WHO DO YOU TRUST? - Psalm 33

All righty. You have a Bible or an app?

Let's open it up. We are going to be in

Psalm 3 this morning. Psalm 33. If you

have been with us over the last couple

of years, you know that we take every

summer to dive into the book of Psalms.

And this morning, we find ourselves in

Psalm 33. Now, the Psalms are an

incredible book and there's 150 of them.

And what makes them so incredible is

that the psalmists give voice to the

human experience. What that means is

we'll read poems and songs and prayers

and life experiences that are ushered up

before the Lord. If you remember last

summer, we looked at a section of the

book of Psalms that focused on psalms of

lament. And there's something unique and

something amazing when we go to God's

word and we're able to read in its

honest, transparent, and raw form these

prayers, poems, and songs that are

ushered up before the Lord. And here are

things that we'll come across throughout

the series this summer. We'll read of

people who are experiencing moments of

bitterness and anger, moments of pain

and suffering, moments of doubt and

questions when it comes to the journey

and the path of life. And those psalms

was written several thousands of years

ago, it still speaks into the human

experience today. One because at its

center is a focus on the will, the plan,

the purpose, and the glory of God.

Second is it provides for us a

descriptive form of what people endured.

And let me tell you why that speaks to

me as I'm sure it speaks to you as well.

Is that it validates emotions. It

validates feelings. Not that every

emotion or every feeling is God

glorifying. But what it shows us is that

even people back then, people who were

in tune with God's plan, people who were

called to lead God's people, still dealt

with the frustrations, the doubts, and

the pain that you and I deal with today.

And as we dive into Psalm 33, I I want

us to address a very simple but powerful

question. And it's this: Who do you

trust?

When I think about my own life, about

the things that frustrate me, about the

things that cause confusion, doubt, and

oftentimes, as silly as it sounds, even

bitterness, I began to ask myself, why

is that? I tell you, when it comes to

cars, vehicles, I know absolutely

nothing. I can change the oil, I can

change the battery, and I can change the

tire. But if my car breaks down and

maybe like some of you, I'll pop the

hood and pretend like I know what I'm

doing and I'll sit there scratching my

head, not knowing what to do. And there

are two people that I'll call who can

help me find out what the issue is. One

of them who's pretty savvy on vehicles,

I'll often tell him when he's working on

his own cars, "Hey, if you need any

help, give me a call. I might not know

much, but I can hold a flashlight and I

can pass you

tools. And really, what what what makes

me bitter about that? What makes me

frustrated when issues happen with

vehicles in my home? It's because it's

all boiled down to a matter of

control. Things that happen in my life

that I have no control over and I have

to just trust the process. Maybe you can

relate to that, maybe you can't. But I'm

certain that you can look on a moment in

your life where questions, doubts,

bitterness, confusion begins to give way

and creep into your heart and your mind.

And at the bottom line, at the end of it

all, you have to ask yourself, who do I

trust? Psalm 33 has no title and has no

author. That's really outside of the

norm of what we see throughout the book

of Psalms. But what's interesting is

that Psalm 33 comes after an incredible

prayer and an incredible praise of God

offering redemption and forgiveness in

Psalm 32. And so, it's believed that

King David, who wrote Psalm 32, could

have perhaps been the author of Psalm

33. Because what you'll notice here in

these verses, right after verse 9, you

begin to see a shift in tone. You begin

to recognize that while the first nine

verses will focus on the power and the

sovereignty and the goodness of God and

why as a response to that we should sing

and glorify his name. What we have

happening is this shift, this movement

from praise to personal

response, from adoration to allegiance.

And my hope and my prayer is that as we

dive into God's word here in just a

moment, that your life would not just be

filled with praise for all the good

things that God has allowed to take

place in your life, but that out of

praise would come a personal response of

allegiance and devotion to God. Because

when it comes down to it, who you trust

is going to make all the difference in

your life.

When you look to God as central, when

you look to God as the one who fills,

who equips, who positions you to be in

places to glorify his name, advance his

kingdom, dads, to love your family well,

to love your wife well. For a moment,

look at all that God has done in your

life, both good and both

bad, and ask yourself on the mountaintop

and in the valley, through through the

storms and through the calm seas, where

is my trust anchored? Where does my hope

rest? Cuz far too often the mistake that

we make is that we put so much energy

and effort into the things of this

world, into our jobs, into our

accomplishments, into our relationships.

