The Counsel of the Lord

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:

1        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.

4        For the word of the LORD is upright,

    and all his work is done in faithfulness.

5        He loves righteousness and justice;

    the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD.

6        By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,

    and by the breath of his mouth all their host.

7        He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;

    he puts the deeps 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 spoke, and it came to be;

    he commanded, and it stood firm.

10      The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;

              he frustrates the plans of the peoples.

11      The counsel of the LORD stands forever,

    the plans of his heart to all generations.

12      Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,

    the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

13      The LORD looks down from heaven;

    he sees all the children of man;

14      from where he sits enthroned he looks out

    on all the inhabitants of the earth,

15      he who fashions the hearts of them all

    and observes all their deeds.

16      The king is not saved by his great army;

    a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.

17      The war horse is a false hope for salvation,

    and by its great might it cannot rescue.

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.

20      Our soul waits for the LORD;

    he is our help and our shield.

21      For our heart is glad in him,

    because we trust in his holy name.

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

    even as we hope in you. (Psalm 33, ESV)

REFLECTIONS:

We return to Psalm 33 today, this time reading from the English Standard Version. As I was re-reading this psalm, verses 10-11 stood out as extremely important. They are perhaps the key verses of this entire psalm. Notice the words "counsel" and "plans."

The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;

    he frustrates the plans of the peoples.

The counsel of the LORD stands forever,

    the plans of his heart to all generations.

The point of these verses is that both men and God take counsel and both plan. But in the end it is not the counsel and plans of men that are established, but of God's. It is all-important to realize that God plans the world and he plans churches and he plans lives—and his plans succeed. His plans take precedence over our plans. Our plans have significance and durability to the degree that God plans for our plans to be significant and durable. God is the all-important reality in planning from beginning to end. God's will is for that to be known, to be explicit, to be admired and enjoyed.

Skip down to verses 16–18:

The king is not saved by his great army;

    a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.

The war horse is a false hope for salvation,

    and by its great might it cannot rescue.

Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him,

    on those who hope in his steadfast love,

that he may deliver their soul from death

    and keep them alive in famine.

Here we move beyond planning to implementation and resources, but the point is the same. No matter how great our resources, victory belongs to the Lord. A king may have a mighty army and strong warriors; his horses may have great strength. But on the day of battle God alone decides who wins. And God can make the stronger or the weaker win—whichever his plan determines. He has a thousand ways of making the weaker triumph over the stronger, and getting glory for his own name. (This sort of reminds me of what we've been studying in 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5.)

This is all heady stuff. So, let's aim to bring this home to our individual lives.

Here's a question: Are you depending on the counsel of the Lord? The word of God, his counsel, runs this whole universe. How did God create everything? “And God said, ‘Let there be…’” (Genesis 1). He spoke, and it was done, which shows the power of his word. What's astounding to me is that the same word that created the universe holds the universe together and is guiding the universe and human history. When we are in tune with the word of God, we’re in tune with the whole universe and with what he is doing in this world.

Let no one rob you of the beautiful truth that God has his counsel for you. He has a plan for your life and my life—just as he did for Moses, Joshua, David, Jeremiah, the apostles, and the great men and women of church history. 

Now, by saying that, I don't mean to imply that God has every detail of your life worked out in advance. I don't think it works like that. I believe God allows us freedom to choose whatever we'd like. But, I also believe that God has a plan for your life, too. How do those two things—man's freedom and God's sovereignty—work together? I won't even pretend to know. But I find evidence for both truths in Scripture. So, as difficult as it may be for us to understand, we can trust that God is big enough and wise enough and strong enough to work it all out.

Notice that the Lord’s counsel comes from his heart. “The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations” (verse 11). The will of God doesn’t come from a machine. He doesn’t photocopy one plan for everyone’s life and fax it to all believers. No, God’s will comes from his heart—completely tailor-made for your life. And his will lasts forever, unlike human plans.

The will of God is his expression of love for you. Don’t be afraid of it. Build your life on the counsel of the Lord.

POINT TO PONDER:

Because God’s tailor-made plans for you come from his heart, they are an expression of his love. Stay in tune with the word of God, and he will guide you according to his will.

WHO AM I?

I am Tres Sansom, and today I'm turning 40 years old. The big 4-0. Those who know me well know that I've been 40 about 10 or 15 years now. I have a tendency to be cranky, onery, and cantankerous all at the same time. I have oatmeal for breakfast just about every day. I fall asleep in my chair while watching TV. I like to eat dinner early and go to bed by 8pm. I often struggle to remember things from one moment to the next. I tend to scare the bejeebers out of people when I drive. I think I’ve got this old man thing down pat.