The Lord loves His people with an unfailing love.

Psalm 33 verse 12 to 19 [NIV 1984 UK]

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.

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 & keep them alive in famine

A reflection first shared with the residents of a local Christian care Home, 29th Nov 2023

The Psalm celebrates the truth that God is in charge of the world. But for this day let us focus on a particular aspect. Here is a wonderful promise. The eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him. ‘Fear’ here refers to a true afraid-ness in the presence of God and those who represent Him to us. For example, at the time of this reflection Christmas is just a few weeks away. And in those events Luke tells us, God sends the angel Gabriel to Mary, and in their conversation, he has to counsel her: ‘Do not be afraid’ , even as he was revealing to her that she was highly favoured, that the Lord was with her, and she was to be blessed by becoming the mother of Jesus. [Luke 1 v26 ff]. It is a reverential fear. A recognition that there is a God, who is supreme, almighty, sovereign, who is not to be taken lightly. A fear that expressed in freely given worship, hope in His unfailing love, and trust in Him to deliver from death and keep us alive in famine.

As Peter the Apostle tells us, all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ belong to God’s chosen people. Therefore the promises belongs to us. If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, son of man and God with God, then the Lord’s eyes are on you. You are in His special care.

Within that promises the Psalm writer declares two challenges to our sense of assurance. The first is death. The second is famine. Now we all know that we cannot escape death. You cant beat it off with a mighty army. You cant evade by fleeing on a strong horse or in a racing tuned motor car. But, all who love Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord will be delivered from its grip. Death is a shadow that has no constraining power over you. You will enter Paradise, and be resurrected into the eternal new creation. There becoming at last all that we were created to be.

But what of famine? I don’t expect you face a food famine in this home. I am sure the food flows. Perhaps you may miss the way your wife, or your husband cooked your food. The food you enjoyed as a treat. The food you preferred to eat. But even so I am sure this home provides good, nourishing food.

Yet there is another, even perhaps a more deadly famine, which affects many people. The famine of love. Some people grow up never really knowing for sure that they are loved. They are cared for; they are provided for; they are looked after but … they never felt loved. Others had friends, but they were always on the outside of the in-group. They married, they had children, they gave love, yet still their hearts feared; am I loved. Some people may live an entire life starving for a true sense of being loved. I have felt that way.

But in the wider world it may never have happened to you. You knew love. But one of the perils of ageing includes a creeping sense that you are forgotten. Or that you have become a duty. You may have felt yourself slipping into a famine of love.

For you and for me let us hold onto the truth stressed in this psalm: God’s unfailing love for you. I invite you to a small experiment. Open your palm [left, if you are right handed; right, if you are left handed]; touch your palm with the tip of a finger from your other hand; gently run that finger tip in circles around your palm; as you do so, say aloud: “God loves me.”

Then turn to the person next to you and say: God loves you.

The psalm, and indeed all Scripture tells us that God loves those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ: God loves you with an unfailing love. God loves you. God loves me. God loves us. He loves us with an unfailing love. God is committed to care for you.

Some folk may have amazing motor cars; or homes; some may afford many servants and by election or inheritance live in special homes. But none of that will deliver them from death or keep them alive in famine. But you, as those who fear Him, whose hope is in His unfailing love, who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, are His inheritance. He will never let you go. He loves you now. He will deliver you from death. He will keep you alive in famine. And you may know now and will know for ever that God loves you with an unfailing love.

So let us close as the psalm concludes with a prayer encouraging us to rejoice in Him, to trust in Him and to hope in Him. Because however the world goes we put our hope in Him whose unfailing love will never let us go. Amen.