{"id":14379,"date":"2022-09-24T05:29:03","date_gmt":"2022-09-24T10:29:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-psalms-331\/"},"modified":"2022-09-24T05:29:03","modified_gmt":"2022-09-24T10:29:03","slug":"exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-psalms-331","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-psalms-331\/","title":{"rendered":"Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 33:1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: [for] praise is comely for the upright. <\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n

1<\/strong>. Rejoice<\/em> ] Shout for joy: the same verb as in Psa 32:11<\/span> b<\/em>, though in a different form. As in that verse, the righteous<\/em> and the upright<\/em>, the true Israelites, are addressed. Praise is their duty and their honour: in their mouths alone is it seemly.<\/p>\n

for praise &c<\/em>.] Omit for<\/em>. Cp. Psa 147:1<\/span> b<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

1 3<\/strong>. Introductory call to praise.<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous – <\/B>This is the sentiment with which the preceding psalm closes. See the notes at Psa 32:11<\/span>.<\/P>

For praise is comely for the upright – <\/B>Is befitting, suitable, proper. That is, the upright – the righteous – have abundant cause for praise, and it is for them a suitable employment, or one which becomes them. A man who is upright, or who is a righteous man, has in this very fact much which lays a foundation for praise, for the fact that he has such a character is to be traced to the grace of God, and this in itself is a more valuable possession than gold or kingly crowns would he. That he is not an open violator of the law of God; that he is not intemperate; that he is not the victim of raging lusts and passions; that he is not a dishonest man; that he is not profane; that he is not an infidel or a scoffer; that he is a pious man – a redeemed man – a man of good character – an heir of heaven – is the highest blessing that could be conferred on him; and he who has been saved from outbreaking transgression and crime in a world like this, and has been enabled to live an upright life, has eminently occasion to praise and bless God. Assuredly for such a man praise is an appropriate employment, for such a man it is comely.<\/P> <\/p>\n

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Psa 33:1-22<\/span><\/p>\n

Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The spirit of rejoicing: life adjusted to the will of God<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous. It is the vital condition of all spiritual rejoicing that we are right with God. Our life must be adjusted to His will, and the adjustment must be made on every side. If our communion with the Lord is only partial, we shall not reach the condition in which joy becomes inevitable. I remember that some time ago an electric bell apparatus in my home got out of order and the bell ceased to ring. I made a careful examination, and I found that two or three of the strands, which together formed the one wire, had been broken, and along the remaining strands sufficient electrical energy could not travel to ring the bell. I rectified the severed members, and so adjusted them that they were every one in communion with the battery, and in the completed adjustment there was power enough to ring the bell. It appears to me to symbolize the condition of many a life which is partially in communion with the King. If is not that there is complete alienation; it is that there are severed strands. There are departments in the life which are not connected with the Almighty, and along the imperfect communion sufficient power does not travel to ring the joy-bells. It may be that the strand between the Lord and our pleasures is broken, or between the Lord and our business, or between the Lord and some secret realm in our life which is not known to others. This severance will have to be put right, and every side of the life adjusted to the Divine will before we can become possessed by that fulness of power which will create bell-melody in the soul. And so I am not surprised that the psalmist is making his confident appeal to the righteous, the rectified, those who are right on every side with God. (J. H. Jowett, M. A.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Praise to the God of creation, providence, and grace<\/strong><\/p>\n


I. <\/strong>the call to praise, and its reasons (Psa 33:1-11<\/span>). The first word of Psa 33:1<\/span> means not simply to rejoice (as A.V.), but to express the emotions aloud. The subjects of the invitation are addressed as righteous and upright, because this was their ideal character of what they ought to be as the true Israel of God, and to them as such it was every way suitable to show forth Jehovahs praise. It was quite otherwise with the wicked (Psa 50:16<\/span>; Mar 1:25<\/span>; Mar 3:12<\/span>; Act 17:18<\/span>). In Psa 33:2<\/span> the call is to use harp and lyre with the song, the first mention of musical instruments in the Psalter. The Hebrews used wind and stringed and percussive instruments, but their precise nature cannot well be determined.<\/p>\n


II. <\/strong>Gods special favour to his people (Verses 12-22). They were His heritage; not simply a temporary possession, but one enduring by hereditary succession through a long course of ages. Their security and happiness in having Jehovah for their God is enforced anew by the assertion of His omniscience. Men can be surprised or overtaken: not so the all-seeing One. He fully understands all their doings, their origin, their motive, their purpose. All is evident at a glance. Hence His will is supreme, and all persons and things are comprehended in His control of the world. What material strength cannot do for those who rely upon it, is secured to believers by the eye of Jehovah. That eye is directed toward those who wait for His loving-kindness. The three concluding couplets finely express the attitude of the Church in all ages–waiting, hoping, trusting. The whole history of Israel may be summed up in Jacobs dying words, I have waited for Thy salvation, O Jehovah. (T. W. Chambers, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

A call to true worship<\/strong><\/p>\n


I. <\/strong>True worship is happiness to the godly. Rejoice, etc.<\/p>\n

1. <\/strong>It is the highest happiness of intelligent existences. Only by worship can the profoundest cravings of their natures be satisfied, or their powers be fully and harmoniously developed.<\/p>\n

2. <\/strong>The godly alone can offer true worship.<\/p>\n


II. <\/strong>True worship is becoming to the godly. Comely.<\/p>\n

1. <\/strong>It agrees with his character.<\/p>\n

2. <\/strong>It is congenial with his spirit.<\/p>\n

3. <\/strong>It is in keeping with his obligations.<\/p>\n


III. <\/strong>True worship is music to the godly. Praise the Lord with harp, etc. Note some of the features of true psalmody.<\/p>\n

1. <\/strong>Variety. Both instrumental and vocal music are here mentioned.<\/p>\n

2. <\/strong>Freshness. A new song. Whilst our religion should be as settled as the trunk of the oak–the forms and spirit of our devotion should be as changing as the foliage, now green with spring, now tinted with summer, now tinged with the brown hue of autumn.<\/p>\n

3. <\/strong>Accuracy. Play skilfully. True music is sound ruled by science.<\/p>\n

4. <\/strong>Hearty. With a loud noise. (Homilist.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The toy which the righteous haw in God<\/strong><\/p>\n


I. <\/strong>the duty. Rejoice in the Lord. Look upon religion in its actions and employment: and what are they? Rejoice and give thanks. Are not these actions that are grateful and delightful? What doth transcend Divine joy, and ingenuous acknowledgments?<\/p>\n


II. <\/strong>the reason. It is comely. Whatsoever is the true product of religion is grateful, beautiful, and lovely. There is nothing in religion that is dishonourable or selfish. Then we are to rejoice in the Lord.<\/p>\n

1. <\/strong>For Himself, God is the most excellent object in the world. But whosoever are pleased with God, God is pleased with them: but to the wicked and unregenerate, God Himself (as good as He is) He is a burden. Let men pretend love to the things of God never so much, they will not relish them, unless they be born of God. Tis they that are naturalized to heaven, that relish and favour Divine things. That which is born of the world is enmity against God. Our rejoicing must be with some respect to God; and though it be in other things, yet it must be in the Lord. And this is done when we acknowledge God as the Fountain of all good, and better than all other enjoyments whatsoever; and count our enjoyments as all from Him and so endearing Him to us and obliging us to Him. Now, to enforce this joy in God, we note that joy is necessary to the life of man. The apostle hath told us that worldly sorrow causeth death. Sorrow and sadness, melancholy and discontent spoils the temper of a mans mind; it vitiates the humours of the body; it prevents the Divine, and hinders the Physician. For the Divine deals by reason; but this being obliterated, he can do nothing. And it also hinders the Physician; for if the mind be discomposed by melancholy, it doth not afford due benevolence to the body. The sour and melancholy are unthankful to God, and cruel to themselves, and peevish in their converse: so that joy and rejoicing are necessary in respect to ourselves. But also, joy is so safe for us: it will hold us back from sin, it will never be in excess, will always be sincere, and will offend none: it will keep company with gratitude and humility, and will always leave us in a good temper, which worldly joy will not do. If our triumph be in the Lord, it separates from sensual things, and from the spiritual sins of pride and arrogancy. Therefore let there be always something that is spiritual in the ground, reason, or occasion, or motive of your joy.<\/p>\n

Praise is comely<\/strong><\/p>\n

It <\/em>is natures sense, tis the import of any mans reason. Now because God doth infinitely transcend all the benefactors in the world, if any man doth not acknowledge His goodness, and praise Him for His benefits; he is sunk down into baseness, and fallen beneath his creation and nature. God loves us, and therefore He doth us good: we love God because we are partakers of His benefits. All disingenuity and baseness are concentred in the bowels of ingratitude. He that will not be engaged by kindness, no cords of man will hold him. Then let us obey the counsel of the text.<\/p>\n

1. <\/strong>Because nothing is more due to God than our gratitude; for He loadeth us with His benefits, and is pleased to please us, and doth many things to gratify us.<\/p>\n

2. <\/strong>By this we give testimony of our minds to God. For we have nothing at all to sacrifice to God, but the consent of our minds; an ingenious acknowledgment. (B. Whichcote, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Praise is comely for the upright.<\/strong>—<\/em><\/p>\n

Praise comely<\/strong><\/p>\n

Distinguish between gratitude and praise. Gratitude is an inward, loving sense of obligation for benefits received; praise the expression or outward manifestation of that inward feeling. Gratitude is of the heart; praise of the lip. Gratitude is a something felt; praise a something expressed.<\/p>\n


I. <\/strong>Praise is comely for existence. The good man recognizes God as the Dispenser of every blessing. He holds all blessings as a loan or trust, and as a faithful steward, employs them for God, not for selfish purposes. As all the rivers return to the sea whence they came, so the upright man sends all Gods gifts back again in grateful homage and loving service to the Divine source of all good.<\/p>\n


II. <\/strong>Praise is comely for redemption.<\/p>\n


III. <\/strong>Praise is comely for the gift of immortality. The righteous man has something great and noble to live for, a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory to anticipate. In prospect, he has that which will fill the immensity of his being, satisfy to the full and for ever, the yearning of his great nature, so that the very thought of his immortality fills his soul with ecstasy, and his song with harmony (1Pe 1:3<\/span>). It is said that when Mendelssohn went to see the great Freiburg organ, and asked permission of the old custodian to be allowed to play upon it, he was refused. After a little kind persuasion, however, consent was reluctantly given. Mendelssohn instantly took his seat, and made the organ discourse sublimest music. The custodian, spellbound, drew near and ventured to ask for the name of the stranger. When it was announced, ashamed, and self-condemned, the custodian exclaimed, What a fool am I to refuse you permission to play! There is One standing by you who can bring forth the most heavenly strains of music from your heart. Place it in His hand and Christ will make every chord send forth celestial harmonies that would make all the angels cease to sing and be mute, that they might the better listen to the nobler music of Christs redeemed ones. (R. Roberts.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The duty of praise<\/strong><\/p>\n


I. <\/strong>Good and righteous men are most obliged to the duty of praise, and most fit to perform it.<\/p>\n

1. <\/strong>There are many of Gods blessings that are universal, in regard to these the duty of thanksgiving should be of as large extent. But since some men partake more particularly of His favour, they are in a more particular manner obliged to gratitude and thanksgiving.<\/p>\n

2. <\/strong>The righteous are also most fit to perform this duty.<\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> Because such men are always humble, and ready to acknowledge their unworthiness of Gods goodness.<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> Because they have a quick and lively sense of it, and are apt to be tenderly and passionately affected with it.<\/p>\n

(3)<\/strong> Because they have always a solid foundation of true joy in a good conscience.<\/p>\n

(4)<\/strong> Because of that fitness and congruity which there is between praise and other virtues. As the beauty of the body consists in the exact dimensions of every part, and the symmetry and proportion of the whole: so does the beauty of the soul consist in the exercise of all Christian virtues, and in the mutual relation which they have to each other: and if any one be wanting it is a plain deformity, and will be perceived immediately.<\/p>\n


II. <\/strong>God is the proper object of praise. The psalmist does not tie himself up strictly to the contemplation of the Divine nature, as to its essential excellencies only, but considers them as they relate to His works, and are beneficial to His creatures.<\/p>\n

1. <\/strong>Rejoice in the Lord in regard of His goodness. Whatever is pleasing to us below, is so, because we take it to be good; that is, suppose it to partake of this fountain of ever-flowing goodness. How, then, should we be transported with joy if we lifted up our thought to Him who is Goodness itself, and through His vast abundance pours it upon every creature! But yet this would not be sufficient for His universal praise, unless we consider His goodness in His works.<\/p>\n

2. <\/strong>Rejoice in Him because of His wisdom; it is by this He governs and disposes of all things as in wisdom He made them all.<\/p>\n

3. <\/strong>Rejoice in the Lord in regard of His power. That very power which is so dreadful to His enemies, at which the whole creation trembles, at which the everlasting mountains are scattered, the perpetual hills do bow; when He marches through a land in indignation and threshes the heathen in His anger. Power can do as much for the righteous. So that this attribute cannot be dreadful to good men, but on the contrary, must be most delightful to them. (J. Adams, M. A.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The gratitude of the upright<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. <\/strong>The gratitude of upright men is wise. The praise of the Lord becomes them well, because, while they bless God for all their mercies, they arrange them in their proper order; they prize each according to its real worth, and that most of all which is of the greatest value.<\/p>\n

2. <\/strong>The gratitude of upright men is real. The praise of the Lord becomes them, because, while they praise God for His benefits, they live to the glory of their benefactor. Every gift of God furnisheth us with both a motive and a means of obedience to Him.<\/p>\n

3. <\/strong>Gratitude to God well becomes an upright man, because it is humble. By publishing the gifts of Gods grace, he divests himself of himself, and attributes them wholly to the goodness of Him from whom they came.<\/p>\n

4. <\/strong>The gratitude of an upright man is noble and magnanimous. He takes the love of God to him for a pattern of his behaviour to his fellow-creatures. (J. Saurin.<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

PSALM XXXIII<\/B><\/P>

<\/P>

The Lord is praised for his works of creation<\/I>, 1-9;<\/P>

and for the stability of his own counsels<\/I>, 10, 11.<\/P>

The blessedness of the people who have the knowledge of the<\/I><\/P>

true God, his grace, and providence<\/I>, 12-15.<\/P>

The vanity of all earthly dependence<\/I>, 16, 17.<\/P>

The happiness of them that fear God, and trust in his mercy<\/I>,<\/P>

18-22. <\/P>


<\/P>

NOTES ON PSALM XXXIII<\/B><\/P>

<\/P>

This Psalm has no title<\/I> in the Hebrew and it was probably written on no particular occasion, but was intended as a hymn of praise in order to celebrate the power, wisdom, and mercy of God. Creation and providence are its principal subjects; and these lead the psalmist to glance at different parts of the ancient Jewish history. In eight of Kennicott’s<\/I> MSS., this Psalm is written as a part of the preceding.<\/P>

<\/P>

Verse 1<\/span>. Rejoice in the Lord<\/B><\/I>] It is very likely that the last<\/I> verse of the preceding Psalm was formerly the first<\/I> verse of this. As this Psalm has no title<\/I>, the verse was the more easily separated. In the preceding Psalm we have an account of the happiness of the justified man: in this, such are taught how to glorify God, and to praise him for the great things he had done for them.<\/P>

<\/P>

Praise is comely for the upright.<\/B><\/I>] It is right<\/I> they should give thanks to Him, who is the fountain whence they have received all the good they possess and thankfulness becomes the lips of the upright.<\/P> <\/p>\n

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Rejoice in the Lord; <\/B>let his excellency discovered in his works be the matter of your joy and praise. <\/P>

Praise is comely for the upright; <\/B>it well becomes them to exercise themselves in this work of praising and blessing of God; partly because they have such singular and abundant obligations and occasions to do so; and partly because they will praise God worthily and heartily, and with due reverence and thankfulness, as God requires, and deserves to be praised; whereas ungodly men do indeed disparage and pollute the holy name of God, while they pretend to praise it, and therefore God rejects their praises and prayers. See Psa 50:16<\/span>; 119:7<\/span>; Pro 28:9<\/span>. <\/P> <\/p>\n

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

1-3.<\/B> The sentiment falls in withPs 32:11<\/span> (compare 1Co14:15<\/span>). The instruments (Psa 92:3<\/span>;Psa 144:9<\/span>) do not exclude thevoice.<\/P><\/p>\n

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous<\/strong>,….<\/p>\n

[See comments on Ps 32:11]<\/span>;<\/p>\n

[for] praise is comely for the upright<\/strong>; it becomes them; it is their duty; they are bound unto it by the mercies and favours they have received; should they not give praise to God, the stones of the wall would cry out, and rebuke them for their ingratitude: it is beautiful, and looks lovely in them; it is an ornament to them, and is, in the sight of God, of great esteem: it is very acceptable to him, and when grace is in exercise, and their hearts in tune, being sensibly touched and impressed with the goodness of God, it is desirable by them, and is pleasant and delightful to them.<\/p>\n

