3 Awesome Blessings of Belonging to God
Happiness is attainable. Although there are many false paths which promise to lead to happiness, God’s word lays out the true path to happiness.
Psalm 32 showed us the fundamental path to happiness is through God’s forgiveness.
Psalm 33 also presents a truth that once you understand, your happiness will become more rooted and constant in this ever changing world.
Psalm 33 reveals that true, lasting happiness comes from belonging to God. From being a part of God’s people.
Take a few moments to read through Psalm 33. There are a few things I want you to notice from the Psalm.
Observe how great a God this Psalm describes
This Psalm focuses intensely on the greatness of the Lord.
The first verses call the reader to praise God. Why? Because the Lord is righteous and just and loving.
There are many attributes of God on display in this Psalm. But the two most prominent are God as creator and God as sovereign.
God as creator
Verses 6-9 are a reflection on the creation account in Genesis. The emphasis here is the same emphasis in Genesis 1: God merely spoke and all things were created.
The God of the Bible is not a weak God. He intentionally created the world for His own glory.
You see that in verse 8. The proper response to God’s power is to stand in awe of the Lord.
The world was not an accident.
The result of chance.
The result of randomness.
The earth was created by God, for God.
Understanding this changes your view of yourself. God created you for a purpose. Your life belongs to God.
Belonging to God gives you confidence that your life has purpose and meaning.
And that purpose is not decided by you. It is decided by the powerful God who created you and all of creation.
God as sovereign
God didn’t just create the world and abandon it. Verses 10-11 display the sovereignty of God. God is presently ruling over the world and what happens to it.
The Psalm presents God’s sovereign rule in the form of a contrast.
You would think that the plans of the people and countries of the world would determine what happens. Think of the world’s most powerful countries. The United Nations.
The decisions people make when they are President or King seem to determine so much of what happens in the world.
This Psalm turns that belief on its head. Read verses 10 and 11.
God frustrates and thwarts the plans of the world’s leaders. They don’t ultimately determine the course of the world.
Who does? The Lord.
God’s plan for the world is what will come to pass. It cannot be stopped. It is as certain as the sun rising every day.
You and I live in a world that focuses on power. What political party has power. Getting more power at work, more followers on social media, more money so you can buy what you want.
When you read Psalm 33, however, you are reminded all the earthly powers are nothing compared with God. This reality is one Psalm 2 makes clear as well.
Belonging to God frees you from self-rule
And so Psalm 33 calls us to praise and stand amazed at this God who created everything and rules everything.
The question to ask yourself at this point is:
What do you think of God? Are you indifferent to the truths of this Psalm? Or is your heart moved when you realize there is a God who is ordering all things for His will?
You and I live in a culture full of self-rule and self-focus.
We are told from every media outlet that the only thing keeping you from achieving your dreams is you.
Work harder. Be better. You determine your fate.
And we think following these lies will lead us to happiness.
But so much of the Bible is perspective-shifting. This Psalm doesn’t leave you thinking about your plans and goals for your life.
It changes your gaze from yourself to a God so much bigger than you. To His plans. To His glory and power.
If your view of God is small or secondary to your own desires, don’t be surprised if you never achieve the happiness you crave.
God did not create the world so you could think highly of yourself. He created you and all the earth to reflect how great He is.
Observe the blessing of belonging to that great and sovereign God
Once you have meditated on how amazing God is, verse 12 of this Psalm makes perfect sense.
If God is exceedingly great and created all things and rules all things, then it makes sense that happiness comes from belonging to that God.
“Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen to be His own possession”
And here we have an incredibly important point:
The people who belong to God are the people God has chosen to belong to Him.
This makes sense when you think of the original audience of this Psalm: the nation of Israel. God redeemed them from slavery in Egypt.
Why? So they could be His people, a people who would stand out from all the other countries around them.
Why? So nations would look to Israel and be drawn to the Lord through them. Deuteronomy 4:5-7 lays this purpose out clearly:
“Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has God so near to it, as the LORD our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him?”
Now, the vital question is: why was Israel the nation God chose to belong to Him? Were they better than the other countries around them? Did God foresee that they would serve Him particularly well?
No. In Deuteronomy 7:6 God declares that He chose Israel and then immediately in the next verse (7:7) He clarifies
“The Lord was devoted to you and chose you, not because you were more numerous than all the peoples. For you were the fewest of all the peoples.”
And in Deuteronomy 9:6 when God is leading Israel into the promised land He says:
“Know, then, it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stubborn people.”
Finally, when you read the rest of the Old Testament, you see Israel was extremely disobedient and unfaithful to the God who chose them. To read more about that, go study Nehemiah 9.
The principle to extract from all this is:
God does not choose people based on their past works, on the power/resources they possess, nor based on their future faithfulness. God chooses out of His love.
It is an undeserved, redeeming love.
We saw it on display in Psalm 32 where God forgives sinners.
It is in Deuteronomy 7:8 where God declares He chose Israel based on His redeeming love.
No one has ever deserved to be a part of God’s people. You cannot force your way into His people through your good works or your abilities. God must sovereignly choose you.
Observe how you come to belong to that God
Now, if God sovereignly chooses who belongs to His people and in the Old Testament the people of God is explicitly Israel, how can you and I have any hope of happiness?
The answer the Psalm gives is your happiness is determined by your hope.
Hope and happiness are interrelated.
In the Bible, hope is not a wish for something you may or may not get. It is related to faith.
Trust in God. Hoping in God’s promises.
Verses 13-17 talk about false hope.
It isn’t having power or resources that leads to happiness.
This is shocking to read. After all, life is uncertain, wouldn’t it make sense to get a larger bank account? Get more insurance? Protect your assets?
If you are trusting in money, power, or ability to give you security and happiness in this uncertain world, you have mis-invested your hope.
The alternative to this false hope is given in verses 18-22.
It is the fear of the Lord and dependence on His faithful love that gives hope.
How is this better than power or money or resources? It is because of God’s covenant.
That word translated “faithful love” is the Hebrew word which signifies God’s covenant love. It is God’s undeserved commitment to loving and showing mercy.
Belonging to God means you have His unfixed, unchanging love.
Think about that for a minute.
The great, all-powerful Creator who upholds everything keeps His eye on those who fear Him.
If you actually believe this, the implications are amazing.
If you have God’s covenant love, then…
- Why would you ever be anxious or fearful?
- Why would circumstances destroy your happiness?
- Why would you despair then things don’t go your way?
How do you come to experience this faithful love? For us who have the whole of Scripture, we know it comes from believing in Christ.
1 Peter 1:3 says
Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
Your hope determines your happiness. And the best hope you can have is God’ love for you in Christ.
Psalm 33 gives us a big view of God. But in the end of the Psalm, the faithful love of God is emphasized.
As the Heidelberg Catechism says:
What is thy only comfort in life and death?
That I with body and soul, both in life and death am not my own, but belong unto my faithful saviour Jesus Christ…
Belonging to God gives you hope and happiness in life and in death. May we say with the Psalmist
May your faithful love rest on us Lord, for we put our hope in you
Interested in seeing more posts in this series? Check them out here.