Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy, Psalm 33:18

In the workplace, the workers all know that the boss or other supervisors have their eyes upon them. Some hate that they are being watched, while others do not mind it at all. The difference is in whether one is doing what is right or is trying to cut corners and cheat the system. Those who are trying to cheat the system do not want to be watched because they know that they will be punished for doing wrong.

The writer of this psalm says that God’s eye is on those who fear Him and hope in His mercy.

Respecting authority is something that many people struggle with doing. People like to be free to do what they want in their own way and time, without restrictions. Authorities often lay out restrictions and good authority will punish those who break those restrictions.

Believers have an understanding that God is the ultimate authority in every area of one’s life. They also understand that if they do not obey Him fully that there will be severe consequences. They fear or respect God’s authority and do not want to go against Him. They put their hope in His mercy when they do make a mistake and sin against Him. God’s eye is upon that person.

Many in the church have lost this fear of God and see Him as just a loving God who would never punish. They choose to continue to live in a sinful way, despite claiming to believe in Jesus. God takes His eye, hand of favor, off of those who live that way. In the end they have no hope in following the ways of the world.

God has freely forgiven you of all your sins, if you have chosen to believe in Jesus and follow Him. This means that your life has changed to a new creation, in order to live for Him. Living for God means that you will fear or respect God’s authority over your life. You will allow Him to have complete authority over every area of your life. Yes, you will have times of making mistakes, but then you can hope in His great mercy and love to forgive again, building you and not tearing you down.

His eye will be upon you as you fear and hope in Him.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will give God the respect due Him; that you will respect God’s commands to you; and that you will have hope in His great mercy over your life.

Picture by Aniket Solankar on Unsplash