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

The call contained in this hexastich is addressed to the righteous and upright, who earnestly seek to live a godly and God-pleasing life, and the sole determining rule of whose conduct is the will and good pleasure of God. These alone know God, whose true nature finds in them a clear mirror; so on their part they are joyfully to confess what they possess in Him. For it is their duty, and at the same time their honour, to praise him, and make their boast in Him. is the feminine of the adjective (formed out of ), as in Psa 147:1<\/span>, cf. Pro 19:10<\/span>. On (lxx , ) and (lxx , , , etc.) vid., Introduction II. is the name given to the harp or lyre on account of its resemblance to a skin bottle or flash (root , to swell, to be distended), and , “harp of the decade,”’ is the ten-stringed harp, which is also called absolutely , and distinguished from the customary , in Psa 92:4<\/span>. By a comparison of the asyndeton expressions in Psa 35:14<\/span>, Jer 11:19<\/span>, Aben-Ezra understands by two instruments, contrary to the tenour of the words. Gecatilia, whom he controverts, is only so far in error as that he refers the ten to holes ( ) instead of to strings. The is Beth instrum<\/em>., just like the expression , Rev 14:2<\/span>. A “new song” is one which, in consequence of some new mighty deeds of God, comes from a new impulse of gratitude in the heart, Psa 40:4<\/span>, and frequently in the Psalms, Isa 42:10<\/span>, Judith 6:13, Rev 5:9<\/span>. In the notions of scite<\/em> and strenue, suaviter<\/em> and naviter<\/em>, blend. With , referring back to , the call to praise forms, as it were, a circle as it closes.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

An Exhortation to Praise God.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/I><\/span><\/P> <\/TD>


<\/P> <\/TD> <\/TR> <\/TABLE>

      1 Rejoice in the LORD<\/B>, O ye righteous: for<\/I> praise is comely for the upright.   2 Praise the LORD<\/B> with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and<\/I> an instrument of ten strings.   3 Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.   4 For the word of the LORD<\/B> is<\/I> right; and all his works are done<\/I> in truth.   5 He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD<\/B>.   6 By the word of the LORD<\/B> were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.   7 He gathereth the waters of the sea together as a heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses.   8 Let all the earth fear the LORD<\/B>: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.   9 For he spake, and it was done;<\/I> he commanded, and it stood fast.   10 The LORD<\/B> bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.   11 The counsel of the LORD<\/B> standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.<\/P>

      Four things the psalmist expresses in these verses:<\/P>

      I. The great desire he had that God might be praised. He did not think he did it so well himself, but that he wished others also might be employed in this work; the more the better, in this concert: it is the more like heaven. 1. Holy joy is the heart and soul of praise, and that is here pressed upon all good people (v.<\/I><\/span> 1<\/span>): Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous;<\/I> so the foregoing psalm concluded and so this begins; for all our religious exercises should both begin and end with a holy complacency and triumph in God as the best of being and best of friends. 2. Thankful praise is the breath and language of holy joy; and that also is here required of us (v.<\/I><\/span> 2<\/span>): “Praise the Lord;<\/I> speak well of him, and give him the glory due to his name.” 3. Religious songs are the proper expressions of thankful praise; those are here required (v.<\/I><\/span> 3<\/span>): “Sing unto him a new song,<\/I> the best you have, not that which by frequent use is worn, thread-bare, but that which, being new, is most likely to move the affections, a new song for new mercies and upon every new occasion, for those compassions which are new every morning.” Music was then used, by the appointment of David, with the temple-songs, that they might be the better sung; and this also is here called for (v.<\/I><\/span> 2<\/span>): Sing unto him with the psaltery.<\/I> Here is, (1.) A good rule for this duty: “Do it skilfully,<\/I> and with a loud noise;<\/I> let it have the best both of head and heart; let it be done intelligently and with a clear head, affectionately and with a warm heart.” (2.) A good reason for this duty: For praise is comely for the upright.<\/I> It is well pleasing to God (the garments of praise add much to the comeliness which God puts upon his people) and it is an excellent ornament to our profession. It becomes the upright,<\/I> whom God has put so much honour upon, to give honour to him. The upright praise God in a comely manner, for they praise him with their hearts, that is praising him with their glory; whereas the praises of hypocrites are awkward and uncomely, like a parable in the mouth of fools,<\/I> Prov. xxvi. 7<\/I><\/span>.<\/P>

      II. The high thoughts he had of God, and of his infinite perfections, Psa 33:4<\/span>; Psa 33:5<\/span>. God makes himself known to us, 1. In his word,<\/I> here put for all divine revelation, all that which God at sundry times and in divers manners spoke to the children of men, and that is all right,<\/I> there is nothing amiss in it; his commands exactly agree with the rules of equity and the eternal reasons of good and evil. His promises are all wise and good and inviolably sure, and there is no iniquity in his threatenings, but even those are designed for our good, by deterring us from evil. God’s word is right, and therefore all our deviations from it are wrong, and we are then in the right when we agree with it. 2. In his works,<\/I> and those are all done in truth,<\/I> all according to his counsels, which are called the scriptures of truth,<\/I> Dan. x. 21<\/I><\/span>. The copy in all God’s works agrees exactly with the great original, the plan laid in the Eternal Mind, and varies not in the least jot. God has made it to appear in his works, (1.) That he is a God of inflexible justice: He loveth righteousness and judgment.<\/I> There is nothing but righteousness in the sentence he passes and judgment in the execution of it. He never did nor can do wrong to any of his creatures, but is always ready to give redress to those that are wronged, and does it with delight. He takes pleasure in those that are righteous. He is himself the righteous Lord, and therefore loveth righteousness. (2.) That he is a God of inexhaustible bounty: The earth is full of his goodness,<\/I> that is, of the proofs and instances of it. The benign influences which the earth receives from above, and the fruits it is thereby enabled to produce, the provision that is made both for man and beast, and the common blessings with which all the nations of the earth are blessed, plainly declare that the earth is full of his goodness<\/I>–the darkest, the coldest, the hottest, and the most dry and desert part of it not excepted. What a pity is it that this earth, which is so full of God’s goodness, should be so empty of his praises, and that of the multitudes that live upon his bounty there are so few that live to his glory!<\/P>

      III. The conviction he was under of the almighty power of God, evidenced in the creation of the world. We “believe in God,” and therefore we praise him as “the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth,” so we are here taught to praise him. Observe,<\/P>

      1. How God made the world, and brought all things into being. (1.) How easily: All things were made by the word of the Lord and by the breath of his mouth.<\/I> Christ is the Word, the Spirit is the breath, so that God the Father made the world, as he rules it and redeems it, by his Son and Spirit. He spoke, and he commanded<\/I> (v.<\/I><\/span> 9<\/span>), and that was enough; there needed no more. With men saying and doing are two things, but it is not so with God. By the Word and Spirit of God as the world was made, so was man, that little world. God said, Let us make man,<\/I> and he breathed into him the breath of life.<\/I> By the Word and Spirit the church is built, that new world, and grace wrought in the soul, that new man, that new creation. What cannot that power do which with a word made a world! (2.) How effectually it was done: And it stood fast.<\/I> What God does he does to purpose; he does it and it stands fast. Whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever,<\/I> Eccl. iii. 14<\/I><\/span>. It is by virtue of that command to stand fast that things continue to this day according to God’s ordinance,<\/I> Ps. cxix. 91<\/I><\/span>.<\/P>

      2. What he made. He made all things, but notice is here taken, (1.) of the heavens, and the host of them,<\/I> v.<\/span> 6<\/span><\/U><\/I><\/span>. The visible heavens, and the sun, moon, and stars, their hosts– (2.) Of the waters, and the treasures of them, v.<\/I><\/span> 7<\/span>. The earth was at first covered with the water, and, being heavier, must of course subside and sink under it; but, to show from the very first that the God of nature is not tied to the ordinary method of nature, and the usual operations of his powers, with a word’s speaking he gathered the waters together on a heap,<\/I> that the dry land might appear, yet left them not to continue on a heap, but laid up the depth in store-houses,<\/I> not only in the flats where the seas make their beds, and in which they are locked up by the sand on the shore as in storehouses, but in secret subterraneous caverns, where they are hidden from the eyes of all living, but were reserved as in a store-house for that day when those fountains of the great deep were to be broken up; and they are still laid up there in store, for which use the great Master of the house knows best.<\/P>

      3. What use is to be made of this (v.<\/I><\/span> 8<\/span>): Let all the earth fear the Lord,<\/I> and stand in awe of him;<\/I> that is, let all the children of men worship him and give glory to him, Psa 95:5<\/span>; Psa 95:6<\/span>. The everlasting gospel gives this as the reason why we must worship God, because he made the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, Rev 14:6<\/span>; Rev 14:7<\/span>. Let us all fear him, that is, dread his wrath and displeasure, and be afraid of having him our enemy and of standing it out against him. Let us not dare to offend him who having this power no doubt has all power in his hand. It is dangerous being at war with him who has the host of heaven for his armies and the depths of the sea for his magazines, and therefore it is wisdom to desire conditions of peace, see Jer. v. 22<\/span>.<\/P>

      IV. The satisfaction he had of God’s sovereignty and dominion, Psa 33:10<\/span>; Psa 33:11<\/span>. He over-rules all the counsels of men, and makes them, contrary to their intention, serviceable to his counsels. Come and see with an eye of faith God in the throne, 1. Frustrating the devices of his enemies: He bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought,<\/I> so that what they imagine against him and his kingdom proves a vain thing<\/I> (Ps. ii. 1<\/span>); the counsel of Ahithophel is turned into foolishness; Haman’s plot is baffled. Though the design be laid ever so deep, and the hopes raised upon it ever so high, yet, if God says it shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass;<\/I> it is all to no purpose. 2. Fulfilling his own decrees: The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever.<\/I> It is immutable in itself, for he is in one mind, and who can turn him?<\/I> The execution of it may be opposed, but cannot in the least be obstructed by any created power. Through all the revolutions of time God never changed his measures, but in every event, even that which to us is most surprising, the eternal counsel of God is fulfilled, nor can any thing prevent its being accomplished in its time. With what pleasure to ourselves may we in singing this give praise to God! How easy may this thought make us at all times, that God governs the world, that he did it in infinite wisdom before we were born, and will do it when we are silent in the dust!<\/P> <\/p>\n

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Psalms 33<\/p>\n

THE WORD AND EYES OF THE LORD<\/p>\n

This Psalm calls the righteous <\/strong>to rejoice, praise, give thanks, sing praises, and play music unto the Lord. It is a General Psalm. <\/strong>addressed and applicable to the redeemed <\/strong>of all ages.<\/p>\n

Verses 1-22:<\/p>\n

Verse 1<\/strong> calls upon the righteous, all the redeemed in general, who “fear the Lord,” and hope in His mercy, and trust in His holy name, to rejoice in the Lord, v.18, 21; Php_4:4; Psa 32:11<\/span>; Psa 97:12<\/span>. For it is declared that such is becoming to the “upright,” those whose God is the Lord, v.12, whom He has chosen in the Messiah as His heritage, Exo 19:5<\/span>; Num 23:10<\/span>. To rejoice in the Lord is to make Him the central element and object of our joy.<\/p>\n

Verses 2, 3 admonish <\/strong>“praise the lord ‘with’ (in harmony with) the harp,” a musical instrument. David added “sing unto him with, in harmony ‘with’ the psaltery, even an instrument of ten strings,” that touch the pitch and key of every emotion of human experience. He continued, “play skillfully, artistically, with a loud noise (of praise) for the word of the Lord is right and all His works are done in truth.” The human voice, unaided, alone, is felt inadequate to do justice in raising praise to God. So the man after God’s own heart not only invented instruments of music, to praise the Lord therewith, but also called upon “the righteous” <\/strong>to use the harp and the psaltery of ten strings to praise and glorify the Lord in addition to, yet in harmony with singing to him a new song, the song of redemption by the blood, Rev 5:9-10<\/span>; See also Psa 96:1<\/span>; Psa 98:1<\/span>; Psa 44:9<\/span>; Psa 149:1<\/span>; Isa 42:10<\/span>; Eph 5:19<\/span>; Col 3:16<\/span>; Rev 14:3<\/span>; 1Jn 2:7-8<\/span>; 1Sa 16:17<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verse 4 asserts <\/strong>that the word of the Lord is right (upright) in all His promises, to all men in matters of redemption and Divine care. Psa 105:42<\/span>. What is more “all His works are done in truth” or in the area of His faithfulness who has promised, v.9; Num 23:19<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verse 5 adds <\/strong>that “He continually loves righteousness and judgment,” absolute attributes of His holy and just nature. He therefore will not permit sin and Satan to prevail upon His earth, among His people, Hab 1:13<\/span>. For the earth is full of His goodness, Psa 119:64<\/span>. Expressed in His people and His church, Mat 5:13-16<\/span>; Eph 3:21<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verse 6 states <\/strong>that “by the word of the Lord the heavens were formed and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth,” as recounted Joh 1:1-3<\/span>; Heb 11:3<\/span>; 2Pe 3:5<\/span>; Gen 2:7<\/span>; Job 26:13<\/span>; Psa 104:30<\/span>. All creation’s existence is ascribed to the work of the Lord, merits praise from all creatures above, upon, and beneath the earth from which He shall one day receive it, Rev 5:9-13<\/span>. The Divine word and the Divine spirit worked cooperatively in creation of all things, inclusive of heaven’s host, of angels, the galaxies of stars, the sun, and the moon, Gen 2:1<\/span>: Isa 11:4<\/span>; Job 33:4<\/span>; Psa 104:30<\/span>; Heb 1:13-14<\/span>. These existing hosts should still praise Him who daily sustains them for His own praise and glory, Psalms 8, 19.<\/p>\n

Verses 7, 8 attribute <\/strong>to Him the gathering of the waters of the sea, in their own heap, and restricting them in their own storehouse, where they serve Him and humanity best, Exo 15:8<\/span>; Jos 3:13<\/span>. The seas are as safe in their caverns, from which they do his will, as treasures that men keep in a safe, till specially needed. All the earth’s inhabitants are called to stand in awe and “fear the Lord,” Ecc 12:13-14<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verse 9 declares <\/strong>“He spake and it was done,” came to become, to exist. He further commanded (mandated) and it (the creation)’ stood fast, fixed, set, or established, at His word, as described Gen 1:1<\/span>; Gen 1:6-7<\/span>; Gen 1:9<\/span>; Gen 1:11<\/span>; Gen 1:14-15<\/span>; Gen 1:24<\/span>; Gen 1:29-30<\/span>; Psa 148:5<\/span>; Psa 119:90<\/span>; Heb 11:3<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verse 10 asserts <\/strong>that the Lord brings the counsel (collusion) of the wicked against His people to naught, makes them void, defeats them. It is added that he causes the devices or schemes of the heathen to be of none effect, Psa 1:5-6<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verse 11 extols <\/strong>the counsel of the Lord as standing forever; and the purposes of His heart continue to all generations as permanent and sustaining to the righteous; His Divine work in the righteous shall stand, attesting His omnipotence in redeeming man, even as it is in causing the universe to stand and to obey His voice, until the restitution of all things, Act 3:20-21<\/span>; Job 23:13<\/span>; Pro 19:21<\/span>; Isa 14:24<\/span>; Isa 14:27<\/span>; Isa 46:10<\/span>; La 3:37; Eph 1:11<\/span>. See also Joh 10:27-30<\/span>; Php_1:6.<\/p>\n

Verses 12<\/strong> states that the nation is blessed whose God is the lord, and the people whom He has chosen for His own heritage, even as Jesus chose the church as His heritage, bride, etc. ; Act 1:8<\/span>; Eph 3:21<\/span>; Eph 5:25<\/span>; Rev 19:7-8<\/span>; 1Pe 2:9<\/span>; Exo 19:5<\/span>; Deu 7:6<\/span>; Amo 3:2<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verses 13, 14 declare <\/strong>that the Lord continually looks down from heaven, over His universe and His own, beholding, scrutinizing in particular, the sons of men, in all their habitations of the earth, because He cares for them all, Eze 18:4<\/span>; Act 17:28<\/span>; 2Ch 16:9<\/span>; Job 28:24<\/span>; Psa 11:4<\/span>; Psa 14:2<\/span>; Pro 15:3<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verse 15 states that the Lord “fashions their hearts alike; He considereth all their works or activities.” All men are His: 1) by right of creation, 2) and by His daily care for them, and 3) His redemptive work for all as set forth, Eze 18:4<\/span>; Act 17:26-28<\/span>; La 3:20-23; 1Ti 2:5-6<\/span>; Rom 1:16<\/span>. See also Pro 22:2<\/span>; Ecc 7:29<\/span>; La 64:8; Act 17:26<\/span>; Job 11:11<\/span>; Job 34:21<\/span>; Jer 32:19<\/span>; Hos 7:2<\/span>; 1Co 4:5<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verses 16, 17 declare <\/strong>that there exists no king who is saved by the multitude of an host nor is any man of might saved by much strength, by arrayed warfare or any mighty warrior. It is added that war horses and chariots, forbidden by Mosaic, Divine law for Israel, were vain sources of strength or safety, Deu 17:16<\/span>. So long as Israel had God for her strength and security, or any other nation, her strength and protection were adequate. Without Him, all else is vain, Joh 15:5<\/span>; Pro 21:31<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verses 18, 19 certify <\/strong>that the eye of the Lord is upon (overshadowing) those who fear Him, even over those who hope (confide) in His mercy, as set forth clearly Job 36:7<\/span>; His (eye-care) follows them daily, “to deliver their soul from death, and to keep. them alive in famine,” Psa 34:15<\/span>; Psa 147:11<\/span>; 1Pe 3:12<\/span>; Heb 13:5<\/span>; Php_4:19.<\/p>\n