And I have said this before, there is

nothing inherently wrong with jobs, with

accomplishments, with

relationships. Those things are good

things. And James, the brother of Jesus,

tells us that every good and perfect

gift is from our father who is in

heaven. But good things can often become

bad things if those good things become

what? Our greatest things. And so in

order to have good perspective in life,

in order to be positioned well to

advance God's kingdom and glorify his

name, our trust must continually be

rooted in him. So Psalm 33, it's a bit

lengthy, but bear with me.

We have a recognition of God's goodness,

of God's glory, of God's

provision. And then we have what our

response to be, what our response should

be to such a God. Psalm 33, beginning in

verse one, here's what the psalter

writes. Shout for joy in the Lord, oh

you

righteous. Praise

befits the upright. Let me just pause

there for a moment. If you call yourself

a child of God, in other words, if

someone came to you and and asked you,

are you a Christian? And with resounding

voice, your response is yes and amen.

Right here, Psalm 33 says, "Praise

befits the

uprights." That means the words of your

mouth must be praiseworthy and

uplifting. which is often a challenge in

today's society when we face bitterness,

when we face frustrations, when when

people do not do the things that we hope

people would

do. But what is our first response? We

talked about this last week. Is prayer a

first response or a last resort? Is

praise before the Lord something that we

eventually get to after we have

exhausted all our energy and our

emotions? Or is that something that we

immediately lean into? Praise befits the

upright. Verse two, give thanks to the

Lord with the liar. Make melody to him

with the harp of 10

strings. Sing to him a new song. And let

me just say this, you can't sing a new

song unless you've experienced new life.

You can't usher up a melody that is

pleasing to the ears and the heart of

the Lord unless you have first ushered

up your faith and have been covered by

his grace and his mercy. The new song

that we sing that is praiseworthy and

ushers up glory before the Lord is a

song that God himself places in your

heart and through the indwelling power

of the Holy Spirit manifest itself

through the singing. so to speak, of

your

life. What song are you

singing? And when people hear the words

of your song, does it demonstrate a

devotion to the Lord? Does it

demonstrate a trust in his goodness?

despite what may come, despite what

you've endured. Does the song that you

proclaim with your life, with your

actions, with your thoughts, with your

decisions, dads, the way we lead and

shepherd our family, does the song that

we declare with resounding voice

demonstrate trust before the Lord. Verse

three continues, "Play skillfully on the

strings with loud shouts." Do you notice

the the pattern here? So we sing to him

a new song and out of the new song in

our heart skillful playing is

introduced. Now obviously this is in the

context of a musician but as we

contextualize it to our life what that

tells us is that

grace is planted is rooted in our heart

and out of grace gratitude overflows and

gratitude overflows in action. What does

gratitude look like in your

life? Verse four, for the word of the

Lord is upright and all his work is done

in faithfulness. He loves righteousness

and justice. The earth is full of the

steadfast love of the Lord. By the word

of the Lord, the heavens were made. This

is a reference to Jesus. Let's not miss

that. This is a drawing back. The

Israelites would have immediately

recognized the drawing back and the root

of God's word in creation. By his word,

God spoke and what wasn't became. What

he said

was. And John in his gospel right out

the gate in chapter 1 talks about how

the word, not just the spoken word, but

the spoken word is also the living word.

And that is our Lord and Savior Jesus

Christ. By him the heavens were made and

by the breath of his mouth all their

hosts. Verse 7, he gathers the waters of

the sea as a heap. He puts the deeps in

the storehouses. Let all the earth fear

the Lord. This is a reverence, a

respect, not a cowering because we are

afraid but a drawing to that we see the

beauty and glory of God that and we sit

in awe of him. We revere his goodness.

That's the fear that we're talking about

here. Therefore, let all the inhabitants

of the world stand in awe of him. For he

spoke and it came to be. He commanded

and it stood firm. Let's take another

pause break. What has God declared over

your life? All things will work together

for the good of those who love him. Do

you love him? Then all things will work

for your good. The scripture says what

he has said stands

firm. Now notice the shift here. What

have we've talked about? We've talked

about the power, the sovereignty, and

the purposes of God. What should our

response be? And maybe you sit here

enduring a momentous circumstance in

your life. And maybe this morning you

find yourself on the cusp of a pivot

that needs to be made. maybe with work,

maybe within your family, maybe within

your health, maybe in some facet or in

some area of your life. What will that

pivot look like? I'll tell you what it

looks like. It's one of two things.

