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Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,

    the people he chose for his inheritance.

13 From heaven the Lord looks down

    and sees all mankind;

14 from his dwelling-place he watches

    all who live on earth –

15 he who forms the hearts of all,

    who considers everything they do.

16 No king is saved by the size of his army;

    no warrior escapes by his great strength.

17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;

    despite all its great strength it cannot save.

18 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,

    on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,

19 to deliver them from death

    and keep them alive in famine.

Israel was a nation belonging to God in a unique and special sense (Exodus 19:5,6; 34:8,9; Deut.4:20). But there are principles here which can be applied to any people who choose to live under the rule and reign of God.

As it is true that:

The Lord foils the plans of the nations;

    he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.

But the plans of the Lord stand firm for ever,

    the purposes of his heart through all generations (11,12)

… it makes sense for a nation, a people, not to trust in their military might, nor in personal strength; nor to place confidence in human resources, but in God alone. (It’s been pointed out that the whole of Sannacherib’s army was no match for one God-sent angel.) The Lord sees everything occurring on planet earth. Nothing can happen behind His back. In particular we note that He sees those who are trusting in Him (His eyes are “on” them), and He will act on their behalf. Wiersbe comments that God sees what both sinners and saints are doing, and He sees what the sinners are doing to the saints!

‘It is one of our choicest privileges to be always under our Father’s eye, to be never out of sight of our best Friend.’ C.H.Spurgeon.

‘If we make God’s favour sure towards us, then we need not fear whatever is against us.’ Matthew Henry.

Alec Motyer writes that “hope” (18) is a ‘confident expectation that “unfailing love” will look after us.

There seems to be, in my mind, an important application of verses 16,17 to the life of the Christian congregation. We live in a church culture where, by and large, the mega-church is viewed as the pinnacle of success. It tends to be the leaders of large numbers of people who are applauded and placed on pedestals. Whilst we should be thankful for such churches, we should also remember that they are the exceptions. Most local churches (both here and in the U.S.A, and probably in many other places) are small, and numbers don’t tell the whole story. Our confidence should never be in the size of a group – however outwardly impressive – but in the Lord, who alone gives the growth.

The Lord foils the plans of the nations;

    he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.

11 But the plans of the Lord stand firm for ever,

    the purposes of his heart through all generations.

Let’s just pause for a moment to get our bearings; catch our breath, and take in our surroundings. What is the context for today’s text? We have seen that the Psalm opens and closes with the theme of joy (1-3/20-22). Then verses 5 -11 focus on God in creation. Alec Motyer writes:

‘The two stanzas of this section (4-7,8-11) unite in the theme of the supreme ease with which the Creator dominates alike the physical and the personal creation. He is master of the waters (7) and the peoples (10): the waters do his bidding; the peoples are at his disposal…In OT thought the Creator is more than the initiator; he remains sovereign over his creation, worthy of the reverence of all its people and in directive management of all its affairs, restraining and dominant, purposive and irresistible.’ ‘New Bible Commentary’, p.506.

I am so grateful for verses 10,11. They truly are a text for our times. I find they give me language with which to pray about certain current affairs. They also remind me that ‘history is His story.’ God is in control, and He is working all His purposes out. He will get Jesus back to the earth in His own way and time. However powerful a human tyrant may be, he cannot successfully oppose God. The Pharaoh’s and their armies always end up submerged beneath the Red Sea, one way or another.

‘Not only the folly of the heathen, but their wisdom too, shall yield to the power of the cross of Jesus…He maketh the devices of the people of none effect. Their persecutions, slanders, falsehoods, are like puff balls flung against a granite wall—they produce no result at all; for the Lord overrules the evil, and brings good out of it. The cause of God is never in danger: infernal craft is outwitted by infinite wisdom, and Satanic malice held in check by boundless power.’ C.H.Spurgeon: ‘Treasury of David.’

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,

    their starry host by the breath of his mouth.

7 He gathers the waters of the sea into jars;

    he puts the deep into storehouses.

8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;

    let all the people of the world revere him.

9 For he spoke, and it came to be;

    he commanded, and it stood firm.

Nan Shepherd wrote about her life in the Cairngorms, ‘The mind cannot carry away all that the mountain has to give.’ I was thinking that this is true of any study of God. He is infinitely greater than our ability to comprehend.