Verses 20, 21 confide <\/strong>that the souls of David and his people, Israel waited for or upon the Lord as their help and shield from earthly foes, as Jacob waited on him, on his death bed, Gen 49:18<\/span>. Then it is added, “our heart shall rejoice in Him because we have trusted in His holy name,” His holy character, power and authority, besides whom there is no true God or Savior, Psa 115:4-9<\/span>; Pro 3:3-5<\/span>; Act 4:12<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verse 22 concludes <\/strong>this call to praise the Lord with a cry of absolute, unconditional trust in the Lord, “Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope (confide) in thee.” The verse reminds one of our Lord’s words to the two blind men in Jericho, “according to your faith be it (it shall be) unto you,” Mat 9:29<\/span>; La 3:22, 23.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

1. Rejoice in Jehovah, ye righteous. Here the inspired writer addresses believers or the righteous by name, because they alone are capable of proclaiming the glory of God. Unbelievers, who have never tasted his goodness, cannot praise him from the heart, and God has no pleasure in his name being pronounced by their unholy tongues. But the context shows more distinctly why this exhortation is suitable for believers only. Many, accordingly, expound the latter clause, Praise is comely for the upright, as meaning, that if the ungodly or hypocrites attempt this exercise, it will turn to the reproach and dishonor of God rather than to his praise; nay, more, that they only profane his holy name. It is, no doubt, very true, as I have already remarked, that God creates for himself a church in the world by gracious adoption, for the express purpose, that his name may be duly praised by witnesses suitable for such a work. But the real meaning of the clause, Praise is comely for the upright, is, that there is no exercise in which they can be better employed. And, assuredly, since God by his daily benefits furnishes them with such matter for celebrating his glory, and since his boundless goodness, as we have elsewhere seen, is laid up as a peculiar treasure for them, it were disgraceful and utterly unreasonable for them to be silent in the praises of God. The amount of the matter is, that the principal exercise in which it becomes the righteous to be employed is to publish among men the righteousness, goodness, and power of God, the knowledge of which is implanted in their minds. Following other interpreters, I have translated the clause, Praise is comely, but the word rendered comely may also be properly rendered desirable, if we view it as derived from the Hebrew word אוה, avah, which signifies to wish or desire. And certainly, when God allures believers so sweetly, it is proper that they employ themselves in celebrating his praises with their whole hearts. It is also to be observed, that when the prophet, after having in the first clause used the appellation, the righteous, immediately adds the words, the upright, which comprehend the inward integrity of the heart, he defines what true righteousness is, or in what it consists. <\/p>\n

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

<\/span>AN OUTLINE.<\/strong><\/p>\n

THE JOY OF THE LORD<\/p>\n

The redeemed should joy and rejoice.<\/p>\n

Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright (Psa 33:1<\/em><\/span><\/em>).<\/em><\/p>\n

Psa 107:2<\/span>.<\/p>\n

They should reinforce voices with instruments.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings (Psa 33:2<\/em><\/span><\/em>).<\/em><\/p>\n

They should seek adequate expression.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sing unto Him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise (Psa 33:3<\/em><\/span><\/em>).<\/em><\/p>\n

THE CHARACTER OF GOD<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is dependable.<\/p>\n

For the Word of the Lord is right; and all His works are done in truth (Psa 33:4<\/em><\/span><\/em>).<\/em><\/p>\n

It is defensible.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord (Psa 33:5<\/em><\/span><\/em>).<\/em><\/p>\n

It is demonstrable.<\/strong><\/p>\n

By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.<\/em><\/p>\n

He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: He layeth up the depth in storehouses (Psa 33:6-7<\/em><\/span>).<\/em><\/p>\n

THE FEAR OF THE LORD<\/strong><\/p>\n

His greatness should inspire respect.<\/p>\n

Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him (Psa 33:8<\/em><\/span><\/em>).<\/em><\/p>\n

His wisdom is not exceeded by His power.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: He maketh the devices of the people of none effect.<\/em><\/p>\n

The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations (Psa 33:10-11<\/em><\/span>).<\/em><\/p>\n

He is our solitary shield and help.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Lord looketh from Heaven; He beholdeth all the sons of men.<\/p>\n

From the place of His habitation He looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.<\/p>\n

He fashioneth their hearts alike; He considereth all their works.<\/p>\n

There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.<\/p>\n

An horse is a vain thing for safety; neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.<\/p>\n

Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear Him, upon them that hope in His mercy;<\/p>\n

To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.<\/p>\n

Our soul waiteth for the Lord: He is our help and our shield.<\/p>\n

For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy Name.<\/p>\n

Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in Thee (Psa 33:12-22<\/em><\/span>).<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

INTRODUCTION<\/p>\n

This psalm is a fit companion, but by no means the second half, of the preceding one, being distinct from it both in matter and form. It indicates a more tranquil frame of mind, such as flows from the calm assurance of pence with God. There is nothing against its being of the time and from the pen of David. It consists of twenty-two verses, like the alphabetic psalms. It celebrates the praise of the God of providence and grace. It falls into two halves of eleven verses each. Between three verses of adoration at the beginning, and three of devotion at the end, stand eight verses on the creative, and eight on the saving Word of God,Murphy.<\/p>\n

THE CHARACTER OF TRUE WORSHIP<\/p>\n

(Psa. 33:1-3<\/span><\/em>.)<\/p>\n

I. The worship of God is the chief joy of the good<\/strong>. Ye righteous, ye who have the new heart, and so have accepted the mercy of God, and are accepted by Him.Murphy<\/em>. Rejoice, i.e.<\/em>, exult, shout for joy. The Hebrew verb, according to etymologists, originally means to dance for joy, and is therefore a very strong expression for the liveliest exultation.Alexander<\/em>. Joy is the soul of worship.<\/p>\n

II. The worship of God is the highest duty of the good<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

1. It is agreeable to their character<\/em>. The upright. Praise in the mouth of a sinner is like an oracle in the lips of a fool: how uncomely is it for him to praise God whose whole life is a dishonour to God! The godly are only fit to be choristers in Gods praise.Thomas Watson<\/em>. <\/p>\n

2. It is agreeable to their obligations<\/em>. Those who have received from God a right spirit and the forgiveness of sins, have a twofold obligation to praise Him.Murphy<\/em>. <\/p>\n

3. It is agreeable to their circumstances<\/em>. Placed in the midst of Gods works, and daily receiving fresh proofs of His loving-kindness in providence and grace, the upright are always in fitting circumstances for praise.<\/p>\n

III. The worship of God is the noblest employment of the good<\/strong>. Praise the Lord with harp. This is the first time musical instruments are referred to in the psalms. It is impossible now to ascertain the precise form of the harp, and the psaltery, and the lute of ten strings. The chief thing to notice is, that they were used as accompaniments and supports to the voice, as if the voice were too weak by itself to utter the Divine praises. Instruments of varied power and sweetness were employed, so as to secure the grandest effects. Psa. 33:3<\/span> : Sing ur to Him a new song, not here one which has new marvels of Gods power and grace for its theme, as in Psa. 40:3<\/span>, Psa. 98:1<\/span> (cf.<\/em> Rev. 14:3<\/span>), but rather one which springs freshly from a thankful and rejoicing heart,one which seeks to put an old theme to a new light.Perowne<\/em>. Play skilfully. Do your best in playing. With a loud noise. Music should not only be correct in execution, but joyous in spirit. The whole heart should be thrown into it.<\/p>\n

The worship of God in song combines<\/p>\n

1. Unity and variety<\/em>. While there may be both vocal and instrumental music, there should be but one spirit.<\/p>\n

2. Sameness and freshness<\/em>. The same old psalms and hymns and spiritual songs may be sung, and yet there may be the freshness of ever-new wonder, love, and praise, while new songs may evermore spring from the heart of the revived Church.<\/p>\n

3. Devotion and art<\/em>. There is scope for the highest efforts of genius in the service of song. Music should be cultivated. Religion and science should go together. We should give our very best to God.<\/p>\n

4. Fellowship and individuality<\/em>. While the service is that of the congregation, every separate heart should take part.<\/p>\n

THE REASONABLENESS OF WORSHIP<\/p>\n

(Psa. 33:4-22<\/span><\/em>.)<\/p>\n

For introduces the reasons for praising God. The order of the thought is sufficiently marked to admit of the subject being treated under the heads of creation, providence, and redemption. God is to be worshipped, because<\/p>\n

I. He is the God of creation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

We are called to notice<\/p>\n

1. The moral character of God<\/em> (Psa. 33:4-5<\/span>). Words and works are the exponents of character. The word is the idea, and the work is the fact. The word is the promise, and the work is the performance. It is by His words and works that God reveals Himself. They are the expression and embodiment of His eternal purpose. And the great attributes which are seen in beautiful harmony in all Gods words and works are Righteousness and Goodness<\/em>. He loveth righteousness, i.e.<\/em>, it is His habit and delight. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord, as conspicuously as the heaven with stars, as completely as the sea with waters. Righteousness and goodness are, as it were, incarnated<\/em> in Gods words and works, to be the study and delight of His people forever.<\/p>\n

2. The glory of creation<\/em>. From the present proofs of Gods love in the earth, the thoughts of the sacred poet naturally goes back to the creation of all things, and as He had before declared what the word and the work of Jehovah are in their essential characters (Psa. 33:4<\/span>), so now He describes further the operation of that word, and the work which results therefrom.Perowne<\/em>. Psa. 33:6<\/span>. There is allusion here to the history of Creation in Genesis. First the mode<\/em>, and then the extent<\/em>, of the Divine working are described. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made. The word, the creative mandate (Gen. 1:1<\/span>). All the host, the universe of things in their perfect order. This verse has special reference to the work of the second day. Gathereth the waters. The primary allusion here is to the work of the third day. The verse, however, expresses not a finished act, but a continued process, displaying its variations in the dividing of the Red Sea and the Jordan. Psa. 33:8-9<\/span>. The consequent obligation to worship God, Let all the earth fear the Lord. This carries on the thought to the second act of the third day, by which the dry land was clothed with vegetation, and the way prepared for the creation of animals and of man. The parallel of all the earth is all the inhabitants of the habitable globe.Murphy<\/em>. The heavens and the sea are mentioned as the theatre of Gods almighty power, as the earth before, of His loving-kindness; and thus the universe is summed up.Perowne<\/em>. The argument is that Jehovah is the omnipotent Creator, and that we who are all His creatures, should worship Him with Holy reverence.<\/p>\n

II. He is the God of providence<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

After speaking of Gods power in creation, the psalmist goes on to speak of His providence as ordering the world.Perowne<\/em>. The providence of God is characterised as<\/p>\n

1. All Wise<\/em> (Psa. 33:10<\/span>). He who created and sustains the universe, can overrule or frustrate the designs of man, whether as individuals or nations, according as He deems right. We have a signal example of this in the history of Babel.<\/p>\n

There is a contrast here between the counsels of men and the counsel of the Lord. Men come and go, and their thoughts are like the changing clouds, but God moves on in His ordained path, like the sun in the heavens, with unswerving fidelity. The counsels of men are like the edicts of arbitrary kings, which come to nought; but Jehovahs counsels are His eternal and benign purpose, which He works out by His almighty power, from generation to generation. This holds true, not only with regard to Gods providence in general, but also with regard to His providence in its special bearing on His people. Hence the glad burst of praise (Psa. 33:12<\/span>), Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, and the people whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance.<\/p>\n

2. All Seeing (Psa. 33:13-15<\/span>). He not only observes mens doings, but knows their hearts, as having created them.Perowne<\/em>. From the place of His dwelling (Psa. 33:14<\/span>). This is a coincidence with the Song of Moses (Exo. 15:17<\/span>). This is His dwelling-place above, of which earth is an adumbration. Fashioneth their hearts alike (Psa. 33:15<\/span>). The principle of reason in one heart is the identical with that in every other. Hence the capacity of mutual understanding and the certainty of human knowledge, as far as the moral reason retains its balance. He considereth, not only understands, but observes with attention the conduct of His responsible creatures. There is a philosophy of human nature here.Murphy.<\/p>\n

3. All Mighty<\/em> (Psa. 33:16-17<\/span>). The weakness and insufficiency of ail human power, however great, as before of all human intellect. King and mighty man and horse (i.e., war-horse, as elsewhere, chariot and horse) are selected as types of earthly power in all its greatness.Perowne<\/em>.<\/p>\n

People of God, he means to say, let not the world persuade you that the throne, on which your king is seated, is an idle easy chair; no, He is seated on a throne, on a judgment-seat, from the lofty eminence of which proceed the destinies of the world. People of God, he means to say, firmly believe that all things are either openly or in a hidden manner subject to the influence of His might; not only the works of men, which are evidently so, since the issue never rests with them, but also the secret movings of their hearts, which God can strike with blindness, and can make foolish the understanding of the prudent, and wise the heart of babes. People of God, believe not in appearances according to which kings conquer by their might and warriors triumph in battle by the strength of their horses; it is appearance only, for, as all earthly power is borrowed from the Governor of the world, He may withdraw it at any time, and give it to whomsoever He pleases; so that all the victories on earth are won by His strength.Tholuck<\/em>.<\/p>\n

III. The God of redemption<\/strong> (Psa. 33:18-22<\/span>). While mortal strength is vain for defence and security, they who fear the Lord and hope in His mercy shall be safe under Jehovahs eye, and kept by His almighty power, through faith unto salvation. God is the only true deliverer. His deliverance reaches to the soul, and transcends all the perils of time and all the powers of evil. While such omnipotence terrifies those who love not the Lord, it is rich in consolation to those who hope in His mercy. The whole people commit themselves to the Lord, rejoicing in Him and trusting in His name.Tholuck<\/em> Antigonus, king of Syria, being ready to give battle near the Isle of Andreos, sent out a squadron to watch the motions of his enemies, and to descry their strength; return was made that they had more ships, and better manned, than he had. How, says Antigonus, that cannot be, for how many dost thou reckon me, intimating that the dignity of a general weighed down many others, especially when poised with valour and experience. And where is valour, where is experience to be found, if not in God! He is the Lord of Hosts; with Him alone is strength and power to deliver Israel out of all her troubles. He may do it, He can do it, He will do it. He is wise in heart and mighty in strength, besides Him there is no Saviour, no Deliverer. He is a shield to the righteous, strength to the weak, a refuge to the oppressed.John Spencer<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Dear dying Lamb! Thy precious blood<\/p>\n

Shall never lose its power,<\/p>\n

Till all the ransomed Church of God<\/p>\n

Be saved, to sin no more.<\/p>\n

Eer since, by faith, I saw the stream<\/p>\n

Thy flowing wounds supply;<\/p>\n

Redeeming love has been my theme,<\/p>\n

And shall be till I die<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Then in a nobler, sweeter song,<\/p>\n

Ill sing Thy power to save;<\/p>\n

When this poor lisping stammering tongue<\/p>\n

Lies silent in the grave.Cowper<\/em>.<\/p>\n

THREE ASPECTS OF PIETY<\/p>\n

(Psa. 33:20-22<\/span><\/em>.)<\/p>\n

I. Piety waiting on the Lord<\/strong>. Our soul waiteth for the Lord. Waiting is an attitude of soul. It is holding ones self still till the accomplishment of some expected event. It is, therefore, patience and expectation united. We wait for the day, that we may work. We wait for the spring to sow and the harvest to reap. But waiting is consistent with action. It is not only testing and disciplinary, but it implies right use of means and opportunities, working while it is<\/em> day, and sowing and reaping as the seasons of God come round. True waiting implies faith in Gods love. Heedfulness of His will (Psa. 123:3<\/span>). Intense desire for His blessing (Psa. 130:6<\/span>). Diligent use of all the means of grace. And what encouragement we have here to wait upon Him. For He is our help and shield.<\/p>\n

II. Piety rejoicing in God<\/strong>. Our heart shall rejoice in Him. This is not merely rejoicing in Gods Word and works, but rejoicing in Himself<\/em>. This is the highest attainment of piety. But this joy is one of the fruits of faith. Because we have trusted in His holy name. The more we know of Gods grace in Christ, the more shall our hearts exult in Him.<\/p>\n

