HALFWAY THERE
Key Verse: “No king is saved by the multitude of an army: A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.” (v.16)
Key Theme: The Sovereignty of God
Key Descriptives of God: Indirectly, His Absolute Sovereignty
Halfway through today, we arrive at our halfway point in our 67-day journey that will end us in Psalm 67 on Rosh Hashanah. It is only appropriate that Psalm 33 carries the number of Jesus’ age when He made the ultimate sacrifice that provided us and Himself with everything needed for a glorious reveal on earth. At 33 He did it all!
ABSOLUTE SOVEREIGNTY?
The Sovereignty of God is an ongoing topic of controversy among believers and at times it goes into minute splitting of hairs. The dispute centers around whether He affects all outcomes with His choices or do we affect outcomes with our choices. Does He have ALL power and authority or has He passed some on to us? Rather than join the debate, I will just say, that the more you read David’s Psalms the more you believe He is absolutely Sovereign. It is sown into his language throughout as if almost nothing else matters and what makes it stand out more is once you consider the totality of who David was. He was a king without a limiting constitution, he was a billionaire if you add up just what his talents of gold came to, he was a superman capable of shredding lions and bears with his bare hands, he was powerful by every description. If there was anyone who should seemingly champion the co-role with God that we have in on earth-outcomes you would think it would be him. Yet, if you read the Psalms and forgot that, you could visualize a weak, helpless, small, insignificant, absolutely dependent frail man. I suggest there is a strong correlation between the perception and the reality. The Lord showed me years ago that the highest level of power and maturity we could ever attain to in Him is absolute dependence. No dependence equals no power. Little dependence equals little power. A lot of dependence equals a lot of power. Total dependence equals maximum power. You get the idea. If you process weakness properly it turns to strength. It’s almost like there should be a scripture that says, “Let the weak say I am strong.” (there is)
SOVEREIGNTY OVER NATIONS
“The Lord frustrates the plans of the NATIONS and thwarts all their SCHEMES.” (v.10) This confirms once again that nations are always scheming, plotting and conspiring as if they have sovereignty. The word “frustrates” in this verse is translated “brings to nothing” in other translations. This even without him highlighting “the power of prayer” to change things. Now add the next verse to this, “But the Lord’s plans stand firm forever; HIS INTENTIONS CAN NEVER BE SHAKEN.” (v.11) Then, let us add our key verse of the chapter, “No king is saved by the multitude of an army: A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.” (v.16) In the next three verses, he only builds on that theme. The total futility of becoming “mighty” in natural ways as compared to being watched over by the Lord.
SOVEREIGNTY OVER HEARTS
“ From His throne, HE OBSERVES all who live on the earth. HE MADE THEIR HEARTS, so HE UNDERSTANDS EVERYTHING THEY DO.” (v.15) In the NKJV it says, “He fashions their hearts individually.” We know from Proverbs 21:21, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord…He turns it whatever way He wills.” If He can do that with “kings”, He can do that with all. So where does human choice come in? Well, choice is still everything— but not from a position of legal power or authority but from a position of relational favor. He is the Divine Observer with total power and total authority. Whatever authority He gave up through Adam and Eve’s sin He reclaimed on the cross, “ALL authority in heaven and earth is MINE.” (Mt. 28: 18) What we have is a relational right of appeal and favor and it is from there we derive our authority. He is NEVER limited to us, though He is always inviting us into the process. He has saved us and earth a hundred times when we DIDN’T do a positive thing towards it. Yet, He also will allow severe consequences to affect us and nations when we fail to participate in proper prayer and righteous action. It is all about an educational process that we are expected to grow in.
SOVEREIGNTY OVER SATAN AND ALL HIS DEMONS
“BY THE WORD of the Lord the heavens were made, And ALL THE HOST of them by the breath of His mouth.” (v.6) This verse is a big reminder. If His only power were the power of Creator it would be enough to make Him Sovereign. Think of it, He can unstoppably create. Whether “all the host” of the heavens, is stars without number or whether it speaks of the angelic hosts, it doesn’t matter as He did both. People who can see the demonic realm can often become very concerned at our possibilities of a good outcome on earth. They are huge, seemingly innumerable, and of a dreadful disposition. Sometimes these seers worry that our contingent of twice as many angels might be a little soft and cherubic compared to these brutes and so the double in number doesn’t appease them. Let this appease you. There is nothing to stop God from creating more “hosts” of heaven. Who could do it? God could literally create one quadrillion Herculean, Lion-Faced, 100 feet tall angels today and sic em’ on the devil. Even if He wasn’t “Sovereign”, He could be Sovereign— which makes Him Sovereign. Furthermore, He created all the bad guys (starting with Lucifer) by one day saying, “Let their be…”. He has no rule of heaven hindering Him from suddenly saying, “Let there NOT be…”. Yes, Satan is that close to extinction. Creator’s rights trump everything. For now, Satan serves God’s purposes of educating us.
SO PRAISE HIM: HOPE IN HIM
Once we understand His position of absolute power (Creator’s Rights) and absolute authority (Redeemer’s Rights), the “Praise Him” instructions that David gives us over and over and over in his many Psalms begin to better register with us. It becomes increasingly difficult to rely on anything else. Mainly, our hearts become so secured in His power and His authority, that we can’t help but praise Him. This Psalm 33 begins with 3 verses commending us to praise Him and rejoice in Him. It ends with 3 verses instructing us to rejoice, trust, and hope in Him. In between those verses is all the drama of life being played out.
TO PRAISE MEANS TO SHOOT ARROWS
The Hebrew word for “praise” YADAH also means “to shoot arrows” or “to throw a stone.” What God likes to do is position Himself right in the middle of an encampment of the enemy and have us “Praise Him”. We don’t even have to be aware of the enemy. The demonic realm gets a barrage of arrows and stones flying in their direction as we focus our praise on Him. The more we praise Him, the more demons get shot down. The more passionately we give ourselves to praising Him, the more passionately He moves among the enemy causing maximum damage to what comes against us. He really gets “lit” from new songs (“sing a NEW song” v.3) as they go into revelatory seeing of what He is doing today. It is song that has “moved with the cloud”. The Hebrew word for “new song” is CHADASH and among its’ meanings are “fresh, of the year; unheard of- such as has not been previously worshipped.” NEW songs are designed to part the waters into Promised Land. Anointed worship is always designed to be ahead of where we experientially are and is our tour guide into the new. May these new anointed songs abound in 2020.
HOPE IN HIM
“Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, Just as we HOPE IN YOU.” (v.22) This is how chapter 33 ends. We were wired and created by God to hope in Him, then to explore hoping in something or someone else, and then to come back full circle to HOPE IN HIM. Make sure you make the round trip. We must go back to hope “as a little child” to see and enter the kingdom dimension of “all things are possible”. Rejoice in Him today. Praise Him today. Enjoy Him today. His Face is shining upon us.
Written by: Johnny Enlow
Featured Image by chris ganser on Unsplash
67 DAY COUNTDOWN SERIES
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The 67 Day Countdown Series is brought to you by Johnny and Elizabeth Enlow, founders of Restore7 ministry, as well as international speakers and best-selling authors. Among Johnny’s books are The Seven Mountain Prophecy, The Seven Mountain Mantle, Rainbow God, The Seven Mountain Renaissance, Becoming A Superhero, and RISE. Elizabeth serves as CEO and penned Rainbow God: The Seven Colors of Love and God in Every Season.