Just over 4 years ago, Jilly and I visited La Palma – one of the smaller Canary Islands. It is noted for its dark skies. One particular night, probably in the early hours of the morning, Jilly came into our room and said, ‘You’ve got to come and see this.’ I somewhat reluctantly pulled myself up from my warm, cosy bed, and plodded outside into the rather chilly air. But I have to say it was worth it. The great expanse of the heavens was bejewelled, and those jewels looked larger, closer and more sparkly than I had ever seen. It was impossible to feel anything but awe and wonder.

It is “fitting” to praise God for His Word. It is such a powerful Word. He spoke creation into being. He commanded the sun, moon and stars into existence. God’s Word is His work. This is why I am so committed to trying to expound Scripture in context; because I believe if God speaks worlds of beauty will be formed in human lives. Alec Motyer says with reference to “breath” (6): ‘…what the Lord says is full of the Lord’s energy to bring it to effect (cf.9; 104:7,30; GNB.1:3,6).’ ‘New Bible Commentary’, p.506.

‘It is as easy for God to create the universe as for a man to breathe, nay, far easier, for man breathes not independently, but borrows the breath in his nostrils from his Maker…Happy is the man who has learned to lean his all upon the sure word of him who built the skies!’ C.H.Spurgeon: ‘Treasury of David.

It could well be that we have intimations of the Godhead in verse 6: see reference to “the LORD”, “the word” (see John 1:1-4), and “the breath” (or ‘spirit’, or ‘Spirit’).

God is not only the Creator of the universe (6,9), but He is also its sustainer (7). He is in control. In Scripture, the “waters’ are regularly seen as representing the forces of chaos. We need to know that wherever see chaos, God is over it. He rules and reigns.

Spurgeon points out that we can read verse 8 not only as a prayer, but also as a prophecy. One day this will happen. The awareness of the glory of the Lord will cover the earth “as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:!4).

PRAYER: Lord God, amidst the chaos of current history, (and what may sometimes feel like the chaos in my own personal world), help me to know that your purposes will be fulfilled and the earth will be filled with the knowledge of your glory.

Thought: One of the hardest things to do is to remember that the story of God is still the story of the world (John Eldredge).

For the word of the Lord is right and true;

    he is faithful in all he does.

5 The Lord loves righteousness and justice;

    the earth is full of his unfailing love.

It has been pointed out that this psalm is a helpful ‘primer on praise’. The verbs are plural, so it envisages a worshipping community.The psalm opens with a call to jubilant, joyful, musical praise – even shouted praise! The praise of God is “fitting.” But why so?

The word “For” introduces two key reasons:

1. Because of what God’s Word is:
2. Because of who God is.

As I said yesterday, if we ‘count our blessings’ we will find numerous reasons for praise. But here we arrive at the alpine peak of all motivations. Here’s the pinnacle: the greatest reasons for worship revolve around who God is in Himself, and the Word He has breathed out from Himself (see 2 Timothy 2: 16,17. The Greek word for “God-breathed” there is‘theopneustos’ meaning ‘breathed-out’. This led one preacher to observe that maybe we should speak not so much of God’s ‘inspired’ as His ‘expired’ Word!)

This all causes me to ask:

• How moved are we by our Bibles? Job said: “I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread” Job 23:12

• How stirred are we by the truth about God revealed in the Bible?

Warren Wiersbe writes: ‘Of greatest importance is that the worship be scriptural (v.4a; and see Col.3:16). A choir has no more right to sing a lie than a preacher has to preach a lie…When God works, He obeys His own Word; so any worship that is contrary to God’s Word will not please the Lord.’ Old Testament Commentary, p.914.

As we move on through the psalm, we will find that there is a major emphasis on God as Creator. With reference to the last sentence in verse 5 Spurgeon writes:

‘Come hither, astronomers, geologists, naturalists, botanists, chemists, miners, yea, all of you who study the works of God, for all your truthful stories confirm this declaration. From the midge in the sunbeam to leviathan in the ocean all creatures own the bounty of the Creator. Even the pathless desert blazes with some undiscovered mercy, and the caverns of ocean conceal the treasures of love…If earth be full of mercy, what must heaven be where goodness concentrates its beams?’

PRAYER: Lord God, as I consider the beauty of earth, sea and sky, enable me please to look beyond it and revel in the unimaginable beauty of the God who made it all.