III. Piety praying to God<\/strong>. Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in Thee. This prayer is marked by humility<\/em>. Mercy is sought, mercy for the sinner, the mercy of the Lord which bringeth salvation. This prayer is also marked by faith<\/em>. It implies confidence in Gods grace and in His promises, and in the reality of His Spirits work in the heart The hope He begets He will not put to shame (Mat. 9:29<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Psalms 32, 33
DESCRIPTIVE TITLE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Felicitations to the Forgiven, and Examples of the Songs that they Sing.<\/p>\n

ANALYSIS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Part I., Psalms 32<\/span>. Stanza I., Psa. 32:1-4<\/span>, Happy the Forgiven; yet Divine Discipline has sometimes to Drive to Confession. Stanza II., Psa. 32:5-6<\/span>, Confession brings Pardon, and promotes Exhortation. Stanza III., Psa. 32:7<\/span>, Petitions prompted by Exhortation. Stanza IV., Psa. 32:8-9<\/span>, Divine Response to Petitions. Stanza V., Psa. 32:10-11<\/span>, A Moral and an Invitation.<\/p>\n

Part II., Psalms 33<\/span>. Stanza I., Psa. 32:1-5<\/span>, Praise to Jehovah urged by his Word, Work, and Character. Stanza II., Psa. 33:6-9<\/span>, Jehovahs Creatorship a Ground for Earths Reverence. Stanza III., Psa. 33:10-12<\/span>, Jehovah Overruleth ill Nations for the Good of his Own Nation. Stanza IV., Psa. 33:13-17<\/span>, Jehovahs Regard for All Nations should Wean them from Trust in Brute Force. Stanza V., Psa. 33:18-22<\/span>, Experience Gratefully Closes the Song.<\/p>\n

(Lm.) By DavidAn Instructive Psalm.<\/p>\n

1<\/p>\n

How happy is he<\/p>\n

whose transgressions is forgiven,[336]<\/p>\n

[336] Ml.: lifted off, taken away.<\/p>\n

whose sin is pardoned,[337]<\/p>\n

[337] Ml.: covered.<\/p>\n

2<\/p>\n

How happy the man<\/p>\n

to whom Jehovah reckoneth not iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.<\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

When I refused to confess[338] my bones became old with my loud lamentation;[339]<\/p>\n

[338] Ml.: when I kept silence.
[339] M.T. adds: all the day.<\/p>\n

for day and night heavy on me was thy hand,<\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

I was changed into misery as when thorns smite me.[340]<\/p>\n

[340] So Br., after Sep.<\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

My sin I then made known to thee,<\/p>\n

and mine iniquity did I not cover:<\/p>\n

I saidI will confess concerning my transgressions to Jehovah,
and thou didst forgive mine iniquity my sin didst pardon.[341]<\/p>\n

[341] Prob. s-l-h (=pardon) was omitted because of its close resemblance to s-l-h (=selah).see Br.<\/p>\n

6<\/p>\n

For this cause let the[342] man of kindness pray unto thee in a time of distress.[343]<\/p>\n

[342] M.T.: every.
[343] So Br., reading m-z-k for m-z-r-k. Cp. O.G. 848a.<\/p>\n

At the outburst of waters unto him shall they not reach.<\/p>\n

7<\/p>\n

O thou my hiding-place! from distress wilt thou preserve me,<\/p>\n

with jubilations of deliverance wilt thou encompass me!<\/p>\n

8<\/p>\n

I will give thee understandingI will instruct thee in the way thou shouldst go,<\/p>\n

I will counsel theewill fix[344] on thee mine eye.<\/p>\n

[344] So. Br. with Syriac.<\/p>\n

9<\/p>\n

Do not become as the horse as the mulewithout understanding,<\/p>\n

having bridle and halter as his harness for holding him in.[345]<\/p>\n

[345] M.T. adds: he will not come near thee.<\/p>\n

10<\/p>\n

Many pains hath the lawless one,<\/p>\n

but he that trusteth in Jehovah kindness will encompass him.<\/p>\n

11<\/p>\n

Be glad in Jehovah and exult, O ye righteous ones;<\/p>\n

and ring out your joy, all ye upright in heart.<\/p>\n

(Nm.)<\/p>\n

Psalms 33<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

(Nm.)<\/p>\n

1<\/p>\n

Ring out your joy ye righteous in Jehovah,<\/p>\n

to the upright seemly is praise:<\/p>\n

2<\/p>\n

Give thanks to Jehovah with the lyre,<\/p>\n

with a lute of ten strings make melody to him:<\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

Sing to him a song that is new,<\/p>\n

with skill sweep the strings with sacred shout.<\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

For straightforward is the word of Jehovah,<\/p>\n

and all his work is in faithfulness.<\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

He loveth righteousness and justice,<\/p>\n

of the kindness of Jehovah the earth is full.<\/p>\n

6<\/p>\n

By the word of Jehovah the heavens were made,<\/p>\n

and by the breath of his mouth all their host:<\/p>\n

7<\/p>\n

Gathering as into a skin the waters of the sea,<\/p>\n

delivering into treasuries the roaring[346] deep.<\/p>\n

[346] Or: primevalBr.<\/p>\n

8<\/p>\n

Let all the earth be in fear of Jehovah,<\/p>\n

of him stand in awe all the inhabitants of the world;<\/p>\n

9<\/p>\n

For he said Be![347] and it was,<\/p>\n

[347] So Carter.<\/p>\n

he commanded and it stood forth.<\/p>\n

10<\/p>\n

Jehovah hath frustrated the counsel of nations,<\/p>\n

he hath brought to nothing the plans of the peoples.<\/p>\n

11<\/p>\n

The counsel of Jehovah to the ages shall stand,<\/p>\n

the plans of his heart to generation after generation.<\/p>\n

12<\/p>\n

How happy the nation whose God is Jehovah,<\/p>\n

the people he hath chosen as an inheritance for himself.<\/p>\n

13<\/p>\n

Out of the heavens hath Jehovah intently looked,<\/p>\n

he hath seen all the sons of mankind:<\/p>\n

14<\/p>\n

Out of his fixed place of abode hath he directed his gaze<\/p>\n

unto all the inhabitants of earth:<\/p>\n

15<\/p>\n

Who fashioneth together their heart,<\/p>\n

who giveth heed unto all their doings.<\/p>\n

16<\/p>\n

Not the king can win victory by greatness of force,<\/p>\n

a mighty man will not deliver himself by greatness strength:<\/p>\n

17<\/p>\n

A delusion is the horse for victory,[348]<\/p>\n

[348] Or: safety (as Dr.)<\/p>\n

and by his greatness of force shall he not deliver.<\/p>\n

18<\/p>\n

Lo! the eye[349] of Jehovah is toward them who revere him,<\/p>\n

[349] Some cod. (w. Sep., Syr., Vul.): eyes (pl.)Gn.<\/p>\n

to such as have waited for his kindness:<\/p>\n

19<\/p>\n

To rescue from death their soul,<\/p>\n

and to keep them alive in famine.<\/p>\n

20<\/p>\n

Our own soul hath longed for Jehovah,<\/p>\n

our help and our shield is he.<\/p>\n

21<\/p>\n

For in him shall our heart rejoice<\/p>\n

for in his holy name have we trusted.<\/p>\n

23<\/p>\n

Be thy kindness O Jehovah upon us,<\/p>\n

according as we have waited for thee.<\/p>\n

(Nm.)<\/p>\n

PARAPHRASE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Psalms 32<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

What happiness for those whose guilt has been forgiven! What joys when sins are covered over! What relief for those who have confessed their sins and God has cleared their record.
3 There was a time when I wouldnt admit what a sinner I was.[350] But my dishonesty made me miserable and filled my days with frustration.<\/p>\n

[350] Literally, When I kept silence.<\/p>\n

4 All day and all night Your hand was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water on a sunny day
5 Until I finally admitted all my sins to You and stopped trying to hide them. I said to myself, I will confess them to the Lord. And You forgave me! All my guilt is gone!
6 After this experience, I say that every believer should confess his sins to God as soon as he becomes aware of them, while there is yet time to be forgiven. If he does this, judgment will not touch him.[351]<\/p>\n

[351] Literally, When the great waters overflow they shall not reach him.<\/p>\n

7 You are my hiding place from every storm of life; You even keep me from getting into trouble! You surround me with songs of victory.
8 I will instruct you (says the Lord) and guide you along the best pathway for your life; I will advise you and watch your progress.
9 Dont be like a senseless horse or mule that has to have a bit in its mouth to keep it in line!
10 May sorrows come to the wicked, but adding love surrounds those who trust in the Lord.
11 So rejoice in Him, all those who are His,[352] and shout for joy, all those who try to obey Him.[353]<\/p>\n

[352] Literally, You righteous.
[353] Literally, All who are upright in heart.<\/p>\n

Psalms 33<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Let the joys of the godly well up in praise to the Lord, for it is right to praise Him.
2 Play joyous melodies of praise upon the lyre and on the harp!
3 Compose new songs of praise to Him, accompanied skillfully on the harp; sing joyfully.
4 For all Gods words are right, and everything He does is worthy of our trust.
5 He loves whatever is just and good; the earth is filled with His tender love.
6 He merely spoke, and the heavens were formed, and all the galaxies of stars.
7 He made the oceans, pouring them into His vast reservoirs.
8 Let everyone in all the worldmen, women and childrenfear the Lord and stand in awe of Him.
9 For when He but spoke, the world began! It appeared at His command!
10 And all with a breath He can scatter the plans of all the nations who oppose Him,
11 But His own plan stands forever. His intentions are the same for every generation.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, whose people He has chosen as His own.
13, 14, 15 The Lord gazes down upon mankind from heaven where He lives. He has made their hearts and closely watches everything they do.
16, 17 The best-equipped army cannot save a kingfor great strength is not enough to save anyone. A war horse is a poor risk for winning victoriesit is strong but it cannot save.
18, 19 But the eyes of the Lord are watching over those who fear Him, who rely upon His steady love. He will keep them from death even in times of famine!
20 We depend upon the Lord alone to save us. Only He can help us, He protects us like a shield.
21 No wonder we are happy in the Lord! For we are trusting Him! We trust His holy name.
22 Yes, Lord, let Your constant love surround us, for our hopes are in You alone.<\/p>\n

EXPOSITION<\/strong><\/p>\n

The headlines serve to individualize psalms . . . this fact will yield important results . . . There is no headline to Psalms 33<\/span>, so on the surface it belongs to Psalms 32<\/span>. A study of the material places the relation beyond question (Thirtle, O.T.P., 102). This witness is true; and, in the present case, adds quite an unusual interest to the sequence thus assumed. Kirkpatrick had already called attention to the close relationship between the two psalms. At the commencement of his comments on Psalms 33<\/span>, he says: The psalm begins by repeating the call to praise with which the preceding psalm closed, and recites the grounds on which Jehovah is worthy to be praised. It stands here as an answer to the invitation of Psa. 32:11<\/span>, an example of the songs of deliverance spoken of in Psa. 32:7<\/span>. Yet it differs widely in character from Psalms 32<\/span>. That psalm is an instruction based upon a particular personal experience; this is a congregational hymn of praise, arising (if indeed any special event inspired it) out of some national deliverance. If to these observations we add the suggestion, that it is when a man receives and enjoys the forgiveness of his personal sins, that he is prepared to unite with all saints in the celebration of public mercies, we shall perhaps have received the inwardness of the connection between these two psalms. Not that a single reference to the fact of such connection can by any means exhaust its fruitfulness. It is nothing less than thrilling, to hear David, when forgiven, calling out in spirit, to his son Hezekiah in Psa. 32:6<\/span>; to think of the latter (Psa. 32:7<\/span>) coming into just such a time of distress; in imminent danger of being swept away by the outburst of the mighty (Assyrian) waters (cp. Isa. 8:7-8<\/span>); and that nevertheless they did not reach him. Thus in Psa. 33:7<\/span> we may detect the response to Psa. 33:6<\/span>. The earlier verse said Let him pray: in the later verse he does pray, and we seem to hear Hezekiah crying unto Jehovah, and promising at the close of his petitions the very thing that he promised more explicitly in Isa. 38:20<\/span>. To complete the entwining of these bonds of connection between the two psalms, and Isaiah, it may be observed how admirably Psa. 33:10-11<\/span> compares with Isa. 8:10<\/span>; Isa. 14:24-27<\/span>; Isa. 46:10<\/span>.<\/p>\n

To the reader who has grounded himself carefully in the text of these psalms, and has also grasped the illuminating connection between the two, little more assistance need be offered than a few brief notes on the successive groups of verses as they are rapidly passed in review.<\/p>\n

Psa. 32:1-4<\/span> (Psalms 32<\/span>). The great thing here is to ponder well the undoubted truth, that unforgiven sin must sooner or later be punished. Second only to this, is the reflection, that unconfessed sin cannot be forgiven. It follows that all Divine chastisements, whichfalling short of capital punishmentare fitted to lead to the confessing and forsaking of sin, are administered in mercy, whatever instruments are used to inflict them. How much misery might be spared us, if we would sooner humbly confess our transgressions!<\/p>\n

Psa. 32:5-6<\/span>. If sin can be pardoned, every other mercy may be hoped for and be made a subject of prayer. Hence the opening clause of Psa. 32:6<\/span> is perhaps wider than For thisnamely forgiveness. Rather does it suggest: That the man whose heart is touched by the Divine kindness may embolden himself to pray that a pardoning God would become a delivering God. In passing, we may note how well the various reading distress in Psa. 32:6<\/span> prepares for the distress of Psa. 32:7<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Psa. 32:7<\/span>. To perceive in this verse a response to the appeal of the previous, is to discover a reason for its abruptness and brevity. It is graphic: neither advice to pray, nor promise, but PRAYER. As already suggested: it seemed like Hezekiahs practical response to David. What is stanzistical uniformity, compared with such tokens of life?<\/p>\n

Psa. 32:8-9<\/span> are surely (with Kirkpatrick) Jehovahs words rather than (with Delitzsch and Perowne) the psalmists. The reference to horse and mule seems to say, Let us beware of becoming brutish, lest Divine Pity have to deal with us sternly.<\/p>\n

Psa. 32:10-11<\/span>. The lawless one reminds us of Rabshakeh Psa. 1:1<\/span> note, Psa. 9:17<\/span>, and he that trusteth in Jehovah of Hezekiah (2Ki. 18:5<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Psa. 33:1-5<\/span> (Psalms 33<\/span>). Jehovah is no tribal God, as men sometimes mistakenly say: With the kindness of Jehovah, the earth, and not merely the land of Israel, is full; for this alone leads on to what follows.<\/p>\n

Psa. 33:6-9<\/span>. Creation is wide as the earth, and furnishes reason why all the world should revere Jehovah, who, as Hezekiah delights to tell us (Psa. 121:2<\/span>; Psa. 134:3<\/span>) is Maker of heaven and earth.<\/p>\n

Psa. 33:10-12<\/span>. Nevertheless vain are the counsels of the other nations, when directed against the nation whom Jehovah has chosen as his own inheritance.<\/p>\n

Psa. 33:13-17<\/span>. Far from neglecting the nations, Jehovah severely discounts their trust in brute force.<\/p>\n

Psa. 33:18-22<\/span>. He has a watchful regard for all who in any nation revere him; but happy are they who know him and trust him. So sings one of a remnant who can speak from experience of what Jehovah has done for their own soul: knowing what they do, they long, they rejoice, they trust, they pray they wait!<\/p>\n

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.<\/p>\n

Paul felt the teaching of this psalm was very much a part of the joys of a Christian. Read Rom. 4:6-8<\/span> and discuss; both as the psalm relates to David and as the truth relates to each of us.<\/p>\n

2.<\/p>\n

Notice the fourfold description of evil. Discuss the meaning of these four words: (1) transgression, (2) sin, (3) iniquity, (4) guile.<\/p>\n

3.<\/p>\n

When we will not admit, confess and forsake our sin a terrible payment is exacted in our personalityin our physical bodiesin our minds. Discuss. Read Psa. 32:3-4<\/span>.<\/p>\n

4.<\/p>\n

What therapeutic value is there in confessing our sins one to another? (Jas. 5:16<\/span>); or should this be only a confession to God?<\/p>\n

5.<\/p>\n

After we are forgiven we have a deep sense of securityrelief, but our relationship to God does not end here; we are not to be like a horse or mulehow so? Discuss.<\/p>\n

Psalms 33<\/span><\/p>\n

6.<\/p>\n

Are we to understand by verses one through three of this psalm that it is possible that a Hebrew without Christ had such joy in his heart that he actually expressed it in the manner here described? Discuss.<\/p>\n

7.<\/p>\n

How can it be true that of the kindness of Jehovah the earth is full or the earth is full of His tender love.?<\/p>\n

8.<\/p>\n

Hallowed be Thy name! This was the first thought in the prayer of our Lord. When we consider the creation of our God is there any other response?<\/p>\n

9.<\/p>\n

Jehovah is not only the God of creationHe is the God of history. Read and discuss Psa. 33:10<\/span> through 19 with this thought.<\/p>\n

