Daily Meditations

Psalm 33:20   Wait in hope for the Lord      It’s a curious thing that much of our experience of God in this life has to do with waiting. We wait for answers to our prayers. We wait for a new day. We wait for the coming of the bridegroom to redeem His church. We wait in patience to discern the will of the Lord. We wait for sickness to be relieved or for a loved one to recover. We wait for revival or restoration in the church. We wait for God to speak. We wait for the sound of the trumpet! It’s just a random list but it occurs to me that the Christian life has much to do with waiting. We are impatient people; we see no reason why God would delay. We want instant answers and direct guidance and to know what is going to happen next. The false teachers who promise us this every time have failed to understand the true essence of faith. Faith is trusting and obeying without instant responses. It is learning to hope when there seems to be no hope. It is declaring our trust ...

Psalm 33:19   Keep me alive!      Well, there are many things that we fear in life aren’t there? There are many occasions when we rest upon the unfailing love of the Lord. Some of these events or chapters in our lives are out of our control, at other times we reflect on how our own stupid actions have caused our misfortune.  There are two trials that David fears above all others, they are death and famine. The first is common to all men, the second is not known amongst western nations today but still experienced in some third world countries. Imagine having nothing, not knowing where the next meal is going to come from, not having shops and State hand-outs to assist. Imagine being dependent on your land but it has all dried up and every plant has withered away and nothing will grow this season or maybe even the next! Imagine having a family to care for and no way to support them. I can only imagine that it must feel like a living death. What a comfort it is, whe...

Psalm 33:18    The eyes of the Lord are on us     We have contemplated the Lord God looking down on all mankind from His heavenly throne. Verses 13-14 have reminded us that He watches everything that happens on earth, He sees every man and woman and child, for He made them. It was God who decided that we should be born and when we should be born, no one arrives on the planet by accident. Once we are here, He watches to see how we will live, what decisions we will make and how we will relate to Him – our Creator. He formed every heart and He considers all that we do. While men plot and scheme against one another and against His rule and authority He has particular concern for those who have reverence and respect for Him. Amongst the vast numbers of unbelievers are the few who hope in His unfailing love. The eyes of the Lord are on us, dear friends, not judgemental eyes but eyes filled with compassion and care. He watches over you and me, nothing we do or say and even ...

Psalm 33:17 Don't put your faith in your horse!      Just as men today boast in their weaponry, so ancient leaders gazed with admiration at their most powerful tools. World leaders today take comfort from their nuclear arsenals or their military might, why they even have special occasions when some of it is paraded for the public to see how powerful and well-protected they are. Such is the arrogance and utter godlessness of man. In David’s time the most powerful emblem of military might was the horse, especially bred to be strong and intimidating and ready to trample down the enemy. The Lord often cautions against trusting in horses and chariots; in Proverbs 21:31 we read,  “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord.”  And in Isaiah 31:1-3: - Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,     who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots     and in the great st...

Psalm 33:16 The size of the army!      How sad it is! How frustrating. How utterly ridiculous, that since the beginning of man’s time he has thought that he could control his own destiny! Nations and empires have come and gone. Kings and princes, queens and princesses, emperors, presidents, prime ministers, lords and ladies, dictatorships and democracies; all these and more litter the pages of history, and they all thought that their strength lay in their own might, their own ambition, their own authority, their own riches and strength in the world. Not a bit of it! Not one of them has controlled their destiny or that of the nations they served. God is the One who has directed their pathway and so it is to God that they must give account for their brief sojourn on this planet. All around us today, the rich and powerful nations have well-equipped armies, navies and air forces. They have stockpiles of nuclear missiles and other weapons of mass destruction. “No one can hurt ...

Psalm 33:13-15   The Lord looks down      These verses have to be taken together. They are painting a brief word picture of the knowledge and wisdom of an all-seeing, all-embracing, all-understanding God. Imagine that dwelling place on high, the throne room of Adonai. It’s not easy is it? Somewhere, beyond the heavens, is the habitation of this Almighty One, this Eternal Spirit, this Being of profound wisdom, knowledge and power. He who only has to speak, and all things come into being. He dwells in a palace of light, surrounded by angelic beings who praise and worship Him. Is this God arrogant or is He a cruel despot who manipulates the creatures He has made for His own ends? No! He watches and considers and muses and yearns for mankind, the crown of His creation and who are made in His image, to relate to Him. How frustrating it is when so few even acknowledge Him! People are rushing here and there, trying to make the best of their short time on the planet, trying ...

Psalm 33:12 Blessed is the nation He chose       David was the proud king of a great nation, a nation chosen by God and separated from the rest of the world. They were delivered from Egypt in a way that no other nation has experienced. From a disorganised rabble of slaves, they had become, in very short time, an organised and highly effective military force. Their move into the Promised Land brought prosperity, security and prestige and under King David they were now one of the greatest nations in the then-known world. But our king does not attribute this to his own plans or abilities, he gives the glory to the Lord. All these blessings are signs that the Lord is God, that the nation of Israel has been chosen and that they are God’s inheritance, they belong, legally, to Him. They are His by right.  There is nothing in the Scriptures to say that God has rejected Israel, in fact Paul, in Romans 9-11 teaches the very opposite. However, He has extended His ownership and ...