Psalm 33
pt 5
O the things we credit for saving us! O the things we call ‘strong’ and those we call ‘weak.’
The Sovereign Lord sustains a man or he falls.
His Ever-Watchful Eye never misses a single detail. He has, after all, ordained all things from the beginning.
It is the great duty of every believer to continually remember that He watches Carefully and Perfectly over all His people. A big part of worship is noticing and giving thanks for those pieces of His Care that are visible and obvious to us.
16 There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. 17 An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.
From Matthew Henry:
- All the powers of the creature have a dependence upon him, and are of no account, of no avail at all,
without him, v. 16, 17. It is much for the honour of God that not only no force can prevail in opposition to
him, but that no force can act but in dependence on him and by a power derived from him.
(1.) The strength of a king is nothing without God. No king is sacred by his royal prerogatives, or the authority with which he is invested; for the powers that are, of that kind, are ordained of God, and are what
he makes them, and no more. David was a king, and a man of war from his youth, and yet acknowledged God to be his only protector and Saviour.
(2.) The strength of an army is nothing without God. The multitude of a host cannot secure those under whose command they act, unless God make them a security to them. A great army cannot be sure of victory; for, when God pleases, one shall chase a thousand.
(3.) The strength of a giant is nothing without God. A mighty man, such as Goliath was, is not delivered by his much strength, when his day comes to fall. Neither the firmness and activity of his body nor the stoutness and resolution of his mind will stand him in any stead, any further than God is pleased to give him success. Let not the strong man then glory in his strength, but let us all strengthen ourselves in the Lord our God, go
forth, and go on, in his strength.
(4.) The strength of a horse is nothing without God (v. 17): A horse is a vain thing for safety. In war horses were then so highly accounted of, and so much depended on, that God forbade the kings of Israel to multiply horses (Deut 17:16), lest they should be tempted to trust to them and their confidence should thereby be taken off from God. David houghed the horses of the Syrians (2 Sam 8:4); here he houghs all the horses in the world, by pronouncing a horse a vain thing for safety in the day of battle. If the war-horse be unruly and ill-managed, he may hurry his rider into danger instead of carrying him out of danger. If he be killed under him, he may be his death, instead of saving his life. It is therefore our interest to make sure
God’s favour towards us, and then we may be sure of his power engaged for us, and need not fear whatever is against us. (from Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition, Electronic Database.
Copyright (c) 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; 19 To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.
The word translated ‘hope’ here is to be read as ‘trust,’ i.e. have faith. David was certain of Justification by Faith as well as confident that he who believes with Saving Faith is kept by God. He does not merely watch but watches so as to deliver.
Who can count all of the times and all of the ways that God has protected him/her? How many diseases has any person encountered over the course of his life which have been dismissed by the Divine Hand? And how many that we have contracted have been prevented from being as bad as they might have been?
We observe ‘near misses’ in our encounters with the dangers of life but who has an inventory or even awareness of all of those which never happened, those that the Lord went ahead of us and prevented from ever even coming near us?
Every one of His children is under His Superintendence for every moment of every day all of his life. Do what he will, the Evil One cannot undermine nor subvert that care. This means that everything which comes to us that we might count as happenstance, ‘good fortune’ or ‘bad luck’ is actually the direct gift of God designed to bring us to a place of spiritual strength and confidence in His Love, even a place of the fullness of His Spirit.
Rom 5:1-5
5:1 Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us NAS
Trust God!
— May 23, 2020