What is fitting for the upright?
[Psalms 33]
When I meditated on the words of Jeremiah 1:4-10, I was instructed about what is fitting for a preacher and a teacher of the Word. The verse 7 summarizes that instruction well: “But the LORD said to me, ‘Do not say, 'I am a youth,' Because everywhere I send you, you shall go, And all that I command you, you shall speak.’” Here I learned three lessons: (1) I shouldn't say that I am a youth. I shouldn’t say 'I can't do it because I'm not enough, because I'm still young', and so on and make excuses. (2) If the Lord says to me to go, then I must go. If the Lord commands us to go, we must go, whether we like it or not. (3) If the Lord commands, we must speak. As the preacher and as the teacher of the Word, we must not be afraid of people (and their reaction). We must boldly proclaim and teach the Word, knowing that God is with us. This is a challenge because not only the Word of God raises and builds the listeners, but it also breaks them down (v. 10). Let's ask ourselves honestly and sincerely if we have been faithful in this matter.
Are we, as Christians, living well in this world and doing what we suppose to do as God’s holy children? But before asking this question, we must first answer what we is fitting for us to do. This is what the psalmist says in Psalms 33:1 – “Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him.” As we who are righteous and the upright, I want to think about what is fitting for us to do in three ways and to apply them in our own lives.
First, it is fitting for the upright to praise the Lord.
Look at Psalms 33:1 – “Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him.” The only reason why the upright can praise the Lord is because only he doesn’t glorify himself when he praise Him (Park). Why is the upright man should praise the Lord? This is because He is our Creator (vv. 6-7). What kind of Creator is our God? Our God is the Creator God who made heaven with His word (v. 6). We must praise God because God, who fulfills the work of the new creation, is working in our hearts with His powerful word in transforming into new hearts. Then how shall we praise God? We should give thanks to Him with musical instruments (v. 2) and short for joy with a new song (v. 3). Why should we praise God with the new song? The reason is that we the believers have new joy and our hearts are deeply moved by God's great salvation event (Park). We should have this new joy and deeply moved hearts every day. As we experience and realize that the Holy Spirit, who fulfills the work of new creation, is transforming our hearts more and more into the hearts of Jesus through the word of God, we should have this new joy and deeply moved hearts every day. Therefore, we must sing to the Lord with the new song and give thanks to Him with musical instruments.
Second, it is fitting for the upright to be faithful in all he does.
Look at Psalms 33:4 – “For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does.” Here, what does it mean to be faithful? We can think of it in two ways, both of which are the same as the front and the back of a coin.
(1) To be faithful means to obey the word of the Lord that is upright.
In order to obey the word of the Lord, what we need is to fear Him (v. 8). When we obey His word in fear of God, the Lord’s will be done (v. 9). In other words, when we obey His Word, we fulfill the Lord's will and establish His will firmly. But if we disobey His word, then the Lord will nullify our counsel and will frustrate our plans (v. 10). Unbelief has the consequences of disobedience. In addition, the result of disobedience is that our counsel will be nullified and our plans will be frustrated.
(2) To be faithful means to love what the Lord loves.
What does God love? Look at Psalms 33:5 – “He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the LORD.” Here we see two attributes of God's holiness. They are “righteousness” and “justice”. Interestingly, they are both perfect in all to God, and among them, the amount of lovingkindness is richer than the amount of righteousness (v. 5) (Park). Therefore, we are receiving more blessings through God's love than disasters caused by God's justice. Therefore, those who love righteousness and justice which God loves, fear God and hope for His lovingkindness (v. 18). This is what the Bible says about God’s blessing to them: “Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, On those who hope for His lovingkindness, To deliver their soul from death And to keep them alive in famine” (vv. 18-19).
Third and last, it is fitting for the upright to make God as his Lord.
Look at Psalms 33:12 – “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.” The psalmist is a blessed man who made God his Lord. What he is teaching us is that the upright man makes God as his Lord. The reason is that God has already chosen us as His people and His children. Therefore, we are “His own inheritance” (v. 12). In other words, we are God's possession (Park). And the upright man who is God’s possession rejoices in God and trusts in His holy name (v. 22). Doubt brings sorrow, faith produces joy (Spurgeon). Then why does the upright man rejoice and trust in God? The reason is that God is the help and the shield of the upright (v. 20). This upright man is blessed. What blessings does he have? We can think of it in two ways.
(1) The upright, the blessed man is in the providence of God (vv. 13-14).
Our God is God who provides everything on the earth. In His absolute sovereignty, He has insight to the hearts of the people in this world and He rules over them (Park). The upright man is blessed because he is ruled by God in His providence. This is a great blessing.
(2) The upright, the blessed man receives God’s blessing of salvation.
Look at Psalms 33:18-19: “Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, On those who hope for His lovingkindness. To deliver their soul from death And to keep them alive in famine.” Here, it suggests that the upright man may sometimes have a problem of life and death, and sometimes times he may be in need. The Bible doesn't say that we should be blessed without these things. And the reason why the upright man is blessed is because God cares for him, saves him in times of crisis, and helps him to live in need. Now we are experiencing this blessing in our lives.
Yesterday, I went to the hospital to visit my beloved mother-in-law who made God her Lord and sings praises to Him and live faithfully. My father-in-law praised God who saved her who had been on the crossroads of life and death in a car accident and still working in her so that we were able to see that He is restoring her health surprisingly. Then, my father-in-law talked to his wife with eyes of love and kissed her forehead. As I saw it, I experienced God's lovingkindness. As I saw the beautiful couple loving each other with the love of Christ and God's blessings to them who are upright. I could see the glimpse of God’s blessing of remarkable fast recovery in His providence even though her head was injured in the car accident. As I watched my father-in-law and mother-in-law who made God their Lord in the intensive care unit, my heart compelled to praise God.
- Savior, more than life to me, I am clinging clinging close to Thee;
Let Thy precious blood applied, Keep me ever, ever near Thy side.
- Thro' this changing world below, Lead me gently, gently as I go;
Trusting Thee, I cannot stray, I can never, never lose my way.
- Let me love Thee more and more, Till this fleeting, fleeting life is o'er;
Till my soul is lost in love, In a brighter, brighter world above.
[Chorus]
Every day, every hour, Let me feel Thy cleansing power;
May thy tender love to me Bind me closer, closer, Lord, to Thee. Amen.
[Hymn: “Savior, More Than Life to Me”]
After praising the grace of God's salvation to the upright,
James Kim
(As I think about my father-in-law and mother-in-law)