracht und Gut lacht, man plans and God laughs!” Ps. 2:4 Ps. 37:13
We live in a shadowed land where it seams all are led to think that we can control things, but even this is The Lord’s will.
God’s council will stand forever and the thoughts of His heart are for all generations. The greatest challenge for any man is to totally accept that The Lord’s guidance of will and to stand the test of all times and circumstances. It is easy enough to say we believe this, but deep within our hearts there is a bit of an ego that rebels. It often takes the lifelong test of living to overcome this problem and learn to give this feeling to The Lord entirely. When we come to this level we will know that it’s the Torah, that shows The Lord’s heart, and it’s for all generations forever. God does not change but human beings continually change.
From the dwelling place, The Lord supervises all the inhabitants of the earth. There is a Kotzker vort; “Where is God? Wherever you let Him in and where two or more are gathered together in the Lords name in one place, Jesus is there.” God seems to be far only to those who really aren’t ready to let Him into their reality. The Holy Spirit’s dwelling place is in our essence held in our hearts. We deny this when our ego obstructs our view of Jesus’.
This entire psalm 33 is saturated with hope. If mankind would only accept what it so deeply wants in its soul and the borders drawn by God then we could use all that is positive to the greatest advantage. For us as God’s people, the challenge is obvious; we must work within ourselves to actualize these beliefs on a constant basis. It takes time and work to do this in real terms and in such a time as this and that’s why we are alive.
Blessings Steven