10.<\/p>\n

There is a way to be glad and have the highest hope. Read Psa. 33:20-22<\/span> for the divine formula. Make specific application of this to your life.<\/p>\n

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

(1) Rejoice.<\/strong>A common hymnic word, meaning properly to shout, or sing for joy.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

1<\/strong>. <\/strong> Praise is comely <\/strong> It is suitable, fit, pleasant. A call upon the righteous for loud rejoicing.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

1). The Introductory Call to Praise (1-3).<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a call to make a loud noise so that all may know that they are praising YHWH and giving Him thanks, using every means at their command.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:1-3<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

‘Sing aloud in YHWH, O you righteous,<\/p>\n

Praise is comely for the upright.’<\/p>\n

Give thanks to YHWH with the harp,<\/p>\n

Sing praises to him with the psaltery of ten strings.<\/p>\n

Sing to him a new song,<\/p>\n

Play skilfully with a loud noise.’<\/p>\n

Once again it is the righteous and upright who are called on to give praise and thanks to YHWH, and to sing aloud and make a loud noise. Indeed for the upright it is ‘comely’ (seemly, beautiful) to do so. He is to be praised in every way possible. There can be no true participation in His worship by those who are not upright and righteous, at least in intent. Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.<\/p>\n

Note the musical instruments that are called into play, the harp and the ten-stringed guitar. They are to use them without restraint in His praise. And they are to sing a new song, compare Rev 5:9<\/span>; Rev 14:3<\/span>, because He is continually doing new things for them.. Indeed the idea that the people of God should continually be creating new songs in response to His new mercies is common in Scripture. See Psa 40:3<\/span>; Psa 96:1<\/span>; Psa 98:1<\/span>; Psa 149:1<\/span>; Isa 42:10<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Psalms 33<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Structure – Psalms 33<\/span><\/em><\/strong> declares God’s sovereignty in all things:<\/p>\n

God’s sovereignty in creation (Psa 33:6-9<\/span>).<\/p>\n

God’s sovereignty in history (Psa 33:10-17<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Psa 33:9<\/strong><\/span> For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:9<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> “he commanded, and it stood fast” <\/strong> Comments – <\/em><\/strong> In the first chapter of Genesis, the Hebrew verbs are in the imperative when God speaks to His creation. Thus, when God spoke, He literally commanded, as this Psalm declares. Note similar verses:<\/p>\n

Psa 148:5<\/span>, “Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created .”<\/p>\n

Isa 45:12<\/span>, “I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded .”<\/p>\n

Psa 33:10<\/strong><\/span>  The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. <\/p>\n

Psa 33:11<\/strong><\/span><\/strong>  The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. <\/p>\n

Psa 33:10-11<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> <\/strong> Illustration – <\/em><\/strong> In Mat 26:5<\/span> the Jewish leaders were determined to control the outcome of the death of the Son of God. The Jewish people had just honored Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem by crying “Hosanna to the Son of David” (Mat 21:8-9<\/span>) The crowds were willing to accept Him as their new king. Although the Jewish leaders wanted to kill Jesus quietly without the notice of the people, they had not yet factored in the betrayal of Judas Iscariot, which Matthew adds to the plot in Mat 26:14-16<\/span>. When Judas presented himself to the Jewish leaders, they were subject to the time of this betrayal, which took place during the festive days in Jerusalem. It was necessary that prophecy by fulfilled and that the Passover Lamb of God be sacrificed on the Day of Atonement. While the Jewish leaders believed they were organizing this most wicked scheme of all humanity, God was taking control of its outcome for redemptive reasons according to Pro 16:9<\/span>, “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps,” and Pro 19:21<\/span>, “There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.”<\/p>\n

Scripture References – <\/em><\/strong> Note:<\/p>\n

Pro 16:9<\/span>, “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.”<\/p>\n

Pro 19:21<\/span>, “There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.”<\/p>\n

Psa 33:16-17<\/strong><\/span> <\/strong> Scripture References – <\/em><\/strong> Note: <\/p>\n

Pro 21:31<\/span>, “The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD.”<\/p>\n

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

<\/p>\n

Praise to the Ruler of the World as the Protector of His People. <\/p>\n

<\/strong> This entire psalm is a call to lively and joyful praise of God for His wonderful and glorious attributes and works, as displayed in creation, and of His general and special providence, in view of which the psalmist, in the name of all believers, professes trust and joy and invokes God’s mercy. <\/p>\n

v. 1. Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous,<\/strong> those justified by the grace of God; for praise is comely,<\/strong> fitting, proper, for the upright,<\/strong> it is both their duty and their honor to praise the Lord; for silence on their part would be equivalent to a denial of His blessings. <\/p>\n

v. 2. Praise the Lord with harp,<\/strong> a kind of zither; sing unto Him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings,<\/strong> a ten-stringed harp or lute, which was also used in the Temple orchestra. <\/p>\n

v. 3. Sing unto Him a new song,<\/strong> one especially adapted to the occasion; play skillfully with a loud noise,<\/strong> with a vim, showing the eagerness of the heart to praise the glory of Jehovah in a song never heard before. <\/p>\n

v. 4. For the Word of the Lord is right,<\/strong> upright, true, not full of mistakes and contradictions; and all His works are done in truth,<\/strong> in faithfulness, the fulfillment always agreeing with His promises. <\/p>\n

v. 5. He loveth righteousness and judgment;<\/strong> He delights to show these attributes of His divine essence. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord,<\/strong> of the many proofs of His kindness. <\/p>\n

v. 6. By the Word of the Lord,<\/strong> the great Word which was in the beginning with God, Joh 1:1-3<\/span>, were the heavens made,<\/strong> Pro 8:22-30<\/span>; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth,<\/strong> by the power of His Spirit, the reference obviously being to the third person of the Trinity. <\/p>\n

v. 7. He,<\/strong> the Triune God, gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap,<\/strong> the mighty ocean being firmly held together by the almighty power of Jehovah ; He layeth up the depths in storehouses,<\/strong> assigning to the vast extent of the ocean waters their place where they must stay. <\/p>\n

v. 8. Let all the earth,<\/strong> even the inanimate creatures, fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world,<\/strong> especially men, who are endowed with reason and sense, stand in awe of Him,<\/strong> with a reverence verging on fear. <\/p>\n

v. 9. For He spake,<\/strong> with the almighty word of His command, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. <\/strong> The reference is plainly to the story of creation: God said, Let there be; and there was, Genesis 1. God is furthermore to be praised on account of His almighty rule of the universe. <\/p>\n

v. 10. The Lord bringeth the counsel to the heathen to naught,<\/strong> making void their plans as actually devised; He maketh the devices of the people,<\/strong> the very thoughts and intentions of their hearts, of none effect,<\/strong> thus frustrating their wickedness. <\/p>\n

v. 11. The counsel of the Lord standeth forever,<\/strong> in contrast with the vain counsels and thoughts of men, the thoughts of His heart to all generations,<\/strong> abiding forever. <\/p>\n

v. 12. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,<\/strong> Jehovah, as their Ruler, being also their greatest treasure; and the people whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance,<\/strong> as was the case in Israel at the time of David, the spiritual Israel, the Church of God, being His heritage in the highest sense of the word. <\/p>\n

v. 13. The Lord,<\/strong> as the great Ruler of the universe, looketh from heaven,<\/strong> with the eyes of His omniscience; He beholdeth all the sons of men,<\/strong> not one being hidden from His knowledge. <\/p>\n

v. 14. From the place of His habitation He looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth,<\/strong> all their deeds being open to His gaze. <\/p>\n

v. 15. He fashioneth their hearts alike,<\/strong> He is the Former of their hearts all at once, both in the creation of each soul and in forming the thoughts of the heart under His providence; He considereth all their works,<\/strong> understanding exactly how they put their plans into execution. <\/p>\n

v. 16. There is no king saved by the multitude of an host,<\/strong> no matter what display of strength and arms he may make; a mighty man is not delivered by much strength,<\/strong> all this is useless without God. <\/p>\n

v. 17. An horse is a vain thing for safety,<\/strong> for a man to rely on; neither shall He deliver any by His great strength;<\/strong> as it is a delusion for help and victory, so it will disappoint him who absolutely relies upon it to carry him to safety. All this is subject to God’s government. <\/p>\n

v. 18. Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear Him,<\/strong> the entire purpose of the world and of His government is realized in them, upon them that hope in His mercy,<\/strong> putting aside all trust in themselves; <\/p>\n

v. 19. to deliver their soul from death,<\/strong> sustaining them in all dangers which threaten their life, and to keep them alive in famine. <\/strong> These facts being set forth, the psalmist makes the application to the Church of God of all times. <\/p>\n

v. 20. Our soul waiteth for the Lord,<\/strong> trusting firmly in His help, no matter when it is manifested; He is our Help and our Shield. <\/p>\n

v. 21. For our heart shall rejoice in Him because we have trusted in His holy name,<\/strong> as the foundation of their faith, love, and hope, from which all salvation comes. <\/p>\n

v. 22. Let Thy mercy, O Lord,<\/strong> which alone gives the believers the courage to invoke the Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in Thee,<\/strong> their confident waiting and trusting and the divine answer being correlates. In this way the attitude of hope and trust is the attitude of the Church in all ages, sustained by the Word of God’s grace. <\/p>\n

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

EXPOSITION<\/strong><\/p>\n

THIS<\/strong> psalm has no title in the Hebrew, and in some manuscripts it is joined on to the preceding psalm, and forms one with it. But the difference of subject-matter and of tone render it highly improbable that that arrangement is the correct one. The two psalms are best regarded as wholly separate compositions, though the writer of the present one took for his key-note the last verse of Psa 32:1-11<\/span>. The Septuagint makes David the author, but with no support from the Hebrew. An author in the reign of Asa or Jehoshaphat, and again one in the reign of Josiah, has been suggested, but the psalm itself scarcely gives a hint towards fixing the date.<\/p>\n

As a simple psalm of praise and thanksgiving, intended for the service of the temple, it is well worthy of admiration, being “singularly bright, and replete with beautiful imagery” (‘Speaker’s Commentary’). Metrically, it consists of six strophes, the first and last containing three verses each, and the intermediate ones each four verses.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:1<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous<\/strong> (see the first clause of Psa 32:11<\/span>, of which this is almost a repetition; and comp. also Psa 68:3<\/span>; Psa 97:12<\/span>). For<\/strong> praise is comely for the upright. <\/strong>The Prayer-book Version gives the meaning, less literally, but in more idiomatic English, “For it becometh well the just to be thankful.”<\/p>\n

Psa 33:2<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Praise the Lord with harp<\/strong>. The <\/strong>harp obtains mention here for the first time in the Psalms. Reference, however, had been made to it previously in Genesis, Job, and the First Book of Samuel. There is reason to believe that the instrument, as known to the Hebrews, was a simple one, consisting of a nearly triangular framework of wood, crossed by seven strings. The Egyptians were acquainted from early times with a very much more elaborate instrumentharps which stood six feet high upon a broad base of their own, and had as many as twenty-two strings. The harp was regarded by the Hebrews as peculiarly fitted for sacred music (see 1Sa 10:5; 2Sa 6:5<\/span>; 1Ch 15:16<\/span>; 1Ch 25:1, 1Ch 25:3<\/span>, 1Ch 25:6<\/span>; 2Ch 5:12; 2Ch 29:25<\/span>; Neh 12:27<\/span>, etc.). Sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings<\/strong>; rather, sing unto him with the lute of ten strings. <\/em>One instrument only is here mentioneda lute or psaltery (nebel<\/em>), <\/em>having ten strings (comp. Psa 92:3<\/span>; Psa 144:9<\/span>). The nebel <\/em>was an instrument differing from the harp chiefly in the arrangement of the strings. It was used in the temple service, as appears from 1Ch 15:6<\/span>, 1Ch 15:28; 1Ch 25:1<\/span>, 1Ch 25:6<\/span>; 2Ch 5:12; 2Ch 29:25<\/span>, etc.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:3<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sing unto him a new song<\/strong> (comp. <\/strong>Psa 40:3<\/span>; Psa 96:1<\/span>; Psa 98:1<\/span>; Isa 42:10<\/span>; Rev 5:9<\/span>; Rev 14:3<\/span>). Not necessarily a song unheard before, but one fresh from the singer’s heart. Play skilfully with a loud noise.<\/strong> The loudness of a thanksgiving song was regarded as an indication of its heartiness (comp. Psa 98:4<\/span>; Psa 100:1<\/span>; Psa 150:5<\/span>; and see also 2Ch 20:19<\/span>; 2Ch 30:21<\/span>; Ezr 3:11-13<\/span>; Neh 12:42<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Psa 33:4<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The psalmist proceeds to give reasons why God is to be praised, and puts in the forefront this reason: For the word of the lord is right; i.e.<\/em> the revealed will of God is exactly in accord with the eternal rule of right. We cannot imagine it otherwise, for God would contradict his own nature, if he ordained by a positive law anything contrary to that rule. But still we maybe thankful that there is no such contradictionthat “the Law is holy, just, and good” (Rom 7:12<\/span>). And all his works are done in truth<\/strong> (comp. Psa 111:7<\/span>, Psa 111:8<\/span>, “The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and equity”). All God’s working (), all his dealings with his creatures have truth and equity and faithfulness for their basis. He can be thoroughly trusted. This is a second and very strong ground for thanksgiving.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:5<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

He loveth righteousness and judgment<\/strong>. “Righteousness” is the essential principle of justice; “judgment,” the carrying out of the principle in act. God loves botha further ground for praising him. The earth is full of the goodness (or, loving<\/em>–kindness<\/em>) <\/em><\/strong>of the Lord<\/strong> (comp. Psa 119:64<\/span>). The earth is full, not only of God’s glory (Isa 6:3<\/span>) and of his riches (Psa 104:24<\/span>), but also of his mercy, or loving-kindness ()a ground of thankfulness that all will acknowledge.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:6<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

By the word of the Lord were the heavens made. <\/strong>God is to be praised, not only for his goodness, but also for his greatness, and especially for his greatness in creation (see Psa 19:1-6<\/span>). The heavens were made “by his word” in a double senseby the Word, who is the Second Person of the Trinity (Joh 1:3<\/span>; Heb 1:2<\/span>, Heb 1:10<\/span>), and by a mere utterance, without the employment of any mechanical means, as we learn from Genesis 16-18. And all the host of them by the breath of his mouth<\/strong>. The “host of heaven” is here, undoubtedly, the host of heavenly bodiesthe sun, moon, and starsas in Gen 2:1<\/span>. These were made “by the breath of God’s mouth;” i.e.<\/em> by his simple utterance of the command”Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven, to divide the day from the night” (Gen 1:14<\/span>; comp. Job 26:13<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Psa 33:7<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap<\/strong>. An allusion to Gen 1:8<\/span>, but with a glance also at Exo 15:8<\/span> and Jos 3:13-16<\/span>; as if the original gathering, and continued retention, of the sea in one convex mass were as great a proof of omnipotence as the miracles related in those passages. Nes<\/em> (), “a heap” occurs only in the places cited, here, and in Psa 78:13<\/span>. He layeth up the depth in storehouses<\/strong>; literally, the<\/em> deeps. The waters of the great deep are regarded as stored up by the Almighty in the hugo cavities of the ocean bed for his own use, to be employed at some time or other in carrying out his purposes (comp. Gen 7:11<\/span> and Job 38:22<\/span>, Job 38:23<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Psa 33:8-11<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

From the exhortation in Psa 33:1<\/span>, addressed to the righteous, to praise <\/em>the Lord, the psalmist passes now to a second exhortation, addressed to all mankind, to fear<\/em> the Lord. <\/em>And as before in Psa 33:4-7<\/span>, so now in veto. 9-11, he assigns reasons. God is to be feared<\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> on account of the power which he showed in creation (Psa 33:9<\/span>);<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> on account of his ability to baffle all human counsels that are opposed to him (Psa 33:10<\/span>); and<\/p>\n

(3)<\/strong> on account of the unehangeableness and perpetuity of his own counsels, which nothing can alter (Psa 33:11<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Psa 33:8<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Let all the earth<\/strong> fear the Lord. <\/strong>The righteous alone have a right to “praise” God (see Psa 33:1<\/span>), but “all the earth”i.e.<\/em> all mankindmay be called upon to “fear” him. He is an object of awe and true “godly fear” to godly men; to the ungodly he is an object of terror and servile fear. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. Here again, as so often, the second hemistich merely echoes the first.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:9<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

