In Awe of Him - Pastor Stacey Shiflett

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In Awe of Him

Psalm 33:8 Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.

A. The Command to Praise – vs. 1

This chapter begins with a command to God’s people

·        1 Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous:

B. The Comeliness of Praise – vs. 1b

·        1b …for praise is comely for the upright.

COMELY: beautiful; seemly; becoming

·        Psalms 147:1 Praise ye the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely.

C. The Confidence of Praise – vs. 3

·        2 Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.

·        3 Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.

Notice the significance of these two verses:

·        Notice the preparation – with harp – sing unto him with the psaltery 

·        Notice the partnership - AND an instrument of ten strings

·        Notice the premeditation – sing unto him a new song

·        Notice the practice – play skilfully

·        Notice the passion – with a loud noise

I want to draw our attention to the phrase in verse 8 “…let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.”

The word AWE is only found three times in the Bible.

All three of them refer to our attitude toward God.

I find it fascinating that the praise and rejoicing is only done by God’s people.

But the fear and the awe is expected of the whole world.

·        Psalm 33:8 Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.

AWE is the first half of AWESOME.

AWE is the first half of AWESTRUCK.

I. His Character – vs. 4, 5

·        4 For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth.

·        5 He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.

The references to the character of God in these two verses would fill a book.

·        The word of the Lord is right.

Psalms 119:161 Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word.

·        All his works are done in truth.

·        He loveth righteousness.

Psalms 11:7 For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness;

·        He loveth judgment.

Psalms 37:28 For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.

·        The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

II. His Creation – vs. 6-9

·        6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

We cannot begin to imagine the power of this statement.

By the word of the Lord were the heavens made.

We cannot even imagine the magnitude of the heavens.

ILLUSTRATION: I went to SpaceX last week in Brownsville, Texas.

They are spending a million dollars a day just to try and learn more about the heavens.

I met the head welder for the towers that retrieve the booster rockets.

He and his crew have been working on the tower for 8 months.

God spoke the heavens into existence in one day – by the word of his mouth!!

·        Hebrews 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

Let’s keep reading.

·        7 He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses.

·        8 Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.

·        9 For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.

Hebrews 1

·        1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

·        2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

·        3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power,

III. His Counsel – vs. 10, 11

·        10 The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.

·        11 The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

When we hear the word COUNSEL, we think of walking into the pastor’s office for advice.

This word means much more.

It does mean counsel. It means advice. But it also means purpose.

A. His Counsel is PREEMINENT – vs. 10

·        10 The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.

·        Proverbs 19:21 There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.

·        Proverbs 21:30 There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD.

B. His Counsel is PERMANENT – vs. 11

God’s counsel is eternal and unchanging.

Hebrews 6

·        16 For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.

·        17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:

·        18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

C. His Counsel is PRICELESS – the thoughts of his heart

Isaiah 55

·        8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.

·        9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Yet he shares them with us! - the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

IV. His Consideration – vs. 13-18

·        13 The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men.

·        14 From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.

·        15 He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works.

·        16 There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.

·        17 An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.

·        18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;

The songwriter said it like this:

I sing because I’m happy. I sing because I’m free.

For his eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Conclusion: We stand in awe of Him today.

 A. He is the Supplier of Our Help

·        19 To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.

·        20 Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield.

B. He is the Song of our Heart

·        21 For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.

C. He is the Source of Our Hope

·        22 Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.