GIST: Our hope is in Jesus, not humanity.
Today, we’re going to finish up Psalm 33. Last week, we saw that this psalm opens with a call for authentic worship—the natural response of those who are thankful for their salvation and His amazing grace! This, of course, took us into some “controversial territory” as we ventured into the conversation about how to use music as worship and pointed out that this shouldn’t be a debate over styles but the purposeful and passionate practice of giving wholehearted thanks through song.
The second half of this song takes us into an even more broadly controversial topic and one I can say with a pretty strong degree of confidence you have never heard me address from the pulpit: politics. Now, before you feel like I’m directly targeting anyone, let me just make two quick points. First, this takes me into territory I typically avoid because I don’t enjoy the innate hostility it encourages in our country. More simply put, politics tend to bring out the worst in people. They make people feisty ☺️. Secondly, this passage wasn’t selected to target any current events or as a response to anything I’ve witnessed this week. God has brought us here, so I feel it’s a message we need to hear, and I’d be unfaithful to ignore it.
Now, the structure of this section was a little harder for me to categorize into points while maintaining the integrity of the passage, so I just want to walk us through the verses, making observations as we go. Then, will hit some takeaways. Here's our gist: Our hope is in Jesus, not humanity. In other words, saying our hope comes from Jesus and not politics can’t just be the “Christian answer” we give when we don’t want to sound political. It has to be the reality we believe in the truth we embrace. Let’s walk through this.
I. OUR HOPE IS IN JESUS, NOT HUMANITY
Starting in verse 10, we’ll basically see these truths contrasted. We’ll see why we should place our hope in Jesus, and why we shouldn’t place it in any political system or man-made institution. Look first at verse 10. “10 The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples.” Why? Because He is sovereign, and they aren’t. Countries can plot and plan, but ultimately they are powerless to stop His movement or even come close to controlling their own destinies. Hasn’t 2020 reminded us of just how little we can really “see coming”? As individuals and as a nation, we’ve been caught off guard again and again. Jesus hasn’t been. He won’t ever be. Proverbs 19:21 expresses the same truth: “21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” And that’s where this psalm goes next. Our plans and the plans of our country aren’t going to last forever, but→
“11 The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.” His Words have stood the test of time because His guidance and direction and plans--stand forever. So→
“12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!” Ok, fair warning, this is the closest to direct “political commentary” as you’re really going to get from me, and I only make these observations because I think there is a prevalent sin that plagues our country because we miss out on what this verse is expressing. Blessed is the nation which belongs to God and in whom He is moving. That’s where our hope comes from—and that isn’t a designation we can just give to ourselves. Too often, people have tried to call America God’s country as if this nation is the new Israel. God’s chosen people are those who follow Him, His Church (big C). Let’s be honest, our country as a whole is not living anywhere near like we’re His— we just want His blessings without following His guidance. That’s not where hope comes from.
Now, I know this next statement will be very easy for me to miscommunicate, so I want to be intentional about how I say this. Knowing a nation is only blessed through Jesus, not politics, we need to be cautious about not blurring that line. Jesus can use politics, but we must be very careful not to associate any one political party with “Christianity”. Let me just be incredibly transparent. I never want to use the pulpit to promote any political agenda. I do believe as Christians we have a responsibility to stand up for what the Bible teaches and should take that responsibility with us into the voting booth, letting His Word guide our decisions. However, that doesn’t mean there is a particular political party in our country that fully represents our Biblical convictions. Therefore, equating our faith with any party instead of standing on Christ alone is dangerous because it associates a corrupted institution with our flawless Savior. I don’t want anyone to look at the stances and actions of any party and assume that’s what it means to be a true follower of Jesus because there is widespread sin and pettiness on all sides.
Blessed is the nation that belongs to God because He’s chosen them and is using them to further His kingdom. That should be what we long for—revival. That’s the hope we need.
Continuing with this picture of why we should then trust God and not ourselves, we come to the next three verses. “13 The LORD looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man; 14 from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, 15 he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds.” This is a picture of God’s perspective. Remembering this should be pretty humbling. His view is heavenly, omnipresent, and omniscient. He’s the King who rules from Heaven and sees everything and knows everything...because He made everything! Which comes as a stark contrast with the perspective of humanity. Our strength and wisdom doesn’t even come close to measuring up! Look at how the psalmist develops that next→
“16 The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. 17 The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue.” Hope doesn’t come from strong armies or strong leaders or even superior technology (many warhorses would have been the ultimate advantage at this time). Oh how it’s easy to assent to this, but in practice, don’t we look to this kind of strength to be what rescues us. If our country were just stronger or smarter or… whatever-er ☺️, then we’d be fine. It will never be enough because that’s not where hope is supposed to come from. Instead→
“18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, 19 that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine.” Hope comes from God to those who seek Him. That hope is manifested in his eye being on you—that’s a picture of His constant guidance and fellowship—and your soul will be saved from death— that’s literally a picture of us being rescued from Hell by His grace—and you’ll be preserved in this dry and weary land—this world might be spiritually dead, but we can have life because of and for Him!
The psalm then circles back to where it started: worship. “20 Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. 21 For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name.” Expect Him to be your salvation every day and rejoice in Him because He is trustworthy and holy. After expressing this encouragement to live as praising people, this last verse reads like a prayer. Honestly, I want to pray this for all of us today. “22 Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you.” Is there hope for our country? Yes, but only if as a nation we fall before Him...every single one of us!
TAKEAWAYS
- Hope will not come from humanity.
- Jesus is hope for all humanity.
- If we don’t live this, we don’t really believe it. It’s easy to say this...until we are drawn into the political chaos broadcasted into our homes every day. When you see that today, how will you respond?
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