For he spake, and it was done<\/strong>; rather, and it was<\/em>; the thing of which he spake at once existed. See the passage of Genesis which Longinus thought so striking an instance of the sublime, “And God said, Let there be light; and there was light” (Gen 1:8<\/span>). He commanded, and it stood fast<\/strong>; literally, and it stood<\/em>. God’s lightest word, once uttered, is a standing law, to which nature absolutely conforms, and man ought to conform (comp. Psa 119:90<\/span>, Psa 119:91<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Psa 33:10<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought<\/strong>; literally, frustrates the counsel of the heathen<\/em>, causes <\/em>it to fail (see 2Ki 6:8-12<\/span>; Dan 6:5-28<\/span>). He maketh the devices of the peoplerather, <\/strong>the peoples<\/em>of none effect. Another instance of the mere repetition of a thought in other words.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:11<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations<\/strong>; or, the thoughts of his <\/em>heartthe same word as in the latter clause of the preceding verse. The contrast is made as complete as possible. Human counsels and devices fail and come to nought, the Divine counsels and devices abide, stand fast, and remain firm for ever (comp. Pro 19:21<\/span>; Isa 25:1<\/span>; Jas 1:17<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Psa 33:12-19<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Further reasons for praising God are now assigned, the recitation of them being itself a sort of praise.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. God has Blessed especially one nationthe nation now called upon to praise him (Psa 33:12<\/span>). <\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. His providence and care are extended over all mankind (Psa 33:13<\/span>, Psa 33:14<\/span>). <\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. His gracious influences are poured out on the hearts of all (Psa 33:15<\/span>). <\/p>\n

4<\/strong>. He is the sole Protector and Deliverer of men from danger and death (Psa 33:16-19<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Psa 33:12<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord<\/strong> (comp. Psa 144:15<\/span>). In other words, “Blessed is the people of Israel.” Other nations did not know God as Jehovahthe Self-existent Oneor, indeed, as a general rule, recognize any one and only God. And the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance<\/strong>. The intrusion of the word “and” is unfortunate. One “nation” or “people” only is spoken of, viz. the Hebrews. They are “blessed” in two respects: first, because they know God as Jehovah; and secondly, because he has chosen them out of all the nations of the earth to be his “peculiar people” (see Exo 19:5<\/span>; Deu 4:20<\/span>; Deu 7:6<\/span>; Deu 14:2<\/span>; 1Ki 8:53<\/span>; Psa 135:4<\/span>, etc.).<\/p>\n

Psa 33:13<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men<\/strong> (comp. Psa 11:4<\/span> : Psa 14:2<\/span>; Psa 102:19<\/span>). God’s having any care at all for man is a wondrous condescension, and so worthy of all praise; his having regard to all menall the frail sons of weak and sinful Adamis still more wonderful, still more deserving of eulogy.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:14<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

From the place of his habitation<\/strong> (i.e. <\/em>heaven) he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth<\/strong>. A repetition of the thought expressed in Psa 33:13<\/span> for the sake of emphasis.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:15<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

He fashioneth their hearts alike<\/strong>; rather, he mouldeth the hearts of them all. <\/em>The hearts of all men are in God’s keeping, and his gracious influences are exerted to “mould” them aright. Some hearts are too stubborn to yield themselves up to his fashioning, and refuse to take the impress which he desires to impart; but all, or almost all, owe it to him that they are not worse than they are. He considereth all their works<\/strong>; rather, he understandeth all their <\/em>worksestimates, i.e; <\/em>all they do at its just value, knowing the true nature of each act, its motive, aim, essence.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:16<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

There is no king saved by the multitude of an host<\/strong>; literally, the king is not saved by the greatness of his host. <\/em>The article, however, is used generically, as it is with “horse” in the next verse, so that the translation of the Authorized Version gives the true sense. (For illustration of the sentiment, see 2Ch 14:11<\/span>; 1<\/span> Macc. 3:19.) A mighty man is not delivered by much strength<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:17<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

A horse is a vain thing for safety<\/strong>; literally, the horse<\/em>; i.e.<\/em> the species, horse, is not to be depended on for safetyit is “a vain thing,” quite unable to secure victory, or even escape, to those who trust in it. The use of the horse in war seems certainly to be implied here as familiar to the writer, whence it is rightly concluded that he must have lived later than the time of David. Solomon was the first Israelite king who enrolled a chariot and a cavalry force (1Ki 10:26<\/span>). Neither shall he deliver any by his great strength<\/strong>. (On the “great strength” of the horse, see Job 39:19<\/span>; Psa 147:10<\/span>.)<\/p>\n

Psa 33:18<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Behold, the eye of the Lord <\/strong>is upon them that fear him; upon them that hope in his mercy<\/strong>. The eye of the Lord is in a certain sense upon all (Psa 33:13<\/span>, Psa 33:14<\/span>), but it rests especially upon the righteous. He notes how all men act, but carefully watches over the safety and prosperity of his faithful ones<\/p>\n

Psa 33:19<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

To deliver their soul from death<\/strong>. The protection and deliverance, which a man’s own strength cannot give, which no host, however numerous, can afford (Psa 33:16<\/span>), which are not to be obtained from the largest chariot or cavalry force (Psa 33:17<\/span>), can he and will be furnished freely by God, who alone keeps souls from death, and “delivers” those who are in peril. And to keep them alive in famine<\/strong>. Famine was a calamity from which Palestine often suffered (see Gen 12:10<\/span>; Gen 26:1<\/span>; Gen 42:5<\/span>; Rth 1:1<\/span>; 2Sa 21:1; 1Ki 18:5<\/span>; 2Ki 8:1<\/span>, etc.). The righteous were sometimes “kept alive” through a time of famine by miraculous means (1Ki 17:6<\/span>, 1Ki 17:16<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Psa 33:20-22<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

A brief address of the people to God, arising out of what has been declared concerning his goodness (Psa 33:4<\/span>, Psa 33:5<\/span>, Psa 33:12-19<\/span>) and his power (Psa 33:6-11<\/span>), which constitute a call upon them for praise and adoration. <\/p>\n

Psa 33:20<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Our soul waiteth for the Lord <\/strong>(comp. Psa 25:21<\/span>; Psa 62:1<\/span>, Psa 62:5<\/span>; Psa 130:5<\/span>, Psa 130:6<\/span>, etc.). Confident in God’s good will, and in his power to help us, we wait patiently and cheerfully for him to manifest himself in his own good time. He is our Help and our Shield<\/strong>. We trust in no one and nothing but himnot in armies (Psa 33:16<\/span>), not in horses (Psa 33:17<\/span>), not in our own strength (Psa 33:16<\/span>). He alone is our dependence. (For the use of the metaphor “shield” for defence, see Psa 5:12<\/span>; Psa 18:2<\/span>; Psa 28:7<\/span>; Psa 91:4<\/span>; Psa 119:114<\/span>, etc.)<\/p>\n

Psa 33:21<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in<\/strong> his holy Name <\/strong>(comp. Psa 13:5<\/span>, where the sentiment is the same). Trust in God secures his help, and this brings the deliverance at <\/strong>which the heart rejoices.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:22<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according<\/strong> as we hope in thee. <\/strong>The <\/strong>measure of men’s hope and trust in God is the measure of his mercy and goodness to them. Those who are assured that they have a full trust in him may confidently expect a fall and complete deliverance. Thus, “according as”is emphatic.<\/p>\n

HOMILETICS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Psa 33:1-3<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

(First sermon.)<\/p>\n

Spiritual worship.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Rejoice,” etc. Worship is worthless if it be not spiritual. “God is a Spirit,” etc. (Joh 4:24<\/span>). But worship simply spiritual, with no outward expression, no material symbol, would not suffice man’s nature. Man is not spirit only; he is also flesh. His eye, ear, voice, nerves, brain, are as much God’s work as his spirit. The worship he owes to God is that of his whole naturebody, soul, and spirit. Spiritual life cannot live on public worship only. There are chambers in the temple of the soul which are secret from every eye but God’s. “Thou, when thou prayest,” etc. (Mat 6:6<\/span>). But if public worship alone will not satisfy our religious need, neither will secret worship. Man’s nature is social. Even in sorrow, though we may shrink from company, we like sympathy to follow us into our solitude. But joy naturally seeks partners, longs to express itself, is sociable, outspoken, and sympathetic. Hence public worship is not an artificial contrivance, such as warm, vigorous piety can afford to dispense with or despise; it is the natural and fitting outcome of spiritual life, and one of the most powerful means for its nourishment. It is indispensable, and the full, complete exercise of Christian fellowship. Let us speak of the reasons and motives which make praise alike a duty and a privilege.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> GOODNESS<\/strong> AND<\/strong> FAITHFULNESS<\/strong> OF<\/strong> GOD<\/strong>. (Psa 33:4<\/span>, Psa 33:5<\/span>.) Characteristic of Bible to place moral attributes <\/em>in the foreground, as chief reason for “rejoicing in the Lord.<\/em>“ <\/em>A poet would have put first (what here comes second) the splendour and variety of God’s works. A philosopher, the infinity, eternity, absolute existence of God. Scripture puts that first which at once concerns us most, and is God’s highest gloryhis character.<\/em><\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> GLORY<\/strong> OF<\/strong> GOD<\/strong> IN<\/strong> CREATION<\/strong>. His all-wise design and all-powerful willboth included in “the word of the Lord” (Psa 33:6-9<\/span>).<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> GOD<\/strong>‘S ALL<\/strong>–EMBRACING<\/strong> PROVIDENCE<\/strong>. Controlling all human affairs; baffling and making void, when he sees fit, all human counsels; creating, reading, ruling the minds of men (Psa 33:10-15<\/span>).<\/p>\n

IV.<\/strong> GOD<\/strong>‘S SPECIAL<\/strong> CARE<\/strong> AND<\/strong> MERCY<\/strong> TOWARDS<\/strong> HIS<\/strong> PEOPLE<\/strong>. Those who love and trust him (Psa 33:16-22<\/span>). This is contrasted with the vanity of earthly power (Psa 33:16<\/span>, Psa 33:17<\/span>). Yet, in this boundless prospect, the highest, deepest, strongest reason for praise is not included. To the Old Testament saints the veil still hung before the holy of holies. The Holy Spirit gave them the hope and promise of things as yet hid in mystery (Mat 13:16<\/span>, Mat 13:17<\/span>; Eph 3:5<\/span>; 1Jn 4:10<\/span>). This is the main theme of the worship of heaven (Rev 5:9<\/span>, Rev 5:12<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Only as we have received Christ into our hearts can we “rejoice in the Lord<\/em>“ <\/em>as our God and Father. Only thus is our worship a preparation for heaven.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:1-3<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

(second sermon.)<\/p>\n

Methods of worship.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The forms of temple-worship to which this psalm refers were unsuited to the Christian Church, because the gospel leaves no room for a central holy place on earth. The heavenly sanctuary is open to faith, and the whole world has become like the court of God’s temple (Heb 9:8<\/span>, Heb 9:24<\/span>; Joh 4:21<\/span>, Joh 4:23<\/span>). But as our reasons for praising God are not less, but infinitely more, than the Old Testament saints knew, so Christian worship should not fall below, but rise above theirs. Here are three characters which it should possess:<\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> outward as well as spiritual<\/em>;<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> hearty and joyful<\/em>;<\/p>\n

(3)<\/strong> collective and public<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> OUTWARD<\/strong> AS<\/strong> WELL<\/strong> AS<\/strong> SPIRITUAL<\/strong>. All strong emotion seeks and prompts utterance. For grief, because it is often solitary and speechless, God has provided the silent language of tears (sometimes, too, for joy, when too big for words). But the impulse of joy is to shout and sing. Examples: A troop of children when school is over; victors in a race or game; multitude welcoming a sovereign. From the beginning of the gospel, vocal praise, the worship of song, has had a place of honour in the Christian Church (Eph 5:19<\/span>; Col 3:16<\/span>; Act 16:25<\/span>). What would heaven be without it (Rev 14:2<\/span>; Rev 15:3<\/span>)? God might have given language without song; voice and hearing without music. Man alone of living creatures can produce music <\/em>(for the song of birds is not music. That some birds can be taught tunes proves that they can perceive <\/em>music, but they have no power to produce <\/em>it). It is one of God’s choicest gifts, and its highest use is in his praise.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> HEARTY<\/strong> AND<\/strong> JOYFUL<\/strong>, “With a loud noise.” The word here used is elsewhere translated “shout<\/em>” (Num 23:21<\/span>). Also used for the sound of the trumpet (comp. Psa 98:4-6<\/span>). Does the value of our praise, then, depend on its noisings? Is God pleased, or man made devout, by noise and shouting? Certainly not. What these passages teach is heartiness <\/em>in praise. We should throw our soul as well as our voice into it. Drawling languor, indolent affectation, mumbling negligence, should be utterly banished. To be silent, except from infirmity (as lack of ear or voice), in God’s praise, should be held a disgrace. If “do it heartily” (Col 3:23<\/span>) applies to any duty, surely to this.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> COLLECTIVE<\/strong> AND<\/strong> PUBLIC<\/strong>. When the Apostles Peter and John returned “to <\/em>their own company,” after their noble testimony before the Sanhedrin, we read that “they lifted up their voice to God with one accord” (Act 4:24<\/span>). Not “their voices,” but “their voice,” which must mean either that one spoke for the rest, or that they joined in holy song; for in music many voices become one. Accordingly, what follows may well be regarded as a psalm of praise and prayer, in which one prophet led and the rest joined in chorus. It is a very significant fact, that neither in the Jewish temple nor in ancient heathen temples was there harmony <\/em>in our sense of the word. The full, rich blending of the four kinds of voice, each in its part, is an art for which the world may thank the Church.<\/p>\n

The duty and privilege of praise is one chief lesson of the whole Book of Psalms. It draws to a close, as if with the unrisen sunlight of the new covenant shining on it, with exhortations to universal praise (Psa 148:12<\/span>; Psa 150:6<\/span>). This part of public worship, thereforepraiseas one of the noblest duties and highest privileges of Christians, is the concern of the whole Church; not to be left to a handful of choristers or a specially excellent voice here and there. Preparation intelligently and harmoniously to join in psalmody should be part of Christian education. Hearty, skilful, joyful, sympathetic psalmody is no mean part of our education for heaven.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:6<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Creation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“By the word of the Lord,” etc. The Apostle Peter, warning us against applying our hasty reckonings to God’s dealings, reminds us that “one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” This he puts in conjunction with the fact that “by the word of the Lord the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water,” and with the declaration that “the heavens and earth which are now, by the same word are <\/em>kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment” (2Pe 3:5-8<\/span>). In like manner St. Paul speaks of the Son of God, “by whom also he made the worlds,” as “upholding<\/em> all things by the word <\/em>of his power” (Heb 1:2<\/span>, Heb 1:3<\/span>). God’s creative word <\/em>is no momentary fiat<\/em>, <\/em>but a fixed and lasting power and purpose, of which it may be said, as of his written truth, “The Word of God liveth and abideth for ever” (1Pe 1:23<\/span>, 1Pe 1:24<\/span>).<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> WORD<\/strong> OF<\/strong> COMMAND<\/strong>; i.e.<\/em> the putting forth of Divine will<\/em> and power. <\/em>The fact of creation stands in the forefront of Bible teaching. The existence<\/em> of God is never treated in Scripture as needing argument or proof; it is assumed, as self-evident to every sane and intelligent mind. The starting-point, therefore, of Bible teaching is that all things owe their origin to his will and power. “In the hennaing,” etc. (Gen 1:1<\/span>). All other being has its being in him (Act 17:24<\/span>, Act 17:28<\/span>). Scientific men tell us there is a perpetual dissipation of energy <\/em>in the universal frame of things; q.d<\/em>. that all the forces of nature are constantly tending to change into heat<\/em>, <\/em>and heat is constantly passing away and wasting itself in infinite space. If so, it cannot fly beyond God’s presence and control. The unfathomable fountain of all force, physical and spiritual, is with him. He who made all things “in the beginning” can, when he pleases, “make all things new” (Psa 119:89-91<\/span>).<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> WORD<\/strong> OF<\/strong> WISDOM<\/strong>. All man’s most laborious discoverieswhat he calls his science<\/em>consist in slowly finding out the truths embodied in God’s works. The great astronomer Kepler, enraptured with the wonderful results his calculations revealed, exclaimed, “O God, I think thy thoughts after thee!” Mathematics, astronomy, chemistryall the sciencesteach us portions of that Divine wisdom on which nature rests. Much of man’s wisdom and progress consists in finding out his mistakes. New inventions are superseded by newer. Theories which one generation regards as the most advanced truths, the next generation treats as obsolete and exploded. But the lapse of time brings to light no mistakes, no miscalculations or oversights, in God’s work. The history of the past, as far as we can decipher it, shows perpetual progress, but progress for which preparation was made at the very beginning.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> Therefore it is the WORD<\/strong> OF<\/strong> DIVINE<\/strong> FAITHFULNESS<\/strong>. (1Pe 4:19<\/span>.) These threecommanding power<\/em>, <\/em>foreseeing wisdom<\/em>, <\/em>unchanging faithfulness<\/em>make <\/em>up together the great idea of law. <\/em>The laws of nature are the laws of God” the word of the Lord.” The constancy of nature is the image (because the result) of Divine unchangeableness (Jer 31:35<\/span>, Jer 31:36<\/span>; Jer 33:20<\/span>).<\/p>\n

