The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord. Is that what you see?

Psalm 33:1-11 (NASB)  from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Praise to the Creator and Preserver.

Sing for joy in the Lord, O you righteous ones;
Praise is becoming to the upright.
² Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;
Sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings.
³ Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.
⁴ For the word of the Lord is upright,
And all His work is done in faithfulness.
⁵ He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord.

⁶ By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
And by the breath of His mouth all their host.
⁷ He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap;
He lays up the deeps in storehouses.
⁸ Let all the earth fear the Lord;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
⁹ For He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.
¹⁰ The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations;
He frustrates the plans of the peoples.
¹¹ The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
The plans of His heart from generation to generation.

“The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord.”  That reminds me of what is written in Isaiah 6:1-4.    In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. ² Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. ³ And one called out to another and said,  “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts,
The whole earth is full of His glory.”  ⁴ And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.   If we look around the world today we might not be quick to say that the earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord or His glory.

We would see violence, strife, hatred and division rather than lovingkindness. We would see darkness and evil, war and pollution. We would hear the noise of man’s cities, his buildings, roads and vehicles rather than the glory of God. The truth is though, what the psalmist saw and what the Seraphim saw does exist. If we want to see as they saw we need to change our perspective. Jesus teaches that our prayer should be:

“Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 'Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven….”  If we are going to pray that things on earth would be as they are in heaven and if we are going to join God in that work, bringing about God’s kingdom on earth, then we need to know what it looks like in heaven. We need to see things from a heavenly view rather than from an earthly view.

It begins as we acknowledge God Himself. Isaiah said: “I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.”   The psalmist says: “Sing for joy in the Lord, O you righteous ones; Praise is becoming to the upright….⁶ By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host. ⁷ He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deeps in storehouses. ⁸ Let all the earth fear the Lord;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.”   Jesus teaches us to pray: “Hallowed be Your name.”  There is very little hallowing of the name of the Lord in our culture today. The name of God and the name Jesus Christ is used at least as often in cursing as it is in giving praise. Seeing from a heavenly perspective requires that we see from a heavenly presence. In Psalm100:4, the psalmist tells the key to entry into heaven.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name.

Thanksgiving and praise open the gates to the heavenly realm. Jesus said the greatest commandment is:   "'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' "This is the great and foremost commandment.…(Matthew 22:37-38)  We can only begin to see as the psalmist, to see as the Seraphim, to see as God sees, if we will love Him with all our heart, soul and mind.

We love Him, not with an earthly human love, that is impure and imperfect. Rather we love Him because He first loved us. Our love is a response to His love. Loving Him then, with all our heart, soul and mind, we can begin to fulfill what Jesus said was the second great commandment.  The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:39-40)

On these two commandments depend the whole Law and Prophets. The Bible is the story of God’s redeeming love for man. From the fall of man in Genesis until Christ’s return in Revelation, scripture reveals the lovingkindness of God. Only as we love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind do we begin to see as He sees. Only then can we love as He loves.

It’s up to us individually and collectively to decide what view of things we will take. We can take the world view and see darkness, violence, hatred and despair. Or as the psalmist says in Psalm 121:1-2, we can say: I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come? 2My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.…

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, forgive me when I see things from an earthly view. I choose today to enter into Your presence God,  so that I might see things as You see them. My prayer is as You taught Jesus, that Your kingdom would come and Your will would be done, here on earth as it is in heaven, now, in and through my life. Help me to fully know and receive Your great love so that in response I might love You with all my heart, soul and mind. Only then through Your great lovingkindness can I love others and begin to see and say as the Seraphim,  “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.”  Amen.