God’s Faithful Love (Ps 33, especially verses 5, 18, 22)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, March 26, 2023

Think with me about faithful love:

Chris Spielman was one of the NFL’s better linebackers. He had starred at Ohio State in a career that put him in the College Football Hall of Fame. After going professional, he played on four Pro Bowl teams. Then, in 1998, at the top of his form, he sat out a year. The NFL and his fans were moved to the back burner because his wife was fighting breast cancer.

Stefanie Spielman and her doctors fought the cancer aggressively. When chemotherapy made her hair fall out, her husband shaved his own head as a gesture of solidarity. All that year he ran the household, took care of their children, and supported his wife. He returned to football in the 1999 season, only to retire before the season actually began. His heart was at home.

Stefanie battled her disease for more than a decade before passing away in 2009. After she died, Chris said, “She was my only girlfriend.”

That is a public example of faithful love. Though I think we could find many examples in this congregation of faithful love.

We are in a sermon series titled, God Loves You. Today, I want to talk about how God’s love is faithful love.

My theme today is: God’s love is faithful, God’s love endures, God’s love is unfailing.

I want to focus on Psalm 33 verses 5, 18, and 22. However, first let’s read Psalm 33:1-3 and put the Psalm in context.

Sing praises to the Lord (Psalm 33:1-3)

The Steadfast Love of the Lord

33 Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!

Praise befits the upright.

²    Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;

make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!

³    Sing to him a new song;

play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

1. Context: Psalm 33 is in the first book of Psalms.
   1. The Psalms are pointing to Jesus, this one is pointing to Jesus as the Psalmist writes about God’s loyal love in verses 5, 18, and 22.
   2. This Psalm seems to connect with Psalm 32 as a hymn of praise to the God Who made all things.
2. God’s Word is upright and the earth is full of His steadfast love.

Psalm 33:4–5 (ESV)

⁴For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness.

⁵He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.

1. Verse 4: “for” means explanation.
2. This is explaining why we sing praises to the Lord.
3. All His work is done in faithfulness.
4. What work is this referring to? Maybe this is referring to a military victory.
5. Though it says “all” His work…
6. Could it be creation?
7. Constable: Two character qualities of God that the writer stressed, in this second section of the psalm, are that Yahweh is dependable and righteous. We can rely on everything that He says and does, and He does what is right in faithfulness (Heb. hesed) for His people.

“What a pity it is that this earth, which is so full of God’s goodness, should be so empty of his praises, and that of the multitudes that live upon his bounty there are so few that live to his glory!”^519[2]

1. Verse 5: He loves righteousness.
2. Think about that. The Lord likes righteousness and justice.
3. That is powerful.
4. God is just.
5. Righteousness and justice are similar terms. To be righteous means that He loves things that are just.
6. Loving righteousness and justice means doing acts of righteousness and justice (99:4; Jr 9:24). They are not just abstract attributes but they involve actions, whether directed toward God or his people.^[3]
7. What if God did not love righteousness and justice?
8. How do we know right from wrong? We know things are wrong because God is good and He created us with that understanding.
9. The earth is “full” of the steadfast love of the Lord.
10. This idea of the steadfast love of the Lord is a major term in Scripture. This means His “loyal” love.
11. God’s love is loyal.
12. God’s love is steadfast, faithful, enduring over all the earth. How is this so?
    1. All of us, let’s take a breath. That breath is from the Lord. Every breath is from the Lord.
    2. Now imagine, it is 70 degrees, or 72 if you prefer, you walk outside and it is sunny. You do not have much to do and there is a comfortable chair right outside in the sun. You sit and enjoy the sunshine. As you enjoy the sunshine, you do not know it, but your body is getting vitamin D from the sun. Additionally, your emotions are getting charged from the sun. That is the steadfast love of the Lord over the whole earth.

• Now, imagine the sound of a gentle rain, is that peaceful? That is the steadfast love of the Lord over the whole earth.

1. Imagine, the beauty of the snow, that is the steadfast love of the Lord over the whole earth.
2. Imagine the beauty of the ocean, that is the steadfast love of the Lord over the whole earth.
3. Imagine fire. Sitting by a fire, enjoying the warmth of a fire. Enjoying the twinkling of a candle. Enjoying the smell of a fall bonfire. That is the steadfast love of the Lord over the whole earth.

• Imagine a walk in the woods, you see the beautiful flowers. You see some wild flowers as you enter and exit the woods. You smell them. You see deer on the path. You see the sun rays coming through the woods. You sit on a bench and rest a while. That is the steadfast love of the Lord over the whole earth.
• Imagine the moon at night, that is the steadfast love of the Lord over the whole earth.

1. Imagine the stars, that is the steadfast love of the Lord over the whole earth.
2. Think about all the natural processes keeping earth safe. They are all the steadfast love of the Lord over the whole earth.
3. J.D. Greear shares: Scientists say that life on earth depends on multiple factors that are so precise that if they were off by even a hair, life could not exist. They call it the Goldilocks principle: things are “just right” for human life. 

