“Dear God, if you heal my child, I’ll follow you forever.” “Dear God, if you fix this problem at work, I’ll start taking Sunday morning church seriously.” “Dear God, if you get rid of my stress, I’ll stop drinking.” “Dear God, if you get us through this dark time, I’ll turn my life around. I promise.” If, if, if, if… I doubt that any of us would admit that we make deals with God—at least, not overtly. There’s an old story about blues guitar legend Robert Johnson making a deal with the Devil. He would give his soul, and in return he would get incredible skills to play the guitar. I have no idea if that story is true. But it reveals something that sometimes happens in our relationship not with the Devil, but with God. If you do this, I’ll do that. It’s a similar principle at play. I began with some “if” statements. “If you heal my child…” “If you fix this problem at work…” “If you get rid of my stress…” “If you get us through this dark time…” Those are all painful situations. But they are one way we sometimes try to make some sort of deal with God. And to be honest, looking back at chapters in my own life, I’m not sure I’m totally innocent. Maybe it’s something you can relate to as well. Here is another way to look at it. It’s treating God like a vending machine. You’ll notice that today I have a prop. It is a cut out of a vending machine. Here’s what this vending machine is meant to achieve. It is meant to help us visualize the ways we may do this. If we put certain things into our relationship with God, we expect to get certain things—like a vending machine. If I put in three dollars and push C3 I expect to get a Coke, or maybe a pack of Skittles. It’s the principle of exchange. I do this, you do that. Is this how we sometimes approach our relationship with God? Three examples: If I put a prayer to “solve my problem” into the vending machine, we expect God to have to act in a certain way: to solve that problem. But what happens if something comes out which is different than what I wanted? What if the response is “wait”? If I put my “being a good person” into the vending machine (i.e. my relationship with God), I expect God to act in a certain way: to ensure “nothing bad happens” to me. But what happens when what I get back is different from what I had expected? What if the response is “make sacrifices”? If I put “going to church” into the vending machine (i.e. my relationship with God), I expect God to act in a certain way: to give “comfort.” What happens when what I get back is different from what I had expected? What if the response is “courage for trials”? This entire approach presupposes something: that I actually know what’s best for me. I know what’s best for the people around me. Now, in one sense, that is true if I want faith for them, if I want discipleship for them, if I want them to love God and others, and if I want them to glorify God. Absolutely. That is actually what is best for us and for the people we care about. But where we tend to slip up is in the day-to-day specifics. Today is an opportunity for us to be honest. Do we treat our relationship with God like a vending machine? And is there a better way of thinking about this relationship which is actually better for me and for the people I care about? To help with this we turn to Psalm 33. The Text – Psalm 33 Psalm 33 is anonymous, but it may have been written by King David. It certainly sounds like him. Herman Gunkel, the German theologian, said that the words in Psalm 33 are probably a song. So these are probably lyrics which were used in worship services. Psalm 33 (ESV) 1 Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright. Here, “righteous” doesn’t mean they are without sin; it is a reference to God’s people who are most likely gathered for worship. 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. Think of a fortified tower. That’s like the “word” of the Lord. We’re used to hearing that sort of expression, but originally it would have been striking. A word is technically invisible, like a wisp in the wind. But when it is God’s word it is “upright.” Archimedes, the Greek mathematician, said: “Give me a place to stand, and I will move the earth.” The idea is that if we don’t have something firm to stand on, we won’t have any strength. Imagine someone asking you to throw a javelin. If you’re on solid ground, it’s pretty easy. If you’re on quicksand, not so much. Our solid place to stand isn’t the dirt, it is the word of God. Unchanging, unmoved, perfect, infallible, trustworthy. 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. Many people in the ancient world thought that the stars, and even the great creatures in the depths of the sea were actually controlled by—or representations of—divine powers that were different from God. But no. He superintends them all. 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. To “fear” something is not the same as being afraid of something. In the Bible, fearing God has to do with awesome reverence. The very next line tells us exactly that: It is to “stand in awe of him!” We humans have lost, in some ways, our capacity to marvel and stand in awe of things. Perhaps it’s because with screens all around us we see pictures and videos from all over the world. We see sea creatures and fireworks and human feats of strength and the Seven Wonders of the World all the time! It’s becoming harder and harder for us to marvel. But do you want to know what I have marvelled at? Seeing a child’s face for the first time. Or seeing a friend finally put their trust in God and get baptized. Or seeing a storm so big that it makes your house shake. All of this is within the creation that our Lord has made. Awesome reverence. 10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. Some translations say that he brings the “plans” of the nations to nothing. He “frustrates” the plans of the peoples. The sense here is that God’s wisdom is so great, and his power so mighty, that even if the highest power-brokers in the strongest nations make plans, God in an instant can scrap them. Imagine playing a game of chess with your best friend, and then someone comes up and totally wipes away all the pieces. Game over! Such is the power of God but on a global scale. 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! This is the contrast statement. Nations and people make plans, but it is only God’s plans that endure. 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, Craig C Broyles, a professor at Trinity Western University says at this point: “He alone has the all-seeing perspective from heaven…” Do you and I have that perspective? Of course not! You can I cannot even avoid stepping in doggy doo-doo when we walk across a field. You and I can’t even find the car keys. Who are we to say we know better than God! 