Scripture:
Psalm 33:16-22 ESV
[16] The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. [17] The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might, it can not be rescued. [18] Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, [19] that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine. [20] Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. [21] For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. [22] Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.
Observation:
The reality of who GOD is is made clear in this scripture. It’s said the king’s army can do it. Great strength is useless, and the war horse will just give you faults hope. The point that is being made here is that YAHWAH is the key to victory. We will never be able to trust in man. It doesn’t matter how strong he is. This scripture comes right back to the fear of the LORD. This might not make sense to those who don’t know… why would you fear someone who is so good? I believe the fear that is being spoken about is a deep desire to do what HE says. Not trusting in man but trusting in HIM. HE knows the people who hear HIS voice. HIS eyes are watching them. I’m honestly not trying to just look at this scripture at the surface level. It’s just hard not to dive into the application of it. So, in short, what is being said is this: we can’t do it. We can’t trust in man to save us… no one is strong enough. It will never work. The point is the only way to salvation is the LORD. The statement is made that HE will provide when no one else has. Because HE loves the fact that they trust in HIM and HIM alone.
Application:
I have done things my way for a long time. I trusted what I could do and always ended up in a hard place. Nothing else worked. When I finally came to the LORD, I still had a hard head. I have made a lot of mistakes in my walk with HIM and gone through a lot of unnecessary pain. It’s time to trust HIM with everything. All the pain of doing things my way has brought me to a desire to do it HIS way (fear of the LORD). My way doesn’t work. That being said, I can’t second guess HIM. With GOD, it’s all or nothing for me. I have been through the Bible looking for the scripture that tells me HE will be satisfied with half my heart… it’s not in there… trust me. I have looked. My point is through all the efforts of trying to do things my way. All I have found is… my way hurts… I’m not strong enough. But in my weakness… when I give it to HIM… HIS strength will be seen. In HIM, I can overcome. That being said today… I trust in the LORD with all my heart. I don’t lean on what I know, but I rest on HIS understanding. I acknowledge HIM in all my ways so HE can direct my path. What I fear is life without HIM. In the past 8 years, I have been spared a lot of pain. Through submitting to letting HIM lead, I have experienced true salvation here on earth. I trust in HIS word to be my guidance, and when I don’t understand it, I seek counsel from trusted brothers who have been walking with HIM longer, and they direct me right back to HIS word… that’s where all the answers to life are. If we let GOD’S word direct our path instead of our flesh, we will understand what it means to fear the LORD. HE is not going to get you. GOD, HE is going to save you from your self-destruction, GOD.
Prayer:
Father, thank you. I can’t believe how incredibly amazing you are. You are not out to get us you are wanting to save us. Help us to see how you are guiding us. Not restricting us. We have the freedom to choose life or death blessing or cursing. We choose life and of more abundance. Let us not be misled by our emotions but be led by a desire to follow you. What we tend to want leads to pain, and we are just tired of hurting ourselves and others. We know that you are good. You are for us not against us. Mold us to be more like your son every day. It’s in the mighty name of Jesus I pray amen.