• The makeup of the atmosphere is very exact, yet it’s the difference between life and death. If some of those levels were even slightly off—for example, if the level of oxygen dropped by 6%we would all suffocate; if it rose by 4%, our planet would erupt into a giant fireball. And we’d all die.
• Or, if the CO2 were just a little higher or a just  little bit lower(say, 0.01%), then the earth would either become an oven or have no atmosphere at all. And we’d all die.
• Or this: Thewater molecule is the only molecule whose solid form (ice) is less dense than its liquid form. Which means that when it freezes it floats. If ice did not float, it would sink to the bottom and the whole ocean would eventually freeze from the bottom up and… we would all die.

1. Or the distance of the earth from the sun: If we were 2% closer to the sun, the planet would be too hot for water to exist. And we’d all die. 

• And then there’s tilt of the earth, which is set at an ideal 23.5 degrees, which we’ve learned is perfect for temperatures and tides and such. You’ve probably never thought about it, but if it was was not tilted, temperatures would be extremeand we’d all die. At least the humans. 
• One more for fun: We’ve learned that if Jupiter wasn’t the size and in the orbit it is, astronomers predict that there would be 10,000x the number of asteroid strikes right here on earth, and we’d probably all die. 
• Jupiter is like the Luke Maye of planets,setting picks on asteroids so the earth can get open for the 3-pointer of life. Without it, our planet would be pummeled with asteroids and life could never exist.
• One scientist said; The greatest miracle of all time without any close second, is the existence of life on our planet![4]

1. That is the steadfast love of the Lord over the whole earth.

• Now, let’s all take a breath. That breath is the steadfast love of the Lord.
• We see how this works in the next few verses.

1. Verse 6: The Lord created everything by His word, by His breath. The description is consistent with Gen 1:16, which indicates that God spoke the heavenly luminaries into existence.^[6]
2. The Lord of creation is the God of revelation. This is distinctive from other ancient world religions that had myths of creation involving a “creative word” but did not tie that act to any subsequent history. In the biblical text, the God of history who interacts with his people is the same God who spoke the world into existence. This brings together the general revelation of creation and the special revelation that God gave to his people.^[7]

• God sees all (Psalm 33:18-19).

Psalm 33:18-19 (ESV)

¹⁸   Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,

on those who hope in his steadfast love,

¹⁹   that he may deliver their soul from death

and keep them alive in famine.

1. We must hope in His steadfast love. This means His loyal love.
2. Do we hope in His steadfast love?
3. He alone can deliver us.

Therefore, we hope in God (Psalm 33:22).

Psalm 33:22 (ESV)

²²   Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,

even as we hope in you.

1. Let… this seems to be a request.
2. This is a request of the Lord.
3. The Psalmist is asking that the Lord’s steadfast, enduring, faithful, love be upon them. This is a request as they hope in Him.
4. Do we hope in Him?
5. Do we ask for His steadfast, enduring love?
6. Steadfast love is loyal love.

Close:

Time and again, the Bible shows us examples of God’s loyal love for those who have been disloyal to Him:

• God did not stop loving Adam and Eve, even after they had violated His one restriction in the Garden of Eden. He punished them, but He never quit loving them.
• God did not stop loving Noah, even though he dishonored the grace God had shown in saving his family from the Flood by lying naked in a drunken stupor before his sons.
• God did not stop loving Abraham, even though he sought relief from famine in Egypt instead of trusting God to provide for him. Even though he tried to fulfill God’s promise of a son through his own ingenuity. Even though, on two separate occasions, he lied about the identity of his wife.
• God did not stop loving Moses, even though he committed murder and later violated God’s command by losing his temper and striking the rock of provision. God punished Moses by denying him entrance to the Promised Land. Later, He showed his love and mercy by allowing Moses to stand with Elijah in the presence of Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration.
• God did not stop loving David, even though David committed adultery with Bathsheba, had her husband murdered, and later conducted an unauthorized, pride-motivated census of Israel. David suffered greatly for his sins, but when he cried out in sincere repentance, God forgave him and restored him to fellowship.
• God did not stop loving Jonah, even though he refused to take God’s saving message to Nineveh. After his experience in the belly of the great fish, we read that the “word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time” (Jonah 3:1). God gave Jonah another chance to obey, and Jonah went on to preside over one of the greatest revivals in history.
• God did not stop loving Peter, even though he denied Jesus three times. The Lord restored Peter to fellowship by matching his threefold denial with a threefold recommissioning (John 21:15–17).^[9]

God’s love is faithful!

Prayer

^[1] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Ps 33:1.

⁵¹⁹ Henry, p. 609.

^[2] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Ps 33:4.

^[3] Kevin R. Warstler, “Psalms,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 845.

[4] https://jdgreear.com/podcasts/how-do-we-know-theres-a-god/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-do-we-know-theres-a-god

^[5] Kevin R. Warstler, “Psalms,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 845.

^[6] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Ps 33:6.

1. verse

^[7] Kevin R. Warstler, “Psalms,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 845.

⁵¹⁹ Henry, p. 609.

^[8] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Ps 33:4.

^[9] David Jeremiah, God Loves You: He Always Has–He Always Will (New York City, NY: FaithWords, 2012).