Blessed is the Nation Whose God is the Lord – Part II
From The HeartPublish date: 07/08/2012
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord… Psalms 33:12a
The nation who honors God as their God – God of that nation – is a blessed and happy nation. Conversely, the nation who will not recognize God, and who dishonors Him, is a nation who has a curse on it and its people. God made us – He created the universe and all that’s in it. Out of His benevolent love He created us and out of this love, He sustains us. He laid out principles, that if we obey and follow, we will prosper.
Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright. 2 Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. 3 Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise. Psalms 33:1-3 KJV
This Psalm starts out with a command for those who are righteous - those in right-standing with God - to rejoice in the Lord, to praise Him, give thanks, play instruments, and sing – with a loud and joyful sound! He also follows up, in this Psalm, with the reasons we should praise Him. Praise and worship is an acknowledgement of authority. Praise and worship could be singing or it could be speaking. When we talk highly of someone or something, we are praising that person or thing. You worship that which you love, respect and submit to. When you praise God, you are acknowledging His Lordship and the fact that HE is your Master and that HE is in control and that you are dependent on Him in and for ALL things.
For the word of the Lord is right; and all his works are done in truth. 5 He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. Psalms 33:4-5
We can and should praise God for His justice, faithfulness, loving-kindness, goodness, and truth that appear in His word and also in His works. When you praise Him for all these things, you also become a recipient of them. The more you praise Him, the more you open yourself to receive from Him, and the more you receive.
The Word of the Lord is right; therefore when we deviate from it, we are in the wrong. We are right when we agree with it. The Father watches over all men. He made us and He knows us and nothing is hidden from His eyes. We can hide nothing from Him, neither can we pull the wool over His eyes, so we might as well speak the truth to Him – and to others.
God’s word is true and reliable. All the words God speaks are right and true. Everything He does is done in truth. He loves the truth and, unlike men, He never lies. That is why His word can be trusted and relied upon. God never moves the goalposts – He doesn’t change His words – He is constant and consistent. He doesn’t forget or leave His promises unfulfilled. We can trust the Scriptures because they contain the words of a holy, trustworthy, and unchangeable God.
If God’s word is true and right, and if we want to have and live in truth, then we must conform to His word. The problem is that people want to sin and do their own thing. If you are going to sin, but you really want the truth and you want to be right with God, then you’ll need to repent and change what you are doing to line up with God’s word. Or if you don’t want to stop sinning and you don’t want to repent, change and be right with God, then in your own mind you’d have to negate God’s word and cast it out as irrelevant or untrue in order to validate your sin and make it acceptable. So what was once called sin is now called merely a “lifestyle” or a “choice”. Many people have utterly rejected the word of the Lord, all because they refuse to quit sinning and change their ungodly lifestyle.
By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. 7 He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. 8 Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. 9 For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. Psalms 33:6-9 KJV
We can and should praise God for His creative power - for the fact that He created us and all that we see – the universe – the heavens and the earth! He spoke and it was done. He commanded and it stood fast. What a great God! He deserves to be revered and worshiped by ALL the inhabitants of the earth! Only a fool would not recognize His handiwork or that He IS the Almighty God.
The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. 11 The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. Psalms 33:10-11 KJV
There is no government of man that will succeed without respect for the ultimate authority of God in their lives and without the acknowledgement that He alone is the author of their blessing and the source of their supply. God's plan is always a good plan and the best plan. Isaiah 9:6 says that the government is on Jesus' shoulders. Man's standards, values and plans are temporal and inconsistent, but God's counsel and plans stand strong and steady through successive generations. Man and his plans come and go and fade and fail, but God and His word stand through it all and above it all. If a nation is to succeed - there is only one way - make God number One in that nation and acknowledge that the nation and the government and the people are totally and utterly dependent on Him!
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord: and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. Psalms 33:12 KJV
God's peculiar favor is on His people. His people are not merely some small, exclusive group of people whom He has arbitrarily chosen - for He is no respecter of persons. No. God's people - the ones He has chosen and blessed are those from any and every nation and people, who have chosen to respond to His love. Through and because of Jesus, every nation may receive the favor and blessing of the Father simply by bowing to His Lordship!