Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Hope for Election Year | The Writings | Psalm 33

Episode Date: February 14, 2024

Are you feeling anxious about the election? Do you trust God with the election results? Whether you're excited for or dreading election season, there is only one place to look for ultimate hope. Jensen discusses Psalm 33 and the good news of God's justice. Read the Bible with us in 2024! This year, we’re tackling a group of Old Testament books traditionally known as “The Writings”— Psalms, Chronicles, Proverbs, Daniel, Ruth and more! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Psalm 33

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. And the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jensen Holt McNair. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that 2024 being an election year in America has made me a little bit anxious. I'm anxious, and I'd bet that I'm not the only one who's anxious. I've been really anxious the last two election years. But this year, I'm realizing that my anxiety is coming from a different place. than it has in the past. The past two elections I have voted in, my anxiety came from my belief that if

my political candidate didn't win, our nation was toast. I really felt like if the opposing candidate won, all hope was lost. We'd be cast into chaos, that evil and injustice would run rampant, that our nation would slowly devolve, that it wouldn't feel safe anymore. What's interesting, though, is that in the last four years, something for me has shifted. To be fair, not a lot has changed in the state of our politics. There's even a good chance that this election has the exact same two candidates that were available to me in the last election. But my anxiety is different this time, because the way I see politics has shifted. The anxiety I feel this year is not fear of who will be elected or what will happen to our nation if one person or another sits in the Oval Office. My fear is that as this election season, unfolds, you may not be able to tell the difference between a Christian's reaction to political news and outcomes from their unbelieving neighbor, that we will fight, worry, condemn, slander, ruminate, and put all our hope on our candidate, just like anyone else would in any election year.

You see, this year, I'm less worried about the outcome of the election and more worried about the effects it may have on the church and what that will communicate to the watching world. And this isn't to say that we shouldn't care about politics or who becomes president, but more to challenge us as believers to ask the questions of where we are putting our hope this election season. You see, by the grace of God, over the past four years, I've been humbled and challenged, and I've found myself in a place where I have to continually remind myself of where my hope is found. And as I read Psalm 33, I felt the challenge to check my motives and reorient my hope once again. And so today, I want to walk through this passage with you and unpack that challenge that we find in scripture today.

We'll begin in verses 1 through 3. Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous. It is fitting for the upright to praise him. Praise the Lord with the harp, make music to him on the 10-stringed liar. sing to him a new song play skillfully and shout for joy okay so from the outset we are reminded by the psalmist of who we are to give praise to the lord yahweh the god of the israelites were encouraged to do just that to sing to shout to physically worship and give praise to our god if anyone was questioning why we should worship this god the psalmist continues by giving us reasons or why we give the Lord our praise. Verses four and five.

For the word of the Lord is right and true. He is faithful in all he does. The Lord loves righteousness and justice. The earth is full of his unfailing love. We give the Lord our praise because he is morally upright. In a world where morality is murky and the truth is contaminated with deep fakes and fake news, where we need fact checkers and classes on how to discern what is real from what isn't. We learn here that God's word is right and it is true.

He himself is righteous, virtuous. He upholds justice perfectly. He fills the earth with his unfailing love. Sit with that for a second and just reflect on how starkly different that feels from the world we live in. The Lord fills the world with unfailing love, not discord. We can always trust his word, not wonder if he's lying or trying to manipulate us. We know that everything he says and does is right. It is holy. We can trust his instructions, not question if we're doing the right thing by listening to him. In every decision, he is perfectly just. We don't have to fear that the evil will get away with their deeds in the end. end. We can rest knowing he will not mess up or fail. And the psalmist continues to give us more reasons, verses six through nine. By the word of the Lord, the heavens were made. Their starry host by the breath of his mouth, he gathers the waters of the sea into jars. He puts the deep into storehouses.

Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the people of the world revere him, for he spoke, and it came to be. He commanded and it stood firm. How do we know he's trustworthy? How do we know he's right and good? How do we know he is worthy of our praise? Well, because he's the creator. So the psalmist is writing this song at a time when the world around him was worshipping the creation. The Egyptians and Babylonians worshipped the sun as God. The stars were deities to be bowed down to. The earth and sea were both ancient powerful gods, and here the psalmist makes the incredible claim that it is his God, Yahweh, who created the sun, stars, sea, and earth. They aren't things to be worshipped, but things that were created by the one who we are to worship. Today, we may not often say in the

Western world that we worship the sun and stars as gods, but I am sure that you have heard someone talk about the universe or Mother Earth or astrology, using the stars and skies to determine the future. There are echoes of this ancient thought in our own modern world. But even more than this, and specifically in this election year, I know that I am daily tempted to worship and put my hope in what has been created. The people around me, my opinions, political systems, elections, politicians and laws, rather than putting my hope in the one who created these things. Again, I hope you can see that the created isn't evil or wrong or bad. No, we see very clearly in scripture that the created is good, but it does not deserve our worship, our praise, our hope.

