Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord

Psalm 33:12-22 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

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:  Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.  We have indeed been chosen to be God’s people. Through Christ we are given His inheritance. Yet, we can no longer say God bless our nation, because He is no longer Lord of our nation. We have removed Him from our schools and from our public places and meetings. Our laws no longer reflect or agree with God’s laws. We condone and embrace immorality. We allow our babies to be murdered. We bow to the gods of this age. God is still God, but He is not the Lord of this nation. We serve and bow down to many other gods. The blessing of God is not our right, it is our choice. In Deuteronomy 30:15-20 God says:  “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity; in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it. But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days.”    Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.   But, we have not chosen life and the blessing for our nation. 

The psalmist says:  The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men;  From His dwelling place He looks out On all the inhabitants of the earth,  He who fashions the hearts of them all, He who understands all their works.  The king is not saved by a mighty army; A warrior is not delivered by great strength.  A horse is a false hope for victory; Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.  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.  We have trusted in many things. We have believed in and been deceived by the wisdom of man and our own strength. Yet, with all of our wisdom and strength, we are defenseless against the forces of nature. We cannot stand against winds, floods and earthquakes. We have no solution for droughts and famine. We cannot defeat sickness, disease, plague or pandemic. 

The psalmist says:  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.  The soul of our nation has not waited on and trusted in God, but the future of our nation’s soul is at stake. There is still hope. In 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 God says:  “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”   If we will humble ourselves and pray, if we will seek the face of the Lord, if we will turn from our wicked ways, God will hear. He will forgive our sin and heal our land. We will be able to say, 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.  If we will choose life, we will receive the blessings and prosperity of God. 

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.   Blessed in the nation who is a blessing to the Lord.  ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.  ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.  ‘Give us this day our daily bread.  ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’