Today, Wednesday February 01
The Eyes and Ears of the LORD
Psalm 34:9-16
“Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.
Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. Who is the man who desires life, And loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it.
The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry. The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
Welcome to Pastor’s Chat on this first day of a brand-new month. I trust you are starting out this month with daily Bible reading. To encourage and help assist you, I have posted two February’s Bible Reading Calendars on my website, Plan A and Plan B. Please look at them and choose the one that fits your schedule.
Today, we are continuing our study and meditations in Psalm 34. David is teaching us what we can do to enjoy life even in the midst of our trials and tribulations. He first invites us to “magnify the LORD with him and exalt His name together”. We can “bless the LORD at all times”, and that means continually, despite our troubles (vv. 1-3). Secondly, we should “seek the LORD”, and when we do this with our whole heart we will “taste and see that the LORD is good” (vv. 4-8).
Now we are looking at verse 9–16, where David is teaching us what it means to “fear the LORD”, because “there is no want to those who fear Him”, and then we “shall not lack any good thing” (vv.9-10). Wow! I don’t think we can find a better promise than that! What does it mean to “fear the LORD”?
It first means we have a desire for “the real life” and for that which is good (v. 12). My friend, “the real life” can only be found in a relationship with Jesus Christ! He is “the Way, the Truth and the Life” and there is no other way to find and know the true and living God except through Him (John 14:6). Jesus said that the thief, the devil, has come to steal, to kill and to destroy, but He came to give life and to give it more abundantly (John 10:10). It means that daily we will “delight ourselves in the LORD and He will fulfill the desires of our heart” (Psalm 37:4).
To “fear the LORD” also means that we “keep our lips from speaking deceit”. In other words, we will be speaking and talking about what is true (v. 13). James 3:1-12 tells us if we can control the tongue, we can control the body. Solomon said it this way, “Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles" (Prov. 21:23). To speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), and to speak nothing evil is not easy in today's competitive and corrupt society, but it can be done. Look at David's prayer in Psalm 141:3-4.
To “fear the Lord” also means to “Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it” (v. 14). This means abandoning sin once and for all, doing good as God gives strength and opportunity. It calls us to be a peacemaker and not a troublemaker. Christians don't seek "peace at any price," for peace depends on purity (James 3:13-18; Isa. 32:17), but they do make every effort not to make enemies (Matt. 5:9; Rom. 14:19; Heb. 12:14-21). Sometimes our best efforts seem to be in vain, but at least we obeyed the Lord (Matt. 5:21-26; 18:15-35). "Pursue" means that we have to work at it, with the help of the Lord.
Finally, to “fear the LORD” means to expect what is best because we know that “the eyes and ears of the LORD are open to our cries” (vv. 15-16). We must live by faith, trusting the Lord to guide us, care for us, and help us do the right thing. We need not fear because His eyes are upon us (Psalm 32:8) and His ears are attentive to our prayers. God's face is against those who would do evil to us. This promise is illustrated in Acts 12, when Peter was in prison awaiting execution, the church was praying, and King Herod seemed to be having his way. God saw Peter's plight, He heard the prayers of the saints, and He delivered Peter but destroyed Herod.
I trust that today we will “live in the fear of the LORD” and are assured that His ears and eyes are upon us each moment of our day!
God bless!