It'll either look like a pivot where

Christ is central or it'll look like a

pivot where you are central. And that

pivot right now in your life, this

determining moment in your life is all

rooted in who you trust. Notice verse

10. For the Lord brings the council of

the

nations to nothing. He frustrates the

plans of the peoples. The council of the

Lord stands forever. The plans of his

heart to all generations. Blessed is the

nation whose God is the Lord, the people

whom he has chosen as his heritage. The

Lord looks down from heaven. He sees all

the children of man from where he sits

enthroned. He looks out on all the

inhabitants of the earth. He who

fashions the hearts of them all and

observes all their deeds. The king is

not saved by his great army. A warrior

is not delivered by his great strength.

The waror is a false hope for salvation

and by its great might it cannot rescue.

Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those

who fear him, on those whose hope is in

his steadfast love, that he may deliver

their soul from death and keep them

alive in

famine. Our soul waits for the Lord.

That's my prayer. My prayer for my

family, for this church, for this

community is that what we read in verses

20- 22 would be our daily

commitment. Our soul waits for the Lord.

He is our help and our shield. For our

heart is glad in him. Don't miss this.

Because we trust in his holy name. Let

your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us

as we hope in you. And all God's people

said,

"Lord, would you bless your

word? Holy Spirit, would you stir?"

Amen. Some of y'all listen. I love it.

Amen. The Psalmist does an incredible

job here of painting a picture of two

kingdoms. Did you pick up on that?

Particularly when we see this pivot in

verse 10. And those two kingdoms are a

kingdom that you and I deal with every

single day. It's a kingdom where you are

enthroned and seated on high. Or it's a

kingdom where Christ is enthroned and

seated on high. And the kingdom that you

live in and the kingdom that you obey

and the kingdom that you operate and

experience, all that you encounter in

life in will be the determining factor

on whether your trust will position you

to glorify God or will position you to

continue in rebellion against God.

And here's the one thing that we see

that I think is incredible. This kingdom

where Christ is enthroned and central is

a kingdom that he is currently building.

I think so often when we read and we

hear about the kingdom of God, we

picture this kingdom that is far and

away. And maybe you've heard it this way

that that that that the kingdom that

that God sits enthroned in is is high

above in the clouds, far removed from

what's taking place in reality here on

earth. But that's not the kingdom the

Bible talks

about. The kingdom the Bible talks about

is a kingdom indeed where Christ is

enthroned, but it's ever present right

here, right now. It's not far removed.

It's not high up in the sky, somewhere

beyond our grasp, but it's here, right

now, ever present. This is why we

constantly will use the phrase that we

live in the already, but not

yet. What does that mean? That means

right now, already. Christ's kingdom is

working. It's moving. It's filling

hearts. It's changing lives. It's

bringing the addict out of addiction and

making him clean. It's restoring

marriages. It's forgiving people of sin.

It's telling people that God's way is

better, that there's more hope, greater

pre peace, and everpresent joy and a

relationship and a trust with the God

who is the creator of all things. who

demonstrated his love by way of his son

Jesus who took the penalty for our sin,

who shed his blood on Calvar's cross for

you and for me. And when he ascended up

into heaven, promise to keep us through

the indwelling power of the Holy

Spirit. That

kingdom is working and weaving its way

right here, right now. But there's a not

yet part of that kingdom. And the not

yet part is what we hope in, what we

anticipate, what Peter talks about. We

gaze up to the skies, hoping and

declaring that the everpresent kingdom

that is moving and weaving and working

in and through this place will have the

final

consummation. As glory encounters sin

and sin gives way, as glory takes full

possession of creation and all that is

wrong with the world is

eradicated. And that's why the scripture

paints this beautiful picture in the

book of Revelation that there's no more

tears, no mourning, no suffering, joy

forever and ever when we are reunited

with all our loved ones who have gone

before us with faith in Jesus. and we

will be gathered in this place right

here as heaven and earth collide to lift

up the name of Jesus. That is the

kingdom that God is

building. And church, that's the kingdom

that he is inviting us into. And it's

not just a corporate

invitation. It's not just God declaring,

"I'm inviting every people into my

kingdom to become my sons and my

daughters." Yes, that's part of it. But

we've talked about this so often. It's a

personal

invitation. And I'll never forget the

day that that personal invitation was

awakened in my life. I've shared this

story with you so many times. 17 years

old, the third row pew of my home church

in Rosstown, Texas. The gospel had been

presented to me so many times before. I'

had been going to church a year and a

half at that point. But there was

something about that Wednesday night

that the Holy Spirit awakened in me. And

I remember after service going forward

talking with my pastor and the only

words that I can get out because I was

so overwhelmed by the goodness and the

grace of God. The only words I can get

out was, "I need Jesus." That's the

personal invitation that Christ extends

into your life. And you don't have to

ask yourself, "Well, has God given me an

invitation?" He's given you an

invitation. The word declares he's given

you an invitation. The question is, who

will you

trust? How will you respond?

