Daily Manna · Day 86 · March 27
Eyes on You
“Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;”
"It's covered," he said, and then, "I've got a guy."
Psalm 33 is a list of things that are not covered, and it is a longer list than most of us keep. The counsel of the heathen is brought to nought. The devices of the people are made of none effect. There is no king saved by the multitude of an host. A mighty man is not delivered by much strength. An horse is a vain thing for safety, neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. Read that in the ancient world's terms: national strategy, popular consensus, a standing army, personal capability, and cavalry, which was the most expensive and decisive technology on the field. Five entries, and the psalm knocks each one down in turn without contempt, simply noting that none of them delivers.
Verse 18 begins with behold, which is the psalm turning your head. The eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy. And the next line finishes the thought and completes the contrast: to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Every item on the earlier list was assessed for whether it could deliver. Only this one does.
Notice who is being looked at. Not people admiring God from a safe distance, and not people with an impressive record. Those that fear him, which means taking Him seriously enough to arrange a week around Him, and those that hope in his mercy, which means refusing to offer your record as a defence.
So the offer stands, and nothing in its tone is urgent. There is one line on the list that has never failed, and there is room on it. You would have to stop presenting the other five, which is the only real cost, and most people find that harder than they expect.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year two reading for day 86 is What Paul Asked For (2 Thessalonians 1:11).