Psalm 33: 1-3, Sing a new song!
Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
Praise the LORD with the harp;
make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully, and shout for joy.
The first verse nicely echoes the last verse of the previous psalm, commanding joyful praise through song. David, the harpist, see his music as a natural outlet for praise and joy. "Note the call ... for freshness and skill as well as fervor", writes Kidner. I'm tempted to make a snarky comment about church services but I will just continue to quote Kidner: "... three qualities rarely found together in religious music." Sadly, yes. The church needs new songs. (See an old favorite of mine, Larry Norman, "Why should the devil have all the good music?")
Creative art, whether music, dance, poetry or creative writing, when done with skill, energy and enthusiasm, is beautiful. Here David calls for creative and skillful worship, as God's due.
Psalm 33:4-5, Righteous love
For the word of the LORD is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.
The LORD loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of his unfailing love.
The LORD is praised for being right and true, for loving righteousness and justice. And for acting in love. David, despite his considerable pain in past experiences, sees YHWH's acts as acts of love.
(The philosopher asks, "Then are these attributes -- righteousness, justice, love -- distinct somehow from God? Are righteousness, truth and love choices for God?" If not, then why praise God for these attributes? But if righteousness is a choice for God, then it is external to God. This philosophical conundrum is deeper than it first appears ... and so I will move on....)
By the word of the LORD were the heavens made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
He gathers the waters of the sea into jars;
he puts the deep into storehouses.
God's acts in creation have long been a source for praise. Here the heavens with their "starry host" are evidence of God's creative power, as is the wild ocean, where wavers of water are gathered "into mounds" and the deep waters "into heaps", a picture similar to Job's declaration that only God knows the "storehouses" which hold the power of nature. (See Job 38 for an example.)
Let all the earth fear the LORD;
let all the people of the world revere him.
For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
Here, as in many places God's creative acts are equated with God's voice or speech. ("God said ... and it was done" runs throughout the creation story of Genesis 1.)
Psalm 33: 10-12, Nations' plans
The LORD foils the plans of the nations;
he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he chose for his inheritance.
God has a plan, involving all of humankind, running through countless generations. In the final sentence (verse 12) we are reminded of God's covenant with Israel and with David.
From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind;
from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth--
he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.
Heaven is viewed as being up high, from where God can "look down". Yet also, God sees the hearts of all, something that is not available just from a good perch.
Psalm 33: 16-19, Eyes of YHWH better than an army
No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.
A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength it cannot save.
But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.
The things that a king (like David) might wish to use to prop up his kingdom, are seen as futile in relation to "the eyes of the LORD." Those false signs of security are a king's idols, leading him away from trusting in God.
Psalm 33: 20-22, We wait
We wait in hope for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.
In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD,
even as we put our hope in you.
This psalm is a song of praise and dependence, stressing the need for the nation of Israel to trust in God and not in armies, warriors, draft horses or other visible signs of strength. It begins with declarations of enthusiastic praise, then settles down to describing marvelous qualities and characteristics of God. It then ends with a declaration of trust and dependence.
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