Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 33:22
Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.
22. Let thy lovingkindness ( Psa 33:5 ; Psa 33:18), O Lord, be upon us,
According as we have hoped in thee (or, waited for thee).
Comp. Psa 31:1; Psa 31:24; Rom 5:4-5.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us – Let us find or obtain thy mercy or thy favor.
According as we hope in thee – It may be remarked in regard to this:
(a) it is but reasonable that we should look for the favor of God only as we trust in him, for we could not with propriety expect his favor beyond the measure of our confidence in him.
(b) This may be regarded as the most that we are entitled to hope from God. We have no reason to suppose that he will go beyond our wishes and prayers, or that he will confer favors on us which we neither expect nor desire.
(c) One of the reasons why the people of God are no more blessed, or why they receive no more favors from him, may be found in what is here suggested. As they expect little, they obtain little; as they have no intense, burning, lofty desire for the favor of God, either for themselves personally, or for their families, or for the world, so they obtain but slight tokens of that favor.
(d) The true principle, therefore, upon which God is willing to bestow His favors, and which will be the rule that He will observe, is, that if people desire much, they will obtain much; that if they have big expectations, they will not be disappointed; and that God is willing to bestow His mercies upon His people and upon the world to the utmost of their desires and hopes. Compare Psa 81:10, Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. Psa 37:4, delight thyself in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thy heart. How intense and fervent, then, should be the prayers and the petitions of the people of God! How earnest the supplications of sinners that God would have mercy on them!
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 22. Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us] We cannot abide in this state unless upheld by thee; and, as we disclaim all merit, we seek for a continuance of thy mercy, and this we cannot expect but in a continual dependence on thee. “Let thy mercy, O Lord be upon us, according as we hope in thee.”
ANALYSIS OF THE THIRTY-THIRD PSALM
This Psalm is eucharistic: the contents are –
I. An exhortation to praise God, Ps 33:1-3.
II. The arguments he uses to enforce the duty, Ps 33:4-19.
III. The confidence of God’s people in his name. Their happiness, and petition, Ps 33:20-22.
I. In the three first verses he exhorts men to praise God: but whom?
1. The upright; those who are not upright, cannot praise God.
2. That it be done with zeal and affection; with singing, with voice, and the instruments then in use; with some new song, composed on the occasion, for some new mercy; and that the whole be skilfully expressed.
II. This he urges on several good grounds: –
1. The first argument, in general drawn from the truth, the faithfulness, the justice, and goodness of God: 1. “For the word of the Lord is right.” 2. “All his works are done in truth.” 3. “He loveth righteousness and judgment.” 4. “The earth is full of his goodness.”
2. His second argument is drawn from God’s power in the creation of all things, and that by his word alone, Ps 33:6-9; and upon it introduces, “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.”
3. His third argument is drawn from God’s providence in governing the world, which may easily be discerned by those who will diligently consider his ways and proceedings, both to other people and to his Church.
1. He makes void all enterprises undertaken against his will, not only of single men, but of whole nations. “The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to naught; he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.”
2. Whereas, on the contrary, what he hath decreed shall be done. “The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever; the thoughts of his heart to all generations.” On the consideration of which he breaks out into this epiphonema, or joyous reflection: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord! and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance!”
After which he returns to his discourse on God’s providence, and by a hypotyposis, or splendid imagery, amplifies his former argument. For he sets God before us, as some great king on his throne, providing for all the parts of his empire, examining all causes, and doing justice to every one.
1. “The Lord looks from heaven, and beholds all the sons of men.”
2. “From the place of his habitation he looks upon all the inhabitants of the earth.”
3. And he is not an idle spectator: “He sees and considers their hearts and their works.”
And he sees in what they put their confidence; in their armies, their strength, their horse, but not in him. But all in vain; for “there is no king saved by the multitude of a host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. A horse is a vain thing for safety.” Multitude, strength, c., without God, are useless.
Hitherto he had given a proof of God’s providence towards all men, but now he descends to a particular proof of it, by his care over his Church, which he wonderfully guides, defends, and protects, in all dangers and assaults: and that notice may be taken of it, he begins with, Behold!
1. “Behold, the eye of the Lord,” his tenderest care, “is over them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy.”
2. “To deliver their soul from death, and keep them alive in famine.”
III. The three last verses contain the acclamation of God’s people, who place all their hope and trust in him for, being stimulated by the former arguments, they do three things: –
1. They profess and express their faith and dependence on God: “Our soul waiteth on God, he is our help and our shield.”
2. They declare the hope by which they are upheld, and how comforted: “For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.”
