The All-Seeing Eye.

THE ALL-SEEING EYE.

Psalm 33:12-22.

This passage begins with a beatitude:

PSALM 33:12. “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance.”

In ancient times, it was only Israel who had such a relationship with the LORD. Not that they chose Him, but that He chose them.

It is still true today that there is only one “people” who can thus be defined as those “whose God is the LORD… whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance.” That is the people referred to by the Apostle Paul as ‘the Israel of God’ (cf. Galatians 6:16) - the church of our Lord Jesus Christ - ‘chosen in Him from the foundation of the world’ (Ephesians 1:4), and made up of both Jews and Gentiles (cf. Galatians 3:7-9).

The Apostle Peter says to the church, ‘But ye are a CHOSEN generation, a royal priesthood, an holy NATION, a peculiar PEOPLE’ (cf. 1 Peter 2:9).

So, “Blessed is THAT nation whose God is the LORD; and THAT people whom He hath CHOSEN for His inheritance.” It was His choice, not ours: but what a blessing it is! What an honour!

PSALM 33:13-14. “The LORD looks from heaven; He beholds the sons of men. From the place of His habitation He looks upon all the inhabitants of the earth.”

The all-seeing eye of God is able to see, all at once, “all the inhabitants of the earth.” This is a sobering thought. When He called to our progenitor in the garden, ‘Where art thou?’ (cf. Genesis 3:9), He knew full well where Adam was. Man in His sin, no matter how hard he tries, cannot hide from God!

But for the believer in Jesus, it is a comforting thought. He has promised, ‘I am with you always, even unto the end of the world’ (cf. Matthew 28:20). So for us, it is reassuring to know that He is watching over us, and all our ways, constantly.

PSALM 33:15. “He fashions their hearts alike; He considers all their works.”

Not that we were all created as clones of one another, but rather that He is Creator of each one of us. He is Creator of all men, whether rich or poor; high or low; believer or unbeliever! And He knows our hearts, He knows the intentions of our hearts, and He “considers” our works accordingly.

PSALM 33:16-17. “There is no king saved by the multitude of a host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. A horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.”

Hosts and heroes and horses are what worldly kings depend upon. Not so the Christian (cf. Psalm 44:4-7).

PSALM 33:18-19. “Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear Him, upon them that hope in His mercy; To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.”

Here now is the all-seeing eye in our favour. If we reverence the LORD, if we “hope in His mercy;” He will “deliver (our) soul from death,” and “keep (us) alive in famine.” God sees our plight, and reacts accordingly, just as surely as He heard the groaning of the Hebrew slaves in Egypt, and came down to deliver them (Exodus 6:5).

The LORD also heard OUR cry, when we were in bondage to sin and to death (cf. Hebrews 2:15). When we were ‘strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in this world’ (cf. Ephesians 2:12). It was ‘while we were yet sinners’ that ‘Christ died for us’ (Romans 5:8).

PSALM 33:20-21. “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.”

We trust the LORD, for He has proved Himself to be reliable. ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’ (cf. Hebrews 13:5). Our soul waits, our heart rejoices, because He is our help and our shield. ‘Hitherto hath the LORD helped us’ (cf. 1 Samuel 7:12).

PSALM 33:22. “Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.”

This is not an appeal to the LORD to measure how large our hope might be, but rather that He might respond in proportion to the largeness of His grace and mercy towards us. Do we believe He can do this? Then, says Jesus, ‘According to your faith be it unto you’ (cf. Matthew 9:27-29). Amen.