Psalm 33 The Sovereignty of the Lord In Creation and History

¹Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous!

For praise from the upright is beautiful.

²Praise the Lord with the harp;

Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.

³Sing to Him a new song;

Play skillfully with a shout of joy.

⁴For the word of the Lord is right,

And all His work is done in truth.

⁵He loves righteousness and justice;

The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

⁶By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,

And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.

⁷He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap;

He lays up the deep in storehouses.

⁸Let all the earth fear the Lord;

Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.

⁹For He spoke, and it was done;

He commanded, and it stood fast.

¹⁰The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;

He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.

¹¹The counsel of the Lord stands forever,

The plans of His heart to all generations.

¹²Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,

The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.

¹³The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men.

¹⁴From the place of His dwelling He looks On all the inhabitants of the earth;

¹⁵He fashions their hearts individually;

He considers all their works.

¹⁶No king is saved by the multitude of an army;

A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.

¹⁷A horse is a vain hope for safety;

Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.

¹⁸Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,

On those who hope in His mercy,

¹⁹To deliver their soul from death,

And to keep them alive in famine.

²⁰Our soul waits for the Lord;

He is our help and our shield.

²¹For our heart shall rejoice in Him,

Because we have trusted in His holy name.

²²Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us,

Just as we hope in You.

Preamble: Unlike Psalm 32, Psalm 33 does not mention persecution, oppression, or harm coming to any of God’s people. In fact, its overriding theme is one of the Lord’s Sovereignty in and over this world, over all its affairs and peoples. From its creation to its predetermined end, the Lord is planning a glorious and peaceful future for His people! Therefore, this Psalm gives us a foretaste of His Reign when He will rule the world in righteousness, and we will all live in peace forever!

Commentary

Vs. 1 “Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous!

For praise from the upright is beautiful.”

 This Psalm begins with a call for us all to rejoice in the Lord, for us all who have been made and declared righteous by the Lord to sing His praises, for as the Word of God says praise from the upright is beautiful, beautiful in the sight of, and beautiful in the hearing of God.

Vs. 2 “Praise the Lord with the harp;

Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.”

 In ancient times the harp was the instrument of choice, it was the most melodic amongst all the stringed instruments, like the piano is today. Making melody to the Lord then should involve not only one’s heart but also the finest musical accompaniment that is available to one, from a acoustic guitar, to a full blown symphony, to whatever technologies can help express ones thanksgiving in reverence and praise.

Vs. 3 “Sing to Him a new song;

Play skillfully with a shout of joy.”

 Hymans and traditional worship songs are great, they are to be enjoyed as the congregation sees fit. Nonetheless in every generation there are new lives In Christ, new people who have come to the Lord from all kinds of diverse and different cultures and backgrounds, and these individuals who are gifted in music should and must be allowed to compose and write worship songs themselves. For this is what the Word of God commands here, new songs from newly redeemed lives played skillfully for the edification of all.

 Vs. 4 “For the word of the Lord is right,

And all His work is done in truth.

 The source of our worship is the Word of God. “For the word of the Lord is right, And all His work is done in truth.” I cannot even begin to describe to you how moved I was when I first started reading the Bible, how enlightened and enriched I felt. Every Word seemed to make so much sense, every truth in it resonated deeply within me, Jesus own words because He spoke to my soul, the wisdom literature because it was what I had seen or had personally experienced in my life, it was truth! Therefore, in composing worship songs one must never neglect God’s Word as the Source of all deep and lasting worship. For as one discovers these “hidden” gems in the Bible for oneself one will no doubt (if so gifted) not only delight in them but will also want to share them with others through their own musical compositions.

Vs. 5 “He loves righteousness and justice;

The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.”

 What does the Lord love? Righteousness and justice, for in these the Lord Himself not only does, but is known. That the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord is self-evident, for it is by Him, by His Word, that all things are created, established, and sustained. And during Jesus' earthly Regin the earth will truly be full of the goodness of the Lord, full of His righteousness and justice, because He will Rule the world with a rod of iron, and so even before the wicked hatches his wicked scheme, the Lord will strike Him! During His Regin then there will be neither a delay, nor a lack of justice. 

Vs. 6 “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,

And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.”

The Word of the Lord brought into being all that is seen and unseen, all the never-ending heavens with all of their innumerable planets, stars, galaxies and universes etc., all of it came into being by the breath of His mouth! For when He spoke, they all came into existence, with all of their assigned purposes and powers.

Vs. 7 “He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap;

He lays up the deep in storehouses.”

To the end of the unreachable heavens to the depths of the reachable seas, the Lord gathers the waters together, He alone lays up the deep in storehouses. For He alone assigns to each one its boundaries and limits.

Vs. 8-9 ⁸Let all the earth fear the Lord;

Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.

⁹For He spoke, and it was done;

He commanded, and it stood fast.