Will you step into this trust that God

calls out of your life and out of your

heart? Or will you continue to step into

trusting yourself? So, here's what I

want to do as we close our time. I want

to look at three

postures that we see the psalter, every

time I use the phrase psalter, I'm

talking about the author of this psalm

that the psalter uses to demonstrate a

deep devotion and a deep abiding trust

before the Lord. So, let's look at these

three

postures as God calls us to answer the

question, who do you trust? If you're

taking notes, here's the first one. It's

a posture of rejecting the temptation to

trust in the world. That's what we are

called to do. Reject the temptation to

trust in the world. You see, we plan, we

strategize, we like to build out our

lives. Some of you type aers in the

room, you're all about your schedule,

your calendar. You have the next week,

the next month. You probably have the

next five years already planned out. And

there's nothing wrong with planning.

There's nothing wrong with preparing.

There's nothing wrong with strategizing,

building, and looking ahead. But here's

the thing. When we start trusting in

those plans rather than God's perfect

plan is when we get knocked off

course. when we look to our plans for

fulfillment and security. When we become

more committed to Roland's way rather

than God's way is when we've taken a

trust and a devotion that should solely

be reserved and centered on the goodness

and glory of God and we've placed it and

positioned it in a place that it does

not belong. And oftentimes that's in our

self. For men it's in our jobs, it's in

our bank account. It's how we provide

for our

families. For ladies, it's how we

provide for our children. How we are

setting them up. Go back with me to

verse

10. The Lord brings the counsel of the

nations to

nothing. Now, every time you read the

word nations in the Bible, it's not

talking about countries.

It's not talking about geographical

locations with borders around it.

Rather, when you read the word nations,

it's talking about people

groups,

tribes, people around the

world. God frustrates the plans of his

people. Fast forward to verse 16. The

king is not saved by his great army. A

warrior is not delivered by his great

strength. The warhorse is a false hope

for salvation, and by its great might,

it cannot rescue. Here's the picture of

the two kingdoms that the psalter is

painting. Warh horses, they may win

battles, but they won't win the war that

counts. your arsenal, whether that's

your bank account, your giftings, or the

things that really make you you. They

might win momentary battles, but the war

that really matters, the war for your

soul, you will always and forever,

without Jesus, end up being a casualty

of that

war. So, what are we called to do? To

reject the temptation to trust in the

world. What does that look like

contextually? We don't trust in our

retirement plans. We don't trust in our

network. We don't trust in titles. We

don't trust in our schedules and our

routines because all of them if we are

not careful can become false hopes for a

heart that seeks

hope. And this is where the devil

thrives in our culture, in our society.

Parents, we know this all too well.

The devil thrives by providing false

hope that usually comes in the form of

false security that often plays out in

false guidance and false direction that

is all filled with maybe good words,

good strategies, good plannings, good

organization, but is completely absent

of truth and the

gospel. Let's reject the temptation to

trust in the world. Because at the end

of the day, don't miss this, no human

strategy, no government, no agenda will

ever succeed if it goes against the

sovereign will of God. And let's just be

let's just be real this morning. Some of

you are dealing with

frustration because you are living

outside of God's will for your life.

the sin that you are engaged in, you

love that and trust that more than you

do the God who desires to rescue and

save you from that. Which is why this is

part of God's grace. Verse 10 says, "He

frustrates the plan of his

people." God isn't against your

planning, he's against your idolatry.

And when he frustrates your plans, it's

because God sees the end result. And he

sees you continue down that path. If not

for him frustrating the plans on that

path, you would end up in nothing more

than

idolatry. And what does idolatry lead

to? James, the brother of Jesus, tells

us it leads to nothing more than death.

Here's the second

thing. We are called to rest in the

faithfulness of the Lord. Let's go to

verse

13. What does the scripture tell us? The

Lord looks down from

heaven. He sees all the children of man.

From where he sits enthroned, he looks

out on all the inhabitants of the earth.

Here, let let's go to verse 18.

Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those

who fear him, on those who hope in his

steadfast love. This is why we're called

to rest in the faithfulness of God. As I

mentioned earlier, God is not far

removed from us, but he is actively

engaged in our life. So much so that did

you pick up on how the psalter phrases

this in verse 18? Behold, the eye of the

Lord is on those who fear him. This this

gets often missed in the English

language, in the English vernacular, but

but in Hebrew culture, putting this

statement, the eye, before the Lord is

what's known as the emphatic position.