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. We can’t underestimate how prevalent war was in the ancient world. There’s an interesting comment in 2 Samuel 11:1: “In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel.” It’s almost an off-handed comment, as if they go off to war every spring. Can you imagine going off to war every spring? David is saying—and as a warrior and king he has a lot of personal experience with this—that even that process is overseen by God. Today we don’t go out to war every spring. But what is something that is similar in our own lives? Is it illness, is it the economy, is it government policy, is it mental health? The idea is all of our help and hope comes ultimately not from doctors or economists or politicians—but from the one who looks down from heaven. 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. God is watching out for those who show him awesome reverence and who hope in his steadfast love. That’s what it says. Let’s just say that together (repeated aloud). Does it say that his eye is only on the rich, the poor, the white, the poor, the happy, the sad, who? It’s on those who fear him and who hope in his steadfast love. 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. There is an urgency in these verses. In verse 20 it says that our souls wait for the Lord. A Hebrew language scholar named Robert Altar says that you could put the word “urgently” in there based on how the Hebrew is constructed. Pastor: This is the word of the Lord. All: Thanks be to God. Whose terms, Whose purposes? Again quoting Craig Broyles, he summarizes the meaning of the psalm like this: “this psalm celebrates Yahweh as the only one who—by virtue of his trustworthy character and his unassailable power—deserves our trust.” In light of all of this, and in light of our illustration of the vending machine approach to our relationship with God, here’s today’s key question: Do you want to have a relationship with God on your terms for your purposes, or do you want to have a relationship with God on his terms and for his purposes? When we go back to our vending machine examples, I may get disappointed when God gives me something which is not exactly what I wanted. A part of my response is understandable. We want what we want. On the other hand, I may be disappointment because somewhere deep inside of me I don’t think God is smarter than me, and I don’t think he is good or caring enough to give me what we really need. Why else would I be so upset when God doesn’t do what I want? But listen to what Psalm 33 tells us about God. His word is upright (v.4) His work is done in faithfulness (v.4) He loves righteousness and justice (v.5) His steadfast love fills the earth (v.5) He made the heavens and stars (v.6) He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap (v.7) He brings the counsel (plans) of the nations to nothing (v.10) He frustrates the plans of the peoples (v.10) His counsel stands forever (v.11) His plans to all generations (v.11) He looks down and observes our deeds (v.13, 15) His eye is on those who fear him (v.18) His eye is on those who hope in his steadfast love (v.18) He delivers our souls from death (v.19) He keeps us alive in famine (v.19) He is our help (v.20) He is our shield (v.20) He is the source of our gladness (v.21) His name is holy (v.21) He is the giver of steadfast love (v.22) In light of who we know God to be, do you want to have a relationship with God on your terms for your purposes, or do you want to have a relationship with God on his terms and for his purposes? Clearly, the answer is “on his terms and for his purposes.” If the one who is eternally victorious has something in store for me, I’ll go with him, thank you very much. My colleague Matt Brough says: “God is far more trustworthy than I am.” Having said this, there is in fact a predictable element to our relationship with God. His word is dependable and consistent. His forgiving love is dependable and consistent. So when he trust in Jesus, he does provide forgiveness and love, he does provide wisdom and hope, and when we trust in him, he does give us his Holy Spirit to work in and through us. So in this sense, there is in fact a certain element of predictable exchange. But today is an invitation to ponder the day to day details of our lives, and the frustrations we experience when we don’t get what we want. But here’s the issue: When we only go to him to get what we want we are treating him like a vending machine as consumers, but when we go to him for what he wants we are treating him like God as disciples. Life is often more nuanced and complicated than we expect. Does he give us peace? Yes, and we also have opportunities to trust him in our worries. Does he give us comforts? Yes, and we also experience persecution and pains. Does he give us joy? Yes, and we also experience seasons of darkness when we remember how dependent we are on his light. Just because you don’t always get what you want, that doesn’t mean you don’t get what you need. What does God give us, according to Psalm 33? He gives us: His trustworthy word (v.4) His steadfast love (v.18) Deliverance (v.19) Help (v.20) Hope (v.22) When I put my very self into the relationship, he gives me his trustworthy word. When I put my very self into the relationship, He gives me his steadfast love. When I put my very self into the relationship he gives me deliverance. When I put my very self into the relationship, he gives me help. When I put my very self into the relationship, he gives me hope. Today is an opportunity for us to think bigger about God—and to trust him more in the daily details that we often don’t understand. His purposes are better for us and for the people we care about, even when it’s hard to see how all the pieces fit together. Donald McCullough recalls being in the city of Edinburgh a few weeks before beginning his doctoral studies. He was new to the city so didn’t know his way around very well. One evening he went to a concert at Usher Hall. After it finished he headed out into the night, but it was now dark and rainy. He didn’t have an umbrella. He thought he knew the way home but quickly realized he didn’t. He called out to a stranger for directions. The man gave them to him. But seeing his confused face, he sighed and said: “Och, I’ll show you. Follow me.” McCullough describes what happened next like this: “In the moments that followed I had perhaps the purest form of faith I have ever experienced: I entrusted myself totally to this man’s guidance. I dedicated not a fleeting second of thought to my watery appearance, my fearful panting, my confused speech—or my trust in this stranger… my attention was devoted exclusively to my savior, to what he was saying and where he was going.” We don’t understand everything in life. But Psalm 33 reminds us that God has a “trustworthy character” and “unassailable power.” God is bigger than a vending machine, and way better. Do you want to have a relationship with God on your terms for your purposes, or do you want to have a relationship with God on his terms and for his purposes? It’s not about my kingdom come, my will being done on earth as it is in heaven, but God’s. Because his plans are better than ours.