Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance.
From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth —
he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do. (vv 12-15)
A praise psalm for everyone.
The psalmist insists that praise should ring out for the Lord from all, from the nations to the individual hearts of those in the nations. God does not see us in the collective, his eyes roam the planet in search of you and me. Following psalm 32 which described the joy of the person who has confessed his or her sin and has been restored. To unroll the scroll and speak the words of this psalm to life is a reaction sourced deep in the heart of the forgiven.
No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength.
A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save.
But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. (vv 16 – 19)
The psalmist helps us to arrange our thinking properly. We praise God less for his actions such as delivering us from our enemies ( which can cause us moments of unease when He doesn’t ) and more for his God’s attributes. If we recognize the source of the deliverance as being rooted in His unfailing love, moments of question are quickly dismissed. Even if we face temporary setbacks, God’s unfailing love is unfolding all around us and we see that even our struggles can be a sign of His love.
LOVE | ACCEPT | FORGIVE 