“Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy Name. Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, just as we hope in You.”
(Psalm 33:18-22)

“The eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him…”

To “fear” the Lord is to have reverence for Him. Okay. But what does that really mean? I wanted to have a better understanding of this because, honestly, the word “fear” has always bothered me. To me, it holds negative connotations.

So, I looked it up in my thesaurus and this is what I found.

To fear (revere): admire, adore, appreciate, be in awe of, cherish, exalt, honor, love, magnify, respect, treasure, worship. (Roget’s 21st Century Thesaurus)

Whoa! Now that makes sense…
The eye of the Lord is on those who adore Him, who are in awe of Him, who cherish and magnify Him. The eye of the Lord is on those who worship Him as the Sovereign Lord.

Oh precious child of God! Allow the Holy Spirit to resonate this truth within you: The eye of the Lord is on you, guarding you, keeping you, knowing all there is to know about you. Oh my goodness. Our God is El Roi, the God Who sees. Nothing – no thing – comes your way without God your Father knowing it. His eye is upon you.

His eye is upon you…

Verse nineteen touched me in a special way. It reads, “To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.”

“…and to keep them alive in famine.”

Think about that for a minute. More than likely this is referring to an actual famine which was not uncommon during David’s time. God’s provision for the physical needs of His children is well documented. But, consider this. Have you ever had a famine of your spirit? Have you ever felt like your faith was just hanging on by a thread, by sheer guts alone?

I hear some amens out there.
I have felt this many times, also.

But because of God’s grace and mercy I survived with my faith intact. God knew that my spirit was in a famine – His eye was upon me. That’s why I survived. I was not left to fend for myself. God found me in my weary state. It was as though He knelt beside me and gently placed His hand behind my head, raised me up and offered me a life-saving drink of Living Water. Just a little at first, tenderly – just enough to revive me. He refreshed me with His love. He fed my famished spirit with His Word.

God, my Father, kept my spirit alive.

Behold, His eye was upon me and He saw my need.
He responded with mercy and love.
He responded to my adoration.

Father, I find such comfort in knowing that You see all things that concern us. Even before we call out to You, You know our need. Thank You for Your great mercy and love, for Your faithfulness to Your children. We adore You, Father and we give You praise.