The Word of the Lord

Jesus throughout the Scriptures: Psalms 3 (4)

Pray Psalm 33.18-22.
Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope in His mercy,
To deliver their soul from death,
And to keep them alive in famine.
Our soul waits for the LORD;
He is our help and our shield.
For our heart shall rejoice in Him,
Because we have trusted in His holy name.
Let Your mercy, O LORD, be upon us,
Just as we hope in You.Sing Psalm 33.18-22.
(Truro: Shout, for the Blessed Jesus Reigns)
God watches those who fear His Name, who hope upon His grace and love:
He keeps their souls from death and shame who trust in Him Who reigns above.

God is our Helper and our Shield; upon us let Your grace descend!
We hope in You; to You we yield; we trust in Jesus to the end.

Read Psalm 33.1-22; meditate on verses 18-22.

Preparation
1. How does the psalmist characterize the Word of the LORD?

2. What does the Word of the LORD do?

Meditation
Jews throughout the period of the Old Testament and into the New would have been familiar with the concept of the Word of the LORD. They would have known that the Word was right, that is, upright, the pattern and design for all God’s creation (v. 4). They would have known that God by His Word created the heavens and the earth (vv. 6, 9) and that the counsel of His Word was more powerful than all the schemes and plans of the nations of the earth (vv. 10, 11).

They would have recognized the word of the LORD as the tablets of Moses, the books of the Law, the histories and sermons of the prophets, and the poetic treasures of the writings. What they would not have considered was that the Word of the LORD is a Person, a Person Who embodies all these attributes and performs all these works. We see Him clearly as He is described here and in other psalms; but that understanding would have been kept from those who read this psalm before the time of Jesus.

So when the apostle John wrote of the Word becoming flesh, dwelling among us, manifesting the glory of the LORD, and accomplishing the redemption of God’s people (Jn. 1.1-18), that would have been a new message indeed. The Word of the LORD, and no earthly king, would accomplish the salvation of His people (vv. 16-19). For Him faithful Israelites would wait, trusting in God and looking to Him for mercy until the time when all their hopes would be fulfilled (vv. 20-22).

By and according to His Word.

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Our God made and controls all of everything. He is majestic and worthy of all praise and glory.
No other idol or god claims to have created the heavens and the earth. Or if they do, where is the proof?
Do they keep all the planets spinning? Even now? Do they sustain life? 
“Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven. 
Your faithfulness endures to all generations;
You established the earth, and it abides. 
They continue this day according to Your ordinances, 
for all are Your servants” (Ps. 119.89-91).
Our God rules and controls all things. 
For example:
“By the Word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. 
He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deep in storehouses” (Ps. 33.6, 7).
“Or who shut in the sea with doors, when it burst forth and issued from the womb; 
when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band; 
when I fixed My limit for it, and set bars and doors; 
when I said, ‘This far you may come, but no farther, 
and here your proud waves must stop!’” (Job 38.8-11).
“Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, 
measured heaven with a span and calculated the dust of earth in a measure? 
Weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?” (Is. 40.12).
I ask you: Who but our God can do all that?
With Jesus, participating “at the beginning of His way…
when He prepared the heavens, I was there, 
when He drew a circle on the face of the deep, 
when He established the clouds above, 
when He strengthened the fountains of the deep, 
when He assigned to the sea its limit, 
so that the waters would not transgress His command…” (Prov. 8.22, 27-29).

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1.1).
“In the beginning was the Word, 
and the Word was with God, 
and the Word was God. 
He was in the beginning with God. 
All things were made through Him, 
and without Him nothing was made that was made” (Jn. 1.1-3).

With respect and praise for this God, Who gathered the sea in a vessel:
“Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast” (Ps. 33.8, 9).

And for His people, a Word of caution and guidance and promise:
“Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, 
on those who hope in His mercy, 
to deliver their soul from death, 
and to keep them alive in famine” (Ps. 33.18, 19).

“If you love Me, keep My commandments” (Jn. 14.15).
“And a Voice came out of the cloud, saying,
‘This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!’” (Lk. 9.35).

The Word of the LORD.

Reflection
1. What does it mean to say that Jesus, the Son of God, is the Word of God?

2. The Word of God spoke creation into being and upholds it in all its parts (Heb. 1.3). Should we expect the creation to teach us about the Word of God? What might we expect to learn?

3. Our study of the Word of God in Scripture should lead us to become more like the Word of God, Who is Jesus. Explain.

Those that fear God and his wrath, must hope in God and his mercy; for there is no flying from him, but by flying to him. Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us; let us always have the comfort and benefit, not according to our merits, but according to the promise which thou hast in thy word given to us, and according to the faith thou hast by thy Spirit and grace wrought in us. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Psalm 33.12-22

Pray Psalm 33.4-12.
Rejoice and give thanks to God for His Word, for Jesus, Who made all things and rules all things, and Who is true and right altogether. Thank Him that He will be with you today, to fill and direct and empower your walk with and work for Him. Commit yourself and your day to Him.

Sing Psalm 33.4-12.
(Truro: Shout, for the Blessed Jesus Reigns)
Joyfully shout! His Word is true; He does His work in faithfulness.
His love prevails the whole world through; the LORD loves truth and righteousness.

God spoke and heaven came to be, and all its hosts His Spirit wrought.
He heaps the waters of the sea; the deeps their dwelling place are taught.

Let all below now fear the LORD; let all in awe of Him abide!
The worlds exist by His own Word; let all on earth in Him confide.

He nullifies the nations’ plans; forever stands His sov’reign Word.
All they are blessed who with Him stand—the chosen people of the LORD.

T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).

For more teaching about the subject of this series, “Jesus throughout the Scriptures”, download our free ReVision study, “We Would See Jesus”, by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.