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.
Reading this reflection on Psalm 33 really made me pause and look more honestly at my own relationship with God. The line that stayed with me most was, “The eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear Him.” When I think about that, I feel both comforted and challenged. There’s something deeply reassuring in knowing that God sees me—that I’m not forgotten or overlooked. Yet, it also calls me to greater sincerity. There are moments in the quiet of prayer where being “known” feels like a warm light, but I have to admit there are also times when I become self-reliant and forget that His gaze is constant. This reflection is a gentle nudge to stop acting like an orphan and start living like a child of God again.
ReplyDeleteThe image of the Good Shepherd who protects and provides really speaks to my own experience. We often talk about “spiritual dryness” in the abstract, but I know the weight of those seasons where prayer feels like talking to a ceiling and I feel like I’m running on empty. Looking back, I can see that even in those desert moments, The Lord Our God was still there, sustaining me in ways I didn’t recognize. He truly does feed us—often through the Eucharist or through hidden grace—even when we don’t realize how hungry we are.
What struck me most was the reminder that we cannot save ourselves. I struggle with this daily; it’s so easy to fall into the trap of trying to “earn” God’s love or rely on my own strength. But as the reflection says, our efforts alone aren’t enough. When Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life,” I hear it as an invitation to stop trying to do everything on my own. If the eyes of the Lord are always upon us, then Christ is the face of that gaze—a face of mercy, not judgment. Trusting Him means finally letting go of the steering wheel and placing my life in His hands.
I’ve seen this trust grow over time, especially in moments that didn’t make sense at the time. Choosing to lean on Him didn’t always take away the struggle, but it changed how I carried it. I’m walking away from this reflection with a renewed desire to rely more deeply on His mercy, especially when I feel weak. “Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.” This isn’t just a verse—it’s the prayer I want to carry with me into the noise of each day.