That alone belongs to the one who created. The psalmas continues to challenge us on this point. in verses 10 through 9. Let's read them now. The Lord foils the plans of the nations. He thwarts the purposes of the peoples, but the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. The psalmist begins this section by reminding us that the Lord is creator, and also that he is the orchestrator of history. Nothing has ever happened that he is not allowed. His plans and purposes have been at work through all of time, and will continue for all of time. Continuing on, blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance. Now, before we are tempted to take this verse out of context and use it to decide that your nation, whatever country you're from,

is the chosen nation, that your nation is blessed, that the reason you put your hope in politics and argue and fight and fear and worry over who is in charge is because you want to be sure that your nation has God at the center of it. I want to offer some correction to that particular reading of this passage. You see, the psalmist is referring to Israel as the blessed nation, the people group that God chose for his inheritance. You see, in the Old Testament, God chose the nation of Israel to be his people. He chose a small, insignificant nation so that his name, his power, his strength would be seen clearly. Throughout the Old Testament, we see a God who is faithful to his people, who welcomes the outsider into this nation

should they want to follow Yahweh and his commands. But in the New Testament, with the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit, we see a shift in who God's chosen people are. 1. Peter 2.9 says when speaking of the church, but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. No longer has God chosen to work through one specific nation, but through his church. We are his people. People think, from all nations, all tribes, and tongues. People from all political groups, all races, men,

women, children, refugees, and immigrants. We are blessed because we are his church, his chosen people. He chose us, and we can find comfort in that. He saw, protected, loved, cared for, provided for, and commanded the Israelites in the Old Testament, and he will continue to be faithful to his chosen people. Verse 13. From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind. From his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth, he who forms the heart of all, who considers everything they do. No king is saved by the size of his army. No warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance. Despite all its great strength it cannot save. But the eyes of the Lord are on those who

fear him on those whose hope is in his unfailing love to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine in case we are tempted to forget that we are the created in case we are tempted to believe that we can put our hope in a king or the size of our army or new technology or arguments or laws or politicians the psalmist reminds us the lord yahweh is the one who sees all he is the one who is in control. He is the creator, definer, and director of all things. He alone has the power to save, to redeem, to deliver us into his coming kingdom for all of eternity. It is my prayer that with humble hearts we can hear and be challenged by the truth that this psalmist presents to us. To give our praise to anything, anything other than Yahweh, to put our hope in anything other than

Yahweh to depend on the strength and wisdom and justice and salvation from anything other than Yahweh is foolish. It is folly. It will yield only fear, anxiety, and false hope. Because in the end, it is also my prayer that we can be greatly encouraged by this Psalm, encouraged to reorient our hope, to remember that when we put our hope in the Lord, it is not in vain. Our hope is secure in the one who is truly worthy of our worship, our praise. As we go throughout 2024, when our hearts are tempted to despair about or hope in things that are created, may we turn to the Lord and offer him our praise and put our hope in his sovereignty. No matter what nation you come from, no matter who is president, no matter what wars, rage, or laws are past,

the Lord Yahweh, the creator of all things, is on the throne. He is in control. His plan has been at work. from the beginning of time. Nothing happens in this world that he does not see. No evil can overcome him. No injustice will go unpunished. He is bringing about a kingdom that is full of love, justice, and mercy. One where truth prevails, righteousness and justice reign, where unfailing love fills the entire earth, and he is calling you and I to partner with him in bringing that kingdom here today. It is my hope that this election season, that we wouldn't just look like everyone, else as we approach politics, but also that we wouldn't retreat from the political world.

As you partner with God in bringing the love, justice, and mercy of his kingdom into this world, maybe that means entering into the political world, caring for the oppressed and standing up for justice. As you enter into this political season, it is my prayer that this Psalm would encourage us to do so with the wisdom and grace and strength and humility that can only be. come from someone whose hope is securely in the Lord, that we would know that ultimately our hope is not in politics, our fate does not ride on our nation, the creator of the universe sees you, has chosen you to be a part of his church, and has placed you where you are to bring him, honor, and glory, and praise. As the psalmist says at the end of Psalm 33, we wait and hope for the Lord,

He is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name. May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you.