In light of the Lord’s Awesome Power there is but one response that must come from us all and that is to fear the Lord! To stand in reverent awe of Him, for all that He has done, and all that He can do! “For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.” Now this will be the universal response when He Reigns, when the veil is lifted, and cloud is removed, and all nations will see and hear Him clearly. On that Day there will be a quickened response by all to bow in reverent awe and worship Him.

Vs. 10-11 ¹⁰The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;

He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.

¹¹The counsel of the Lord stands forever,

The plans of His heart to all generations.

Nations are never independent entities, they are never self-sustained, nor do they control their own destinies. For it is the Lord who brings the counsels of the nations to nothing, it is the Lord who makes the plans of the people of no effect! For the Lord raises up one and brings down another according to His own Will, whether individuals or nations (Deut. 32:39; 1 Sam. 2:6-8; Isaiah 26:4-10; Psalm 75:7; Rev. 1:18 etc.). Therefore, not only is the Lord known (and will be known) by His Power, but also by His Sovereignty, and not only in creation, but over all of the affairs of mankind. For Individuals and nations rise up and fall in every generation, (and then all their plans and counsels perish with them), but the Lord remains forever, His counsels and the desires of His heart to all generations. For His plans are never thwarted, overturned or changed or altered or ruined by either individuals or nations. By anyone or anything that is so foolish as to try to oppose Him. People who then think that this world will end by nuclear annihilation, by the will of some dictator or madman, have neither understanding nor any knowledge of God’s Word. For this world will only come to its predetermined end when the Lord fulfills His Word and He brings about its end, which will not be by the hand of man, but by His own. Therefore, hiding behind that fear, and thus allowing a dictator or madman to annihilate and destroy as he sees fit is totally unsound and unfit and unjust and utterly unbecoming for any world leader or ruler.

Vs. 12 “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,

The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.”

Though this world's nations will make war with Him and His people they will only do so to their own everlasting ruin and end. For His people, His inheritance, the nation whose God is the Lord, all the people He has chosen down through the ages will always be blessed (and preserved) by Him. God’s blessing then moves well beyond believing Israel to all of the redeemed in Christ who now make up His holy nation (1 Peter 2:9-10). Therefore, even when He has chastised us severely, He will never give us up as history has shown time and again. For His favor rests on all of us whose God is the Lord!

Vs. 13-15 ¹³The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men.

¹⁴From the place of His dwelling He looks On all the inhabitants of the earth;

¹⁵He fashions their hearts individually;

He considers all their works.

From His heavenly Throne the Lord sees everyone, all the sons of men, He knows more intimately than they even know themselves. And so, though they may deny Him, no one is not seen and known by Him. For He Himself has fashioned our hearts individually, He has made us all as He so desires (Rom. 9:19-26). The “self-made man” then is a lie! That said, we all still have free will, which makes us all being accountable to Him fully just. Therefore, He considers all our works, and He repays each one of us according to our ways, just as the God of Justice always does, some in this life and some in eternity, which is another reason why we should all fear Him!

 Vs. 16-19 ¹⁶No king is saved by the multitude of an army;

A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.

¹⁷A horse is a vain hope for safety;

Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.

¹⁸Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,

On those who hope in His mercy,

¹⁹To deliver their soul from death,

And to keep them alive in famine.

In every generation there are those leaders who trust in their own nation’s military might and strength, as if they can sustain or deliver themselves by these, and though they may make war for a season, like all others that were before them, their end always comes. For when the Lord wills it, their end comes. Same with a mighty man, even though he may have great physical strength, yet he cannot deliver himself or anyone else by it. For there are far too many unforeseeable things in this life that he can have no control over, nor have strength to overcome. And if the Lord wills it his strength can be removed from him. For military might and physical strength are only for a season. Therefore, don’t put your hope in a nations might, nor a man’s strength to save you. Same with having ones hope in a horse, by which one could seemingly flee from conflict or trouble when it arises. For it too has limitations and a life span. Because ultimately, neither can deliver your soul from death, or keep you alive during a famine, (or any other natural disaster), only the Lord can, as He has done for countless others throughout the ages, when kingdoms and nations fell all around them, because they feared Him, because their faith and hope was in Him (Vs. 18-19). For He alone remains, and He alone sustains all who fear Him, all who hope in His mercy! Therefore, make the Lord Jesus Christ your saving refuge and let Him bring you home safely.

Vs. 20-22 ²⁰Our soul waits for the Lord;

He is our help and our shield.

²¹For our heart shall rejoice in Him,

Because we have trusted in His holy name.

²²Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us,

Just as we hope in You.

This Psalm closes with a declaration for all of God’s people, for everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ to wait and keep our faith, hope and trust in the Lord. For it is He who our souls wait upon, for He alone is our help, He alone is our shield, for He is the only One who will keep and preserve us in good times and bad. Therefore, we shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His Holy Name, the Lord Jesus Christ’s Name, the Name above every name (Acts 4:12). “Therefore, “Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, Just as we hope in You.”

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.