Reflections
Psalm 33: 1-2, 4-5, 18-19 (Read)“The eyes of the Lord are upon those
who fear Him, to deliver them from death,
and preserve them in spite of famine.”
The Psalm says that the Lord's eyes are
upon us because we hold Him in awe,
we praise Him. Like a Good Shepherd
He protects us from harm; He puts up
a hedge around us and provides us with
armor in our battle against death and the
evil one. He feeds us when we go through
periods of spiritual hunger. He nourishes
us and gives us our daily spiritual bread.
Where else would we turn for deliverance from
death, the kind of death which is a consequence
of sin? Remember, “The wages of sin is death,”
and we are all afflicted. Fortunately for us, Christ
destroyed death and brought life to us
We would be dead in our sins without the Lord's
protection, defeated by the evil one without the
Lord's armor. And when our hearts are starved
for God's presence, when our bones are dry, He
nourishes us and breathes life into our dry bones.
It is through His Plan that we are saved. Our
own feeble efforts count for nothing. We must be
submissive and abandon ourselves to His Plan.
Our Savior himself tells us in today's Gospel,
"I am the way and the truth and the life," and He
teaches us, "Whoever believes in me will do the
works that I do." (John 14: 1-12)
Because Christ humbles himself for our sake,
becomes a slave to our sin, there is hope for us,
even in our time of spiritual famine. That is the
meaning of the response, “Lord, let your mercy
be on us, as we place our trust in you.”
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. Our psalmist speaks of holding the Lord
in awe and knows that the eyes of the Lord are upon
us. Describe how you react when the eyes of the Lord
are upon you and you are in His presence.
2. The Psalm Response today inspires us to place
our trust in the Lord and await His mercy. Tell of
how your trust in the Lord has strengthened you and
inspired you to do His will.
"But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,"
ReplyDeleteNot only does the Lord direct events in society, He is concerned with each of us personally. God sees, and always has seen, all that we do. He keeps His omniscient eye on everyone. What a blessing that "God does not show favoritism" (Rom. 2:11). He is concerned with all of us: not just kings and prophets, not just the rich and the famous, but all of us.
God not only has His eyes on all of us, but also, just as He directs societal events, He also directs the events in our individual lives. This may be disconcerting to those who trust in their own strength, but to those of us who see our own weakness, this is a comfort. I do not have to depend solely upon my limited abilities. God is with me working everything to His will.
“Place our trust in the Lord, and await His mercy.” Now that’s really good advice, and that’s exactly what we are doing. The fire storms are all around us in North County San Diego, and there’s simply nothing we can humanly do, besides watering down our front and back yards. What we can do, and we are doing is praying for help from the Lord. Pray for us that we and our community will be spared. May God continue to bless you.
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