In other words, it's the writer's way of

saying while others will trust in

powers, position, and performance, God's

eyes are fixed on those who trust in

him. God is uniquely involved in your

life. God desires to be uniquely

involved in your life. In every facet,

in every decision, and every major

accomplishment, big, small, it doesn't

matter. God desires to be involved in

your life. So much so that even from his

position on his throne, his eyes are on

you. And if his eyes are on me, I can

rest in his

faithfulness. What does the psalter say?

That what he declares, what he

establishes, it stands

firm. For me, church, it's a

no-brainer. Then why wouldn't I anchor

myself in the hope of the gospel, in the

trust of the God of creation? Why would

I position myself to live a life that is

in detriment to my soul, to my family,

to my marriage, and everything else,

which is why we're called to trust in

the Lord. The world says take

control. God says trust me.

The world says, "Build your own path."

God declares, "Follow me. I have already

established your

path." So, let's rest in the

faithfulness of the Lord. Here's the

third one. Realign your life with God's

kingdom

plan. Remember, God's inviting

you, specifically you, into his kingdom.

You were not created to build your

personal

empire. You were not created to stock

up, to use the words of the Gospel of

Luke, to stock up your storehouses and

your barns for your sake, but rather to

be used for God's greater plan. So,

let's realign our life with his plan. Go

back with me to verse

11. The counsel of the Lord stands

forever. the plans of his heart. Don't

miss this, Mom and Dad. To all what?

Generations. Do you know how God's plan

stands firm to all generations? Do you

know how God accomplishes that? Through

you, mom and

dad, being intentional and with full

purpose ensuring that the gospel is

declared in your home.

Not outsourcing it to the church, not

outsourcing it to our kids in student

ministry, not outsourcing it to Sunday

school, not outsourcing it to social

media, but

you taking

control of what is being declared in

your home. You taking control. Because

what we are doing, mom and dad, we we

had an entire series two years ago about

kingdom parenting.

What we have the opportunity to do is to

rear shape and mold our children and to

aim their hearts towards the gospel. At

the end of the day, the decision is your

child's

decision. We can't control the choice

that be that they make. But what we can

control is where we aim

them. Where are you aiming the hearts of

your children? We want to realign our

life with God's kingdom plan. And here

in verse 11, the plans of his heart,

what does it do? It stands to all

generations. How? When parents stand on

truth and trust. Verse 12, blessed is

the nation whose God is the Lord. The

people whom he has chosen as his

heritage. Now go back with me to verse

20. Our soul waits for the Lord. He is

our help and our

shield. For our heart is glad in him

because we trust in his holy name. Trust

follows what? Gladness in him.

Are you glad in the

Lord, Roland? I'm not sure. I don't

know. I'm kind of bitter to be honest.

Then the question is, well, do you fully

trust in his holy

name? Well, the answer is yes. Of course

I do. Then dig your heels

deeper. Step in. Lean in to his

plan. Verse 22. Let your steadfast love,

O Lord, be upon us as we hope in you.

Could it be that God is frustrating your

plans because he's trying to free you

from the slavery of your own

kingdom? Would you step out of that and

into his glorious

kingdom? And church, all it takes is a

heart that says, "I trust in you, Lord.

Faith in

myself is something I want to leave in

the past. And what I want to step into

is genuine hope and faith in

you. So, who do you

trust? Where do you find your

strength? What plans do you grab on to?

Yours or the Lord's? Would you pray with

me? Lord, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for the hope that is found

in you. Lord, we thank you that in you

and through you, we find

freedom. We find

deliverance. We find strength in the

moment. And Lord, we know that life is

not

perfect. That being a Christian is far

from perfect. You did not call us to an

easy life, but you called us to a life

where we trust in

you. And I pray, Father God, for the

soul that has never placed their hope,

faith, and trust in you. I pray that for

them today would be the day of

salvation. In Christ's name we pray. All

God's people said, "Amen." Would you

stand to your feet with me? We're going

to close our service and we're going to

declare how worthy the Lord is of our

praise. We're going to have a time of

response. Our altar is going to be open.

Pastor Eric, myself, we will be

available to pray with you and over you

if you'd like to receive prayer.

If you'd like to place faith in Jesus

Christ this morning and you you are

tired of trusting in the kingdom of your

own making, but you want to trust in the

Lord, we would love to celebrate that

decision with you this morning. I love

you, church.