""Gods Fourth of July!"

How Loud Was It to God?

As I was preparing to sit down this morning at about six-thirty and start into this message, I prayed about this topic and asked the Lord to give me the message that He wanted to share today. When I opened my eyes a feeling came over me that I was being watched right at this moment and I believe it was the message sinking into my being that God is always watching over us and thinking about our deeds.

As my eleven year old daughter and I were driving along yesterday. she asked me a question, "I wonder how loud the fireworks are to God when we celebrate fourth of July?". I thought about it for a minute and chuckled and she wanted to know what I was thinking. Well, I told her that I would imagine that God finds our amusement quite humorous. I compared our fireworks with His universe and how it probably was not exciting at all for God to see or hear. She accepted my answer but I began to wonder myself about how God must see us on this day each year and why we are all so fascinated with fireworks colors and sounds.

Later in the day, after going fishing with both of my girls and my grandson, Elijah; I received a call from a friend that wanted to know how the fishing went. We talked about it for a while and then she shared a scripture with me. I couldn't believe it! God had spoken to her and urged her to share it with me since I was too busy fishing with my children and couldn't search for answers to my lingering question about Gods interest in our fireworks display each year!

The scripture she shared was in Psalm thirty-three,

Psalm 33:13 The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men.
Psa 33:14 From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.
Psa 33:15 He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works.

I couldn't believe it! I asked her what the reference was again! She didn't understand my excitement but when she gave it to me I made sure to write it down. Let's look at this again!
Starting in verse thirteen, the Lord looks from heaven and beholds. In the Hebrew the word "beholdeth" originates as a primitive root meaning "to see". The Lord looks from heaven to see who? All the sons of men.

This in the Hebrew is defined as the "sons, grandsons" of "mankind,nations".

So, basically I see that ALL humans are in the sight of God now! You know, many times we hear it said in church that one day we will stand before God and give an account for our actions. Well, guess what? We are already standing before God and He does see our actions while we are humans on this earth! Hmmm?

The next verse says that the Lord, from the place of His habitation, (Hebrew for this is "yashab" - to sit) He looks upon ALL the people sitting on the earth.

Next in verse fifteen we see that the Lord fashions their hearts alike. Let's stop right there and look at the Hebrew translation so that we can get a full understanding of what this means. Where it says the Lord fashions, the Hebrew for this is "to shape or mould by squeezing". Then it says that He is fashioning our hearts; which in the Hebrew means "to shape our heart or widely used for feelings, the will and even the intellect".

Then the last thing we see is that He" considers ALL their works". What would this mean exactly? At first I though maybe it meant our good works were being taken into consideration for rewards or maybe our bad for punishment but it really seems in this passage to mean neither one of those!

I found in studying the Hebrew that this passage means that the Lord watches us to understand our activities. I am going to give you the Hebrew definition of the word "considereth" so that you can see the full meaning of this for yourself.

Hebrew for considereth is "bıyn"

It is pronounced "bene"

A primitive root; to separate mentally (or distinguish), that is, (generally) understand: - attend, consider, be cunning, diligently, direct, discern, eloquent, feel, inform, instruct, have intelligence, know, look well to, mark, perceive, be prudent, regard, (can) skill (-ful), teach, think, (cause, make to, get, give, have) understand (-ing), view, (deal) wise (-ly, man).

I also wanted to share the Hebrew for the word for "works" so you can see this with me.

Hebrew for works is "ma‛ăśeh"

It is pronounced mah-as-eh'

From H6213; an action (good or bad); generally a transaction; abstractly activity; by implication a product (specifically a poem) or (generally) property: - act, art, + bakemeat, business, deed, do (-ing), labour, thing made, ware of making, occupation, thing offered, operation, possession, X well, ([handy-, needle-, net-]) work, (-ing, -manship), wrought.

The Lord watches us to understand our actions! Wow! How awesome is that? Some people might be thinking about now, "Oh no!" Remember that the Lord created us and He understands what makes us tick! He watches our actions and He is interested in what's going on in your life!

If you are in sadness, he sees it and will comfort you! If you are in pain, He sees that too and He will bring you the relief and healing if you seek Him for this! If you are excited about your new found salvation and want to grow in the Lord, he sees that too and will give you the sources to grow in your Godly knowledge each day! If you are burdened with allot of responsibilities and can't find help, He sees this too and will send the help you need if you ask Him for it! Our Lord is watching ALL of our actions and ready to understand our situations every moment of every day folks!

Yes, our Lord was even watching our fireworks! But it wasn't humorous to Him at all like I had imagined. It was awesome because we all enjoyed it too! Remember that it says in verse fifteen that he formed our feelings the same? That is why we ALL love fireworks! Why else would our Lord form us this way, unless he to enjoys the lights and noise? Just look outside during a really good thunderstorm and you will see just how much our Lord loves the bright lights and booming explosions!

So, the answer to my daughters question, "I wonder how loud the fireworks are to God on July the fourth?"; I would say they are pretty loud since the Lord looks at us with real understanding and He is the one who formed us ALL!

Let's pray,

Our Lord God Almighty, I come to you in awe at the understanding to day that you watch us ALL with a heart of understanding and interest in our activities! Keep me today from temptation and deliver me from evil in all that I do. Bless the things that I put my hand forth to do and make me fruitful for your purpose in my life today. Amen