3. Upon this hope they commend themselves by prayer to God; “Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
20-22. waitethin earnestexpectation.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us,…. That is, an application of it in its effects: it is a prayer for a communication of grace and mercy to help in a time of need; and for a discovery of pardoning grace and mercy; and it is a prayer of faith; for the mercy of the Lord is upon his people in great plenty, and it continues; and they have reason to believe it ever will, Ps 103:17;
according as we hope in thee; not according to any merits of theirs, but according to the measure of grace, of the grace of hope which God had bestowed on them, and encouraged them to exercise on him, in expectation of finding grace and mercy with him.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
22. Let thy mercy be on us, O Jehovah! At length the psalm concludes with a prayer, which the sacred writer offers in the name of all the godly, that God would make them feel from the effect that they have not relied on the divine goodness in vain. In the meantime, the Spirit, by dictating to us this rule of prayer by the mouth of the prophet, teaches us, that the gate of divine grace is opened for us when salvation is neither sought nor hoped for from any other quarter. This passage gives us another very sweet consolation, namely, that if our hope faint not in the midst of our course, we have no reason to fear that God will fail to continue his mercy towards us, without intermission, to the end of it.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
We never can sufficiently admire the beauty and comprehensiveness of this prayer. It is a prayer of faith, and includes almost every petition that can be offered, because it looks to Jesus, as the mercy looked for, the mercy promised. Luk 1:72 . It forms the richest conclusion to the whole hymn of this Psalm. It is as if the Church had said, We know, Lord, that thine eye is always upon us; and we know that thou hast delivered thy people, and thou dost deliver them, and thou wilt still deliver them; and thou wilt be everything to them they need in time, and to all eternity. Now, Lord, in a believing expectation that all these blessings are in him that is the Mercy promised, the Messiah, the Jesus which is to come, thine Old Testament saints will live and die in the full enjoyment, by faith, of this great covenant blessing. Let our God come even as we do wait his coming. Son 2:17 . Reader! and what ought to be the language of New Testament saints, in closing this hymn of praise, and faith, and dependence, who have seen that mercy promised actually fulfilled, but still increasing bursts of holy joy, adoration, love, and confidence? Hail, Lord Jesus! thou art the Mercy promised. We bless thee in thy first coming with all thy finished work of redemption: and we desire to live and die in the full assurance and expectation of thy second coming, when that hope we have in thy salvation will be swallowed up in absolute enjoyment, and we shall live with thee, and enjoy thee forever!
REFLECTIONS
LET every justified soul rejoice in the Lord, and rejoice alway, for surely the rich redemption of Jesus is enough to fill all hearts that are the partakers of it with praise. But, my soul! what hast thou learned of this sacred and hallowed song? Canst thou go over the several parts of it with an eye to thine own interest in it, and make the responses, as thou goest along, from a real heartfelt and personal enjoyment of it? Thou canst sing indeed of creation, for the Lord in mercy hath called thee into existence, and thou canst testify, as this Psalm of praise records, that by the word of the Lord the heavens were made; and by his Spirit hath he garnished the heavens. Thou canst sing of his providence also, for his counsel must stand, and the Lord will perform all his will. Thou canst sing of grace no less, because thou hast seen how the Lord led out Israel, blessed him as a nation, and chose him as a people for his own inheritance. But, my soul, though these subjects are blessed aids to call forth hymns of continual praise; the question is, what part dost thou thyself bear in it? If, as this Psalm records, the Lord looketh from heaven and beholdeth all the sons of men; if the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, and upon them that hope in Jesus, the mercy promised; hast thou a well-grounded hope and assurance that his eye is upon thee in grace, because thou art hoping in Jesus? Pause, my soul! Art thou acquainted with God’s mercy in Christ? Hath he delivered thy soul from spiritual death, in having found a ransom for thee to keep thee from going down to the pit? Hath he kept thee alive in famine, both before thou knewest him in grace, and now in the numberless instances since thou hast known him in mercy, when thy fears have been alive, and thy hopes dying from unbelief, and the temptations of the enemy? O then, my soul, if these things be so, and thou canst set to thy seal that God is true, look up to Jesus, look up to thy God and Father in him, and under the continued influences of the Holy Ghost, daily, hourly, adopt this sweet prayer of faith, and tell thy God that thy hope is in him; and never can any wait long for his blessing, who live upon Jesus’s mercy. See, Lord, my expectation is alone in Jesus: and therefore, Jesus, be thou with me and upon me, according as my hope is in thee. Amen.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 33:22 Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.
Ver. 22. Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in thee ] Not that we would have no more mercy than we have trust; but we would show that our trust is bottomed upon thy promises, and that we humbly expect the full accomplishment of the same, in due time.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 5:11, Psa 5:12, Psa 13:5, Psa 32:10, Psa 119:49, Psa 119:76, Mat 9:29
Reciprocal: Psa 147:11 – fear Rom 8:24 – saved
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
They also pray to Him, asking that He reward their confidence with faithfulness to His commitment to love them.
God’s people can rejoice that our God is faithful to His commitment to continue to love us. His words have proved powerful and faithful throughout history, and His works are consistently righteous and just. Therefore we can continue to trust Him. [Note: See Russell Yee, "The Divine Imperative to Sing," Exegesis and Exposition 2:1 (Summer 1987):28-44.]