Pilgrim Worship: Thursday Psalms: Our Soul Waits on the LORD

Blessed Thursday to each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, your Savior!

Today we have these verses from Psalm 33 which teach us about hope. The deeds and works of man [kings, armies, warriors, etc...] only produce false hope which cannot rescue anyone. But those who fear the Lord and walk in His steadfast love will be delivered from death!

Psalm 33:12–22

¹²Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,

the people whom He has chosen as His heritage!

¹³The Lord looks down from heaven;

He sees all the children of man;

¹⁴from where He sits enthroned He looks out

on all the inhabitants of the earth,

¹⁵He who fashions the hearts of them all

and observes all their deeds.

¹⁶The king is not saved by his great army;

a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.

¹⁷The war horse is a false hope for salvation,

and by its great might it cannot rescue.

¹⁸Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,

on those who hope in His steadfast love,

¹⁹that He may deliver their soul from death

and keep them alive in famine.

²⁰Our soul waits for the Lord;

He is our help and our shield.

²¹For our heart is glad in Him,

because we trust in His holy name.

²²Let Your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,

even as we hope in You.

If you're like me, verse 20 is both encouraging and frustrating. Consider Abram and his conversation with God in our Old Testament reading for this Sunday [Genesis 15:1-6]. God says "Fear not, Abram, I am your shield..." But Abram reminds God "I'm still waiting...!!!" God had promised Abram & Sarah a son even though they were already old, and God had not yet delivered on this promise. So God renewed His promise to Abram, showing him all the stars in the heavens and said "So shall your offspring be." As they say, "the rest is history". God kept His promise and from Abram came eventually Jesus, who has redeemed all people into God's family.

May your heart be glad in Him, as you trust in His holy name. Our hope is in Him, not a vain and unsure hope, but a confident hope because God keeps all His promises. Jesus Christ has delivered your soul from death. God the Father is our help and our shield.

Count on it, because God has done it for you!