The LORD Merely Spoke

March 3, 2016

The LORD Merely Spoke

“The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created.

He breathed the word, and all the stars were born.”

Psalm 33:6

In Psalm 33, the psalmist exposed the folly of those who rely on their own strength, their own wisdom.  The psalmist lived in a world governed by the notion of survival of the fittest, as do we. To this culture, the Word of God is counter-cultural: “But the Lord watches over those who fear him, those who rely on his unfailing love” (Psalm 33:18).

As you read this psalm, you are compelled to wonder how the psalmist could have such confidence in God, while living in the reality of a very violent world of competing loyalties and cultures. Read the psalm again and notice that the source of his confidence is prayer: “Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you alone” (Psalm 33:22). The psalmist was living out the theme of a little book on prayer I wrote a few years ago, “First Think, Then Pray.” The psalmist has taken the time to think, to ponder, and to meditate on the character of God. Then he formulated a prayer to ask God to manifest His character in the life of the psalmist: “Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you alone.”

This beautiful psalm praises our God, who loves you so much He cannot take His eyes off of you: “The Lord looks down from heaven and sees the whole human race” (Psalm 33:13). This psalm is our invitation to never take our eyes, or our mind, off of God, because “the Lord watches over those who fear him, those who rely on his unfailing love” (Psalm 33:18).

Earlier in the week I spent a long and exhausting day at the hospital where my wife was having her shattered elbow surgically repaired. Throughout the day, I had a running text dialog with my best friend who, several hundred miles away, was supporting us in prayer. At the end of the day, he and I were musing on the troubling political scene in America and I commented, “If I can entrust my beloved to the Lord’s care, how can I not trust my country to his mercy and grace?” After all, “The LORD merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born.”

Let us say with the psalmist, “We put our hope in the Lord. He is our help and our shield” (Psalm 33:20).

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.