Psalms 33

Psalms 33:1-11

Though this psalm hath no title, it is probably David’s. In it he calls upon the righteous to praise God, ver. 1—3. 1. For his word and preasition, ver. 4, 5. 2. For the word of creation, ver. 6—9. 3. For his wife government of the world, ver. 10, 11. and 13—17. 4. For his favour to his thesim, which encouraged them to trust in him, ver. 12. and 18—22.

1. REJOICE in the LORD, O ye righteous, for praise is comely for the upright. 2. Praise the LORD with harp: Sing unto him with the plastery, and an instrument of ten firings. 3. Sing unto him a new song, play skillfully with a loud noise. 4. For the word of the LORD is right: and all his works are done in truth. 5. He loveth righteousness and

and judgment: the earth is full of the + goodness of the LORD. 6. By the word of the LORD were the heavens made: and all the hoft of them by the breath of his mouth. 7. He gathered the waters of the fea together, as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. 8. Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. 9. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. 10. The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. 11. The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

They who know the happiness of praising God with joyful lips, will be provoking others to the same blessed work.

1. The psalmist calls upon the righteous to join him in the grateful song of praise. It is a comely work, most justly due to God, most becoming a soul to deeply bound in gratitude and love. Renewed mercies call for new songs, and every instrument of music, that may enliven the joy, and warm the soul with greater fervor. Note, (1.) Music, when under the guidance of grace, may be made a help to our devotion. (2.) Praise is a noble part of worship, in which the heart, affected with the sense of God’s love, will be frequently engaged.

2. He suggests abundant matter for our praise. [1.] For God’s pain and perfect word, which, next to the gift of his Son, may be well reckoned our chief blessing, where the paths of truth and holiness are marked out, and the way to glory made plain before our faces. [2.] For his presidential dispositions, which are righteousness and judgment; all God’s dealing with the loss of men manifesting his delight in these, and, above all, his goodness is seen throughout the earth; goodness to all the sins of men, giving them life, and breath, and all things, and peculiar goodness to his people, who share the richer mercies of gospel grace. [3.] For the creation, v. 6, 7, 9. rising at the word of Almighty power, and intimately starting unto being at the command of God. By the word of the Lord, the Logos, his Son, the great agents, by whom all things were made, and by the breath of his mouth, the powerful operations of his holy Spirit. The heaven, the earth, the sea, and all that dwell therein, hence derive their original, and, by the same omnipotence preserved, continue steadfast and unchangeable; till, by a second mighty word, the heavens shall be wrapped together as a scroll, the earth defiles, and all the elements melt with fervent heat. [4.] For his disappointing the devices of the wicked, however cradily laid, or deeply hidden. [5.] For his own unchangeable detour of grace and love towards his people. Note, There are not the subject of praise to any one faint merely, but to every righteous man in every age.

3. He infers from all these views of God’s word, works, and providence, the universal obligation to reverence and fear him, who, having all the creatures in his hand, can quickly arm them for our ruin; and therefore highly is it our interest, as well as duty, to pay him our bounden service, and not provoke his indignation.

4. • Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD: and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. 13. * The LORD looketh from heaven: he beholdeth all the sons of men. 14. From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. 15. He fashioneth their hearts alike: he considered all their works. 16. There is no king saved by the multitude of an hoft: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. 17. An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. 18. Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him: upon them that hope in his mercy: 19. To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. 20. Our soul waiteth for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. 21. For our hearts shall rejoice in him: because we have crafted in his holy name. 22. Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.

Psalms 33:12-22

We have here,

1. The blessedness of God’s peculiar people, v. 12. Their God beholds all the sons of men, v. 13, 14. their thoughts are naked and open before him. Though some wickedly lay, God hath forsaken the earth, his eyes go to and fro in it, and none of the devices of the ungodly are unknown or unconcerned by him. He fashioneth their hearts: as the God of the Spirit of all flesh, he must needs be acquainted with the work of his own hands; and he over-rules all the imaginations they entertain, directing them all in such a way, as to be subservient to the pur-

poses of his own glory; and confidently all their works, the deeds of the wicked, to reserve them for judgment; and of the righteous, to reward them. Nor can any creature act independently of him, either to save or to destroy: in which consideration, God’s people may take the greatest satisfaction, v. 16, 17. The greatest kings, with the most numerous hofts, avail nothing, if God proffer them not: the strength of a giant is weakness, if God be against him, as David had experienced: and all the horses prepared for battle cannot protect or save their riders, if the Lord be not on their side: so that, whilst all creature-dependance must be renounced by us, all creature-opposition need not be feared, if the Lord be our God. And his eyes are upon them that fear him; whilst in general he regards and governs all the rest, with peculiar favour he looks upon his chosen, whose truth is placed on his rich mercy in Christ, and whose fear is, left they offend him. Against these, though kings and armies, and mighty men and horses of war rise up, they cannot hurt or destroy them: God will deliver their soul from death, from temporal death, from spiritual death, from eternal death. In time of public calamity, when famine shalt a through the land, they shall have bread to eat; and when the famine of the word prevails, and they are deprived of the ministry of the word and ordinances, they shall be fed with heart supplies of grace, and their souls shall live, Rev. xii. 14. Note, (1.) They are truly blessed and happy, who are God’s inheritance, whom he regards with love, and who regard him with confidence, and reverential filial fear. (2.) Whatever thoughts are in a man’s heart, the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand. (3.) The thought of the universal power, influence, and operations of God, should ever engage our quiet and contented resignation of ourselves into his hands.

2. Having described the blessedness of God’s choice, he directs them in their duty. Our soul waiteth for the Lord, in patient hope, expecting the fulfilment of his promises. He is our help and our shield, the strength on which we depend, and the protection under which we are safe. For our heart shall rejoice in him, as we are bound to do under the rich experience of his grace and love, and in hope of the glory which shall be revealed in us; because we have crafted in his holy name, and we know he will not, cannot, fail us. Therefore, let thy mercy, Lord, be upon us, as we are ever called to pray, for in this way we must expect those gracious suppires he hath promised, according as we hope in thee, renouncing every other hope, and expecting by faith and prayer to be made partakers of thy present mercy in every time of need, and of thy eternal mercy, when all our requests shall be finally and fully accomplished.