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The Eyes of the Lord

Psalm 34:15-18

August 6, 2021 • Cole Cleveland • Psalm 34:15–18

15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
    and his ears toward their cry.
16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
    to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
    and delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
    and saves the crushed in spirit.

This psalm is all about the way that you position yourself before God. This is all about how you see yourself before a Holy God.

15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
    and his ears toward their cry.

The reality of the situation is that once you have been justified, God goes from being against you to being FOR you! He goes from being your enemy to being your Lord and Savior! This is an understanding that we need to come to in regards to our daily walk. God is FOR you. God is NOT against you! He has a purpose for your life and it is our responsibility to pursue Him and walk in a manner that is worthy of the calling to which we have been called.

16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
    to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

The opposite is true for the unbeliever. God is against those who have rebelled against Him. Man is naturally at enmity with God. Sam did a wonderful job explaining this in Romans 1.... “18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”

The reality is that God is against those who have not put their Faith in Him. This should be a motivating factor in our evangelism... We should desire that ALL know Christ! And we should act on this desire.

17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
    and delivers them out of all their troubles.

In week 2 of our Spiritual Bootcamp book that we are studying right now, we will learn about Prayer. When the children of God cry out for help, their Lord will hear them. This is a promise that we have! We should cry out to the Lord our God. He wants to hear our cry. But something to remember in our cry is that prayer is for our will to be conformed to His will.

As you are going through difficulty in your life, don’t cry out to God to be delivered from difficulty... Instead, pray that God would be WITH you and that you would have endurance and faith to make it through with strength and courage in a manner that God would be Glorified!

18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
    and saves the crushed in spirit.

This is the resolution of position. “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Blessed are those who lower themselves as low as possible, so that Christ can be exalted as much as possible! This is when we can have a close relationship with God. This is when we can experience God at the highest level here on earth. When we make ourselves as nothing and make MUCH of God!

Remember that as a believer in Christ, GOD IS FOR YOU! The Creator of the Universe is FOR you! Walk in that understanding. Walk in such a way that you are going to be Victorious in the will and purpose and plan of a Holy God! Pursue His goodness!

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