Psalm | Psalm 33:10-21 (with Nick Locke)

Opening Song:
My Help Comes from the Lord by Alex Thrailkill and David Baloche

Lyrics:
So do not fear for I'm with you
Be not dismayed
So do not fear for I am with you
I am Your God

I lift my eyes to the mountains
Where does my help come from
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of heaven and earth

Passage:
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.

(Psalm 33:10–21 ESV)

Musical Reflection:
I Need Thee Every Hour (NEED) by Robert Lowry

Reflection Notes:
Each stanza of this familiar hymn was written by Annie Hawks as part of a poem. When she showed the composition to her pastor, Robert Lowry, he added the refrain and set the text to music for their congregation to enjoy. The musical lines always tend upward before falling back down, an apt parallel to the textual pleas reaching up to God.

Prayer:
O God, who has prepared for them that love thee such good things as pass human understanding; pour into our hearts such love toward thee, that we, loving thee above all things, may obtain thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Gelasian Sacramentary