The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord.

Psalm 33 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.
¹² Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.

¹³ The Lord looks from heaven;
He sees all the sons of men;
¹⁴ From His dwelling place He looks out
On all the inhabitants of the earth,
¹⁵ He who fashions the hearts of them all,
He who understands all their works.
¹⁶ The king is not saved by a mighty army;
A warrior is not delivered by great strength.
¹⁷ A horse is a false hope for victory;
Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.

¹⁸ Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope for His lovingkindness,
¹⁹ To deliver their soul from death
And to keep them alive in famine.
²⁰ Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
²¹ For our heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
²² Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us,
According as we have hoped in You.

The psalmist says:  Sing for joy in the Lord, O you righteous ones;
Praise is becoming to the upright. Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;
Sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings. Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy. For the word of the Lord is upright,
And all His work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord.    Many will look at the circumstances on earth, the violence and evil, and will question if God is truly a loving God.   The psalmist understands what they do not. God not only loves us, He also loves righteousness and justice. His word is upright.   Those who question God fail to recognize that it is because of disobedience and rebellion against God that there is evil and violence in the world. If God loves justice, then there must be consequences for unrighteousness. If people will not obey the loving kindness and the will of God, then they become subject to the will of man.

The psalmist says:  By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples.
The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.   I love the account of God confronting Job in Job 38. Verses 17-21 say:  Have the gates of death been shown to you?  Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness? Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this. What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside?  Can you take them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings? Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years!   The psalmist and the writer of Job may seem completely foolish and naïve; not understanding the most basic scientific facts.  Could God though not challenge even the brightest minds in science today?  Even though we have lived so many years and accumulated so much knowledge, there is still much about the vastness and the intricacy of the earth and the universe that we do not understand.  In Luke 12:25-26 Jesus says:  Which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span? If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters?   The same truth which applies to worry also applies to our plans and our schemes. Whether individuals or nations, no one can extend there own life beyond the time appointed by God. Just prior in Luke 12:16-21 Jesus says:  “The land of a rich man was very productive.  And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”  Daniel 2:20-21 says:  Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him. It is He who  changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding.  People and kings may strive in vain, but the counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.

The psalmist concludes saying: Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope for His lovingkindness, To deliver their soul from death And to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield. For our heart rejoices in Him, Because we trust in His holy name. Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us,
According as we have hoped in You.  In Jeremiah 29:13 God says:   You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.  Those who do not see or find the love of God or the God of love, have not sought Him with a heart of love. If we hope for love, we will find the love of God.  In John 3:16-21 Jesus says:  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.  He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.  For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”   Many see only darkness and evil, because darkness and evil are  what they love. They do not come to the light and love of God because His light dispels darkness. 1 John 1:5 says: God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

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