INFERENCES<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. There can be no real opposition between faith and science. Men may misunderstand Scripture or misinterpret nature; but one part of God’s truth cannot contradict another.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. The study of God’s works is a religious and Christian duty (measured, of course, by opportunity and ability). The New Testament teaches that the glory of creation is the glory of Christ (Joh 1:3<\/span>; Col 1:16<\/span>; Heb 1:2<\/span>). If many students of science are atheists or sceptics, that is their fault or their calamity. Nature is full of God.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. The more we study the revelation of God in nature, the more we are struck with its silence as to what we most need to knowwhat only the gospel reveals. “The heavens declare the glory <\/em>of God,” but not his grace. <\/em>Is there a God who created all things? Is he almighty, all-wise, good, bountiful, patient, just, unchangeable? Nature, with innumerable voices, cries aloud, “Yes!” But is he merciful to sinners? Will he pardon the breakers of his laws? Is there atonement for sin; forgiveness; restoration; eternal life? Nature is silent. The Bible alone answers these questions (Exo 34:6<\/span>, Exo 34:7; 2Co 5:19<\/span>, 2Co 5:21<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Psa 33:11<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Permanence of Divine purpose.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“The counsel for ever.” In this <\/strong>world of change what is there that abides. Can we count on anything as unchangeable;? One generation passeth away, and another cometh. Laws, customs, lances, empires, races, decay and perish. Even “the everlasting mountains” are so only by comparison. “The waters wear the stones.” “The mountain falling cometh to nought.” The answer which our modern science gives to this question is summed up in the word “evolution;” i.e. unfolding<\/em>, <\/em>progress, development. Nothing abides; but all things advance to some higher stage, or decay and are dissipated. Scripture teaches the doctrine of evolution<\/em>, <\/em>only with this differencenot development of a blind necessity, evolution of law without a Lawgiver, perpetual motion of a self-acting machine that is always winding itself up; but the carrying out of a Divine plan, the unfolding of the eternal thought and all-comprehending purpose of God (Psa 33:6<\/span>, Psa 33:9<\/span>, Psa 33:11<\/span>).<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> GOD<\/strong> ACTS<\/strong> ACCORDING<\/strong> TO<\/strong> SETTLED<\/strong> PLAN<\/strong>, UNCHANGEABLE<\/strong> PURPOSE<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. Not according to the sudden exigency <\/em>of occasion. “Known unto God,” etc. (Act 15:18<\/span>, Authorized Version). Nothing is more incomprehensible, yet nothing more certain, than that God knows the future as perfectly as the present and the past (Heb 4:13<\/span>). Else he neither could have made the world nor could rule it. One great use of Scripture prophecy is to make this plain Isa 45:21<\/span>; Isa 46:10<\/span>).<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. Not according to blind necessity. <\/em>What we call “laws of nature” are the laws which man discovers in <\/em>nature because God has long ago fixed them <\/em>there (Psa 119:89-91<\/span>). They are unchangeable because he changes not. But to suppose that God’s laws <\/em>interfere with God’s will is absurd; it is to make God less powerful than man. Men cannot break or suspend the least law of nature, but men use the laws of nature to carry out their will.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. Not according to arbitrary caprice.<\/em> The will of God, which we are to pray to have done (Mat 6:10<\/span>; Mat 26:39<\/span>), is guided by perfect wisdom, righteousness, and love. Not simply “his will,” but “the counsel of his will.” (Eph 1:11<\/span>).<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> DIVINE<\/strong> PURPOSE<\/strong> IS<\/strong> UNCHANGEABLE<\/strong>. Change would imply imperfection in the plan or in God himself, want of foresight or instability of purpose (Mal 3:6<\/span>). But the manifestation <\/em>of God’s purpose may and must change. The Bible is the history of this manifestation (Eph 3:4<\/span>, Eph 3:5<\/span>; Col 1:26<\/span>). What we do not need, or could not bear, to know, God still hides (Act 1:7<\/span>).<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> DIVINE<\/strong> PURPOSE<\/strong> SHALL<\/strong> FINALLY<\/strong> TRIUMPH<\/strong> over all that oppose it. Even men’s wickedness is overruled to bring about (against their will) God’s purposes (Act 2:23<\/span>; Act 3:18<\/span>; Psa 76:10<\/span>). To reconcile this all-embracing, persistent, victorious purpose with human freedom and responsibility is beyond our limited power. True wisdom lies in accepting both. But a small part of the great circle of truth is above our horizon.<\/p>\n

LESSONS<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. This truth is the greatest encouragement to prayer. If all were not foreseen and provided for, prayer would be useless. Prayer avails, not to change God’s purposes<\/em>, but as the appointed condition of the fulfilment of his promises <\/em>(1Jn 5:14<\/span>, 1Jn 5:15<\/span>).<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. The resting-place of faith (Dan 4:35<\/span>; Rom 8:28<\/span>).<\/p>\n

HOMILIES BY C. CLEMANCE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Psa 33:1-22<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Joy in God.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In this section of the Commentary we aim at discovering the unity of the psalm, and of dealing with it accordingly, reserving the treatment of specific verses as separate texts, for another department. This psalm has neither title nor author’s name appended thereto. It is manifestly an outburst of glad and gladdening song from some Old Testament believer, and is a glorious anticipation of Php 4:4<\/span>. It is refreshing to the spirit to find that in the olden times there were pious and holy souls, receptive of the revelation which God had even then given of himself, and who could gather up their thoughts in grateful calm as they mused on the perfections of their ever-reigning Lord. In this psalm there are no historic considerations presented, nor is there any individual experience suggested at which we have to look in studying this amazing illustration of joy in God. It is the “itself by itself “the pure thing, the uplifting of a soul from the cloudland of earth to the sunland of heaven. Here is<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> AN<\/strong> ENRAPTURING<\/strong> VIEW<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> GLORY<\/strong> OF<\/strong> OUR<\/strong> REVEALED<\/strong> GOD<\/strong>. We use this word “revealed,” as indicated By this psalm, advisedly on two grounds. For<\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> the name “Jehovah” (Php 4:1<\/span>) is the name by which God revealed himself to Israel (Exo 6:3<\/span>). The name “I am that I am” at once removes the God of the Hebrews far above all anthropomorphism. Then<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> in Php 4:4<\/span> we are told, “The Word of the Lord is right;” so that, as the word is the expression of thought, and as expressed thought indicates will, it is here declared that God had made known his will (see Psa 103:7<\/span>; Heb 1:1<\/span>). How far God’s early disclosures of himself went, our Lord Jesus Christ tells us (Mat 22:31<\/span>, Mat 22:32<\/span>). And it is by the light from words of God that we read his natural works. Having, then, God revealed by name and by word, what are the contents of that revelation which are here pointed out?<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. Right. <\/em>(Php 4:4<\/span>.) The Word of God, as given under the Old Testament, was preeminently right. As being such, the whole of the hundred and nineteenth psalm extols it. And now no nobler ethical code does the world possess than that given to Moses and the prophets, and confirmed by Christ.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. Truth<\/em>. (Php 4:4<\/span>.) I.e.<\/em> faithfulness. As righteousness marks the Word, so fidelity to the Word marks the works of God.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. Goodness. (Php 4:5<\/span>.) I.e<\/em>. loving-kindness. The earth is full <\/em>of it. The sound eye rejoices in the sunshine; and the pure heart reads the goodness of God everywhere.<\/p>\n

4<\/strong>. Power. <\/em>(Php 4:6<\/span>, Php 4:7<\/span>, 9.) We cannot rejoice in bare power; but when infinite power is in alliance with perfect goodness and with loving-kindness, then we can.<\/p>\n

5<\/strong>. Wisdom. <\/em>(Php 4:10<\/span>.) There is not only a power that sways matter, but a wisdom which controls mind, so that among the nations there can never be any plotting which can frustrate or intercept his plans.<\/p>\n

6<\/strong>. Omniscience. <\/em>(Php 4:14<\/span>, Php 4:15<\/span>.) He espies from afar the hidden thought of every soul (Pro 15:3<\/span>; Psa 139:1-24<\/span>.). He knows men’s hearts, as having created them (Php 4:15<\/span>) “alike,” i.e. <\/em>altogether, in one. There are variations in mind, but yet all minds act responsively to some necessary laws of thought inlaid in their original structure.<\/p>\n

7<\/strong>. Steadfast counsels. <\/em>(Php 4:11<\/span>.) This is true of the plans of providence; but it is most gloriously true of the hidden mysteries and triumphs of his grace (1Co 2:7<\/span>; Eph 3:9<\/span>; Act 15:18<\/span>).<\/p>\n

8<\/strong>. All his counsels are in alliance with a holiness which warrants and invites confidence. <\/em>(Php 4:21<\/span>.) He cannot do wrong; he cannot be unfaithful or unkind (Psa 92:15<\/span>).<\/p>\n

9<\/strong>. On some he looks with special favour and love. <\/em>(Php 4:18<\/span>, Php 4:19<\/span>; see Psa 18:25<\/span>, Psa 18:26<\/span>.) Those who trust God most fully and follow him most faithfully will find that their lot is as beautifully ordered for them as if God had no one else to occupy his care. They will be guarded in peril, supplied in need, and comforted in sorrow; the loving glances of a gracious eye and the cheering words from a loving heart will give to such many a song in the night. Let all these nine features of God’s glory be put together and looked at in blended sweetness, and see if they will not raise to an ecstasy of delight.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> JOY<\/strong> WHICH<\/strong> UPRIGHT<\/strong> SOULS<\/strong> HAVE<\/strong> IN<\/strong> SUCH<\/strong> A GOD<\/strong> IS<\/strong> UNBOUNDED<\/strong>. Yes.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. The joy has uprightness for its condition. Upright <\/em>souls! Only such. But this does not mean absolutely perfect men, but men who mourn over the wrong, who have confessed it before God, who have received his pardoning mercy, and who loyally conform their lives to God’s holy will and Word, who would not knowingly harbour any sin or aught that would grieve their Godmen who have gone, in fact, through the experiences of Psa 32:1-11<\/span>..<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. This joy has grace for its resting-place. <\/em>(Verses 18, 22.) “Mercy.” The joy would have no ground stable enough if it were settled on any other basis than God himself, nor unless that basis were “mercy.” “O God, be merciful to me I” is the cry which goes up from the penitent’s lips more and more pleadingly as he moves forward in the pardoned life.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. This joy has all that God is<\/em>, has<\/em>, and does for its contents. <\/em>So the whole psalm teaches us; for the pardoning mercy of God has brought us so near to him that we know there is for us<\/em> such an outpouring of love Divine as makes us infinitely rich for time and eternity.<\/p>\n

4<\/strong>. This joy has boundless hope for its outlook. <\/em>(Verse 22.) As Bishop Perowne well remarks, “hope” indicates the perpetual attitude of a trusting and waiting Church. Believers know that God will do exceeding abundantly for them above all they can ask or think. As the rich disclosures of God under the prophets have advanced to their unveiling in the unsearchable riches of Christ, so will the wonders of Christ in grace move forward to those of Christ in his glory. We yet seek a Fatherland. “God is not ashamed to be called our God, for he bath prepared for us a city.”<\/p>\n

5<\/strong>. This joy has prayer for its upward expression. <\/em>(Verse 22, “Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us,” etc.) Not that this is its only form of expression (for see below), but it is a joy which must and will find outlet in prayer for the constant supply of that mercy which feeds and sustains it.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> JOY<\/strong> IS<\/strong> SUCH<\/strong> THAT<\/strong> IT<\/strong> MAY<\/strong> WELL<\/strong> RIPEN<\/strong> INTO<\/strong> A HOLY<\/strong> FELLOWSHIP<\/strong> OF<\/strong> MUSIC<\/strong> AND<\/strong> SONG<\/strong>. Here in Psa 32:1-3<\/span> the psalmist calls on all upright souls to join him in sounding forth the praises of the Lord.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. God having taken off all our burdens of guilt and care<\/em>, the tongue is set free for praise.<\/em><\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. A common joy in God may wall suggest a grand concert of song. <\/em>Fellowship in trouble is soothing; fellowship in peril is uniting; fellowship in need touches common sympathy; fellowship in gladness creates a grand inspiration and a mighty burst of praise.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. In giving vent to our joy musical instruments may be <\/em>“skilfully<\/em>“ made subservient thereto. <\/em>(Psa 32:3<\/span>.) To plead against this verse that we live in another dispensation, is not in place; for musical instruments in the hands of sanctified men are the servants of the Spirit, and we do but utilize God’s own world of harmony when we press them into the service of celebrating redeeming love.<\/p>\n

4<\/strong>. The right use and ample enjoyment in hallowed mirth<\/em>, <\/em>as we celebrate the praises of the Lord, may be made a holy and blessed means of grace. It is of no mean importance to recruit the bodily powers for God by means of the enjoyment of sacred music and song. And if, indeed, Christian people of musical tastes would seek to sanctify their special powers for God and his Church, many an abuse of their talents might be prevented, and many a holy outlet for their use secured. Well might Frances R. Havergal write<\/p>\n

“Take my voice, and let me sing
Always, only, for my King.”<\/p>\n

5.<\/strong> The largest scope for the noblest music <\/em>is opened up by the wonders of redeeming love. Poetry, painting, sculpture, music,all are grandest when inspired by the Cross.C.<\/p>\n

HOMILIES BY W. FORSYTH<\/strong><\/p>\n

Psa 33:1-22<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a hymn of praise to God,<\/strong><\/p>\n

as at once the Almighty Creator and Ruler of the world, and the Protector of his chosen people. Psa 33:12<\/span> may he regarded as the pivot on which the whole psalm turns. What was true ideally, and in part of Israel, is true in fact and perfectly of God’s people. “Blessed”<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> BECAUSE<\/strong> THE<\/strong> LORD<\/strong> IS<\/strong> THEIR<\/strong> GOD<\/strong>. The prophets delight to mark the contrast between the gods of the heathen and Jehovah (Deu 32:31<\/span>; Psa 86:8<\/span>; Isa 40:18-25<\/span>). The vital difference between the false and the true was brought out powerfully in Egypt (Exo 8:10<\/span>), and with still more intense and dramatic effect on Mount Carmel in the day of Elijah (1Ki 18:24<\/span>). No doubt some of the heathen attained to high views of duty, but amongst the people it was otherwise. As has been said, their gods were like themselves<\/p>\n

“Gods partial, changeful, passionate, unjust,
Whose attributes were rage, revenge, and lust.”<\/p>\n

But our God is the living and true God. His character <\/em>commands our highest admiration (Psa 33:1-3<\/span>). His Word <\/em>and his works <\/em>call forth our most devoted homage and praise (Psa 33:4-11<\/span>). Idolaters and all with idol-loving hearts may be constrained to say, in the day of their trouble, “They have taken away my gods, and what have I more?” (Jdg 18:24<\/span>). But no power can take away our <\/em>God. He says to us, “I will never leave thee.” And we cry to him with exulting faith, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee” (Psa 73:23-28<\/span>). To Israel God appealed as the God of Abraham, and claimed their obedience as the Lord their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt (Exo 3:6<\/span>; Exo 20:1<\/span>); but he stands in a nearer relationship, and has higher claims upon us, as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Eph 1:3<\/span>, Eph 1:7<\/span>; 1Pe 1:3<\/span>, 1Pe 1:7<\/span>).<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> BECAUSE<\/strong> UNDER<\/strong> GOD<\/strong>‘S GOVERNMENT<\/strong> THEY<\/strong> ARE<\/strong> BEING<\/strong> FORMED<\/strong> TO<\/strong> THE<\/strong> CHARACTER<\/strong> OF<\/strong> RIGHTEOUSNESS<\/strong>. Righteousness is the great want of the world. Get people made righteousright in their being and their life, and there would be an end to the great evils that afflict society. Righteousness is the craving of all consciences and the hope of all troubled hearts. God’s great aim is to make his people righteous. For this end he has given his Law; for this he sent his Son into the world; for this, as the potter with the clay, he is continually working in his gracious providence, “fashioning” the hearts of men. Well, therefore, has Paul said, “We are his workmanship” (Eph 2:10<\/span>). God is blessed because he is righteous; and he would have his people made happy after the same fashion (Isa 32:17<\/span>). “Righteousness exalteth a nation” (Pro 14:34<\/span>); and this holds true also of individuals. “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled” (Mat 5:6<\/span>).<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> BECAUSE<\/strong> THEY<\/strong> HAVE<\/strong> A GREAT<\/strong> FUTURE<\/strong> BEFORE<\/strong> THEM<\/strong>. Nations have their decline and fall. Even Israel, because unfaithful, have been scattered (Deu 29:24-28<\/span>); but the true Israel shall be under the eye and the keeping of the Lord for ever. They are his own inheritance (cf. Eph 1:18<\/span>). Therefore they are encouraged to “hope,” to “wait,” to “trust.” Their golden age is not in the past, but in the future. What Jacob said on his death-bed may be said with joy by all his true children, “I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord!” (Gen 49:18<\/span>; cf. Luk 2:28-32<\/span>; 1Pe 1:10-13<\/span>).W.F.<\/p>\n

HOMILIES BY C. SHORT<\/strong><\/p>\n

Psa 33:1-11<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

A call to praise God.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The psalm is anonymous, and was composed apparently to celebrate some deliverance of the nation from heathen oppression, resulting from God’s interposition and without war. Psa 33:1-3<\/span> are a summons to praise God, the song to be accompanied with instrumental music. God is to be praised<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> AS<\/strong> THE<\/strong> GOD<\/strong> OF<\/strong> REVELATION<\/strong>. (Psa 33:4<\/span>, Psa 33:5<\/span>.)<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. His Word is upright, always fulfilling itself. <\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. All his conduct is faithful and righteous. <\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. All his manifestations <\/em>of himself are full of loving-kindness.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> AS<\/strong> THE<\/strong> CREATOR<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> WORLD<\/strong>. (Psa 33:6-9<\/span>.)<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. His Wordthe breath of his mouthwas sufficient for the creation of the heavens.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. He gathered together the waters of the sea.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. Such manifestations of his power ought to fill us with reverence and awe. Study God’s works as <\/em>well as his Word. <\/em>In the nineteenth verse we have the thought of the sixth verse repeated.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> As THE<\/strong> IRRESISTIBLE<\/strong> RULER<\/strong> IN<\/strong> THE<\/strong> HISTORY<\/strong> OF<\/strong> MEN<\/strong>. (Psa 33:10<\/span>, Psa 33:11<\/span>.) Contrast here between what God does with the thoughts and counsels of menbringing them to noughtand what he does with his ownmaking them to stand fast to all generations. The counsels which he brings to nought are evil counsels; he prospers and establishes the counsels of the righteous, and fulfils his own plans and purposes.S<\/p>\n

Psa 33:12-22<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

What God’s people possess in him.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The call to praise God is supported by a setting forth of that which his people <\/em>possess in him. <\/em>The theme of this second part of the psalm is set forth in the twelfth verse, “Blessed is the nation whose God is Jehovah.”<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> BECAUSE<\/strong> GOD<\/strong> IS<\/strong> THE<\/strong> CREATOR<\/strong> HE<\/strong> HAS<\/strong> THE<\/strong> MOST<\/strong> PERFECT<\/strong> KNOWLEDGE<\/strong>. (Psa 33:13-15<\/span>.) He not only observes men’s doings, but knows their hearts, as having created them. You cannot know a man perfectly from his acts; you must know his thoughts and purposes to know his character.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> HIS<\/strong> PEOPLE<\/strong> HAVE<\/strong> IN<\/strong> GOD<\/strong> A STRONGER<\/strong> DEFENCE<\/strong> THAN<\/strong> THE<\/strong> GREATEST<\/strong> WORLDLY<\/strong> POWER<\/strong> WOULD<\/strong> BE<\/strong>. (Psa 33:10-12<\/span>.)<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. The victory of the king and the safety of the warrior are not they own works. <\/em>Even the war-horse, a thing that promises much in strength, can in reality do nothing apart from God’s overruling power.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. The<\/em> eye of God is ditched towards those that fear him<\/em>, <\/em>to deliver them from danger and death.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> CHURCH<\/strong> ACKNOWLEDGES<\/strong> GOD<\/strong> AS<\/strong> ITS<\/strong> HELP<\/strong>, ITS<\/strong> SHIELD<\/strong>, AND<\/strong> ITS<\/strong> SOURCE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> JOY<\/strong>. (Psa 33:20-22<\/span>.)<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. The Church waits for God. <\/em>(Psa 33:20<\/span>.) To be its Help and Shield.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. The Church rejoices in the holiness of God. <\/em>If he were not perfectly good <\/em>we should have to tremble with terror and not rejoice.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. The<\/em> Church hopes in God. <\/em>Hope has been the attitude of the Church through all the ages. It must be our personal attitude towards God in Christ. “Which hope we have as the anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast,” etc. What can sufferers do but hope<\/em>?S.<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Psalms 33<\/span>. <\/p>\n

God is to be praised for his goodness, for his power, and for his providence.<\/em> Confidence is to be placed in God.<\/em> <\/p>\n

A Psalm <\/em>of David. <\/p>\n

Title<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> This is said to be a psalm of David; but the particular occasion of its composition is not known: It seems probable, however, that it was composed by David in commemoration of the great deliverance of their forefathers, when God overthrew the chariots and the horses of the Egyptian king in the sea, and afterwards fed his people in the wilderness. See Psa 33:7<\/span>; Psa 33:9-10<\/span>; Psa 33:15-16<\/span>; Psa 33:18<\/span>. Be this, however, as it may, without any reference to an immediate subject, it is an excellent hymn on the power and providence of God. <\/p>\n

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Psalms 33<\/span><\/p>\n

1Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous:<\/p>\n

For<\/em> praise is comely for the upright.<\/p>\n

2Praise the Lord with harp:<\/p>\n

Sing unto him with the psaltery and<\/em> an instrument of ten strings.<\/p>\n

3Sing unto him a new song;<\/p>\n

Play skilfully with a loud noise.<\/p>\n

4For the word of the Lord is<\/em> right;<\/p>\n

And all his works are done<\/em> in truth.<\/p>\n

5He loveth righteousness and judgment:<\/p>\n

The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.<\/p>\n

6By the word of the Lord were the heavens made;<\/p>\n

And all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.<\/p>\n

7He gathereth the waters of the sea together as a heap:<\/p>\n

He layeth up the depth in storehouses.<\/p>\n

8Let all the earth fear the Lord:<\/p>\n

Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him:<\/p>\n

9For he spake, and it was done;<\/em><\/p>\n

He commanded, and it stood fast.<\/p>\n

10The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought:<\/p>\n

He maketh the devices of the people of none effect.<\/p>\n

11The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever,<\/p>\n

The thoughts of his heart to all generations.<\/p>\n

12Blessed is<\/em> the nation whose God is<\/em> the Lord;<\/p>\n

And<\/em> the people whom<\/em> he hath chosen for his own inheritance.<\/p>\n

13The Lord looketh from heaven;<\/p>\n

He beholdeth all the sons of men.<\/p>\n

14From the place of his habitation he looketh<\/p>\n

Upon all the inhabitants of the earth.<\/p>\n

15He fashioneth their hearts alike;<\/p>\n

He considereth all their works.<\/p>\n

16There is no king saved by the multitude of a host:<\/p>\n

A mighty man is not delivered by much strength.<\/p>\n

17A horse is<\/em> a vain thing for safety:<\/p>\n

Neither shall he deliver any<\/em> by his great strength.<\/p>\n

18Behold, the eye of the Lord is<\/em> upon them that fear him,<\/p>\n

Upon them that hope in his mercy;<\/p>\n

19To deliver their soul from death,<\/p>\n

And to keep them alive in famine.<\/p>\n

20Our soul waiteth for the Lord:<\/p>\n

He is<\/em> our help and our shield.<\/p>\n

21For our heart shall rejoice in him,<\/p>\n

Because we have trusted in his holy name.<\/p>\n

22Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us,<\/p>\n

According as we hope in thee.<\/p>\n

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL<\/strong><\/p>\n

Arrangement of the Contents.The pious members of the congregation are summoned<\/em> to give to the Lord the praise due<\/em> unto Him (Psa 33:1-3<\/span>). This is based<\/em> upon a reference to the nature of the word and work of God (Psa 33:4-5<\/span>), the Almighty Creator and Preserver (Psa 33:6-7<\/span>), as well as the Ruler<\/em> of all the world, who is to be feared (Psa 33:8-9<\/span>) In contrast with the thoughts of men, His eternal and unchangeable decrees are victoriously carried out in history (Psa 33:10-11<\/span>), therefore the people chosen<\/em> by Him for His own, are to be called happy<\/em> (Psa 33:12<\/span>). The Omniscient King of heaven observes all things (Psa 33:13-15<\/span>); worldly power is not the cause of victory and of deliverance (Psa 33:16-17<\/span>), but the eyes of the Lord are directed upon the pious for their deliverance and preservation (Psa 33:18-19<\/span>); hence waiting and trusting in Him are essentially the work of the members of His congregation, and this expresses itself as well in thankful confession<\/em> as in joyous hope<\/em> and confident prayer<\/em> (Psa 33:20-22<\/span>). With this closing clause the movement of thought returns to its beginning, which has the closest relation with the closing words of the preceding Psalm. From this may be explained the position<\/em> of this Psalm in its present order in the book, yet it hardly shows that these two Psalms originally belonged together (Venema), or are a pair of Psalms (Hengst.), although the title which is usually appended in this book is absent here, which is the case only in the first two Psalms and in Psalms 10<\/span> [vid.<\/em> these Psalms for the reasons of this.C. A. B.]. For Psalms 32<\/span> has its source in the personal experience<\/em> of an Israelite who was previously impenitent, yet was pardoned<\/em> after having confessed his sins,<\/em> and it maintains this character of individual testimony even where it passes over from the description of the contrasted conditions and experiences into a summons to all his companions to give personal expression to similar experiences, under similar treatment in similar circumstances, by praising God. The present Psalm, on the other hand, moves throughout in the tone of a hymn<\/em> determined for the congregation as such,<\/em> which has its foundation in the happy feeling of security<\/em> of the people, who know that they are chosen<\/em> and guided<\/em> by the Creator and Ruler of the whole world<\/em> as His own people. With this thorough-going difference of circumstances and character it is unimportant that this Psalm has twice as many verses as the previous Psalm, and that its fundamental thought appears immediately at the end of the first half of the Psalms 5<\/span><\/p>\n

Str.<\/em> I. [Psa 33:1<\/span>. Praise is comely.<\/strong>Hupfeld: This means that it is their duty<\/em> as well as that it redounds to their honor<\/em> and is an ornament, just as on the contrary, silence is to their shame: because they alone have a peculiar experience<\/em> of the glorious government of God, and so they alone<\/em> are fitted<\/em> for this.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:2<\/span>. Upon a ten stringed harp play to Him.<\/strong>For the musical instruments vid.<\/em> Introduction. The A. V. improperly makes a separate clause for an instrument of ten strings.C. A. B.]<\/p>\n

Psa 33:3<\/span>. Play well.<\/strong>This expression (comp. 1Sa 16:17<\/span>; Isa 23:16<\/span>) is given a too narrow reference by some interpreters, after the Sept., to the skill,<\/em> by others, after Symm., to the power<\/em> of the execution. The new song<\/em> is one not heard before. Such an one may spring from a fresh impulse of the heart (Stier), since Gods glory is new every morning (Hengst.), without necessarily distinguishing itself by its originality, or taking its material ever, as Psa 40:4<\/span> and Rev 5:9<\/span>, from a new occurrence. Therefore it is a false conclusion to suppose that this expression has been afterwards reduced to an insignificant formula, because it occurs in such Psalms as 95, 98, 149. And the conjecture, that the Psalm might refer to the disappearance of the Scythians, Zep 3:15<\/span> (Hitzig), may be connected externally with Psa 33:5<\/span>; Psa 33:10<\/span>; Psa 33:16<\/span>, but cannot be derived from these verses, nor be supported by a comparison of Psa 33:5<\/span> with Jer 9:23<\/span>, or Psa 33:13-14<\/span> with Psa 14:2<\/span>, which comparisons though ingenious are violent. Nor can it be explained by the reference of Psa 33:4<\/span> to Psa 32:8<\/span>, where it is said that Jehovahs counsel and protection are promised, nor can it be made probable by the remark that is made, that the flood mentioned in Psa 32:6<\/span>, which passed away without harm for the entire people, might be referred to the same inroad, since Psalms 32<\/span> takes consideration of a hostile invasion, and Psa 33:1<\/span> is connected without title with Psa 32:11<\/span>, and the perfect in Psa 30:10<\/span> indicates a particular event, probably of the recent past, a mighty deed of the national God. No more is the design of this new song to be regarded, with the more ancient interpreters, as for use at a sacrificial feast, especially as does not mean sound of trumpets (De Wette), but merely shouting. Comp. Psa 27:6<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Str.<\/em> II. Psa 33:5. The predicates, just and upright or honest, are not to be taken as a later designation of the Israelites in general (Maurer), but as an address to the true<\/em> members of the congregation (Hengst., Hupf.), yet so, that the national contrast of the people of God with heathen nations is at the same time indicated by this expression which characterizes the destiny of Israel. Comp. Num 23:10<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Str.<\/em> III. Psa 33:6. Breath of His mouth.<\/strong>The connection of these two expressions and their relation to the former half of the verse do not permit the direct<\/em> reference of ancient interpreters to the hypostatic Spirit<\/em> of God. But the unmistakable reference to the history of creation, is as clearly against the modern limitation<\/em> of this expression to the meaning of utterance<\/em> which is synonymous with the word<\/em>Isa. Psa 11:4<\/span>. And so, if the interpretation of ruach<\/em> as breath<\/em> is to be retained, we must yet think of the creative Omnipotence and breath of life, Job 27:3<\/span>; Job 33:4<\/span>; Psa 104:30<\/span> (Hengst.), and the relative expressions are only synonymous in so far as there is rendered prominent in dabar<\/em> not only the creative power, but likewise wisdom (Jer 10:12<\/span>; Pro 3:19<\/span>), whilst in ruach peh<\/em> particularly the vitalizing power embraced in the form of the word (the operative breath from Gods own internal nature). (Stier).<\/p>\n

Psa 33:7<\/span>. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as a heap.<\/strong>The Hebrew participles in this and the following clause might in themselves be translated by the perfect as well as by the present. The structure of the clause, however, in its relation to the previous verse favors the latter. For since Jehovah is not the subject of the previous verse, a close connection of the participle with it and at the same time a limitation to the fact of the Creation, which happened once for all, are excluded, although even the chosen expressions likewise take their departure in part from this fact. The clause is independent and expresses an abiding and characteristic action of God; similar to Psa 33:5<\/span>. This is likewise favored by the following expressions. For the comparison of the waters of the sea with a heap of sheaves (Isa 17:11<\/span> decides for this meaning) reminds us of the narrative of Exo 15:8<\/span>, likewise Jos 3:13<\/span>; Jos 3:16<\/span>; Psa 78:13<\/span>, mentioning with the same expression the towering up of the waters by a miracle of Divine Omnipotence in the passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea. But here this fact as such is not mentioned, but by the choice of words the idea is called forth of the waters of the high<\/em> sea, swelling up above jet held firmly together by the Omnipotence of God. There is no reference in the first half of the verse to limitations such as those formed by the banks and the beds of the waters. If with Cleric and Hupf. an additional thought is added under the figure of parietes horrei,<\/em> whilst it is in other respects a true explanation, it displaces the point of comparison given in the text. In the translation of Ewald, Luther and all ancient interpreters, as in a bottle, we must read nd [= ] instead of nd [], the correct meaning of which was already given by Calvin and Ruding. after the Rabbins. Under the bottle was often understood the clouds, and then they thought of the upper or heavenly<\/em> waters. Hitzig likewise refers this passage to this heavenly ocean (Job 9:8<\/span>), which according to Job 26:8<\/span>, by dint of the Omnipotence of God, is borne by the clouds without their being torn, and this although he translates: He restrains as with a dam. For whilst a real dam is placed to the earthly sea, whose character affords reason to wonder at the greatness of God, (Jer 5:22<\/span>), here a comparison<\/em> is expressed. At the same time Hitzig lays emphasis upon the close connection which arises from this explanation with Psa 33:6<\/span>, and upon the circumstance, that elsewhere likewise (Job 38:22<\/span>; Jer 10:13<\/span>; Sir 43:14) only the heavenly reservoirs are called treasury, as here in the second half of the verse. And so he refers this half likewise to the heavenly waters. But , which, apart from the history of the Creation and the Flood, is only found in poetical pieces, denotes constantly the roaring and unfathomable depth. However, it is not necessary, therefore, with the Rabbins, to think of the waters under the earth,<\/em> according to Gen 7:11<\/span>. The reference in both halves of the verse is to floods of the sea, which in their apparent irregularity are subjected by Gods power<\/em> to His will<\/em> (Jer 5:22<\/span>), and are held together and stored up for the purposes of the Divine household.<\/em><\/p>\n

Str.<\/em> IV. 9. For He said and it was.<\/strong>[The He<\/em> is emphatic in this and the following clause]. This verse refers back to the omnipotence of God shown in the Creation (most interpreters, with the ancient translations), as a motive for all men to fear such a God as this. To take it as present (Luther, De Wette, Delitzsch) confounds application with interpretation. The supposition that this verse refers to the same fact, which is more clearly given in Psa 33:10<\/span> (Hitzig), and relates to an event which only recently occurred (Venema), arises from the presumption which has not been proved, that a special historical occurrence like this was the occasion of this song. In connection with this interpretation, Hitzig understands by the hunger mentioned in Psa 33:19<\/span>, real hunger, which took place after that the people of the country had been pressed together into the strong cities (Jer 8:14<\/span>; Jer 4:5<\/span>). This expression, however, may be more easily taken as a designation of great need and peril of death in general, as Psa 34:10<\/span> sq.; Psa 37:19<\/span>; Job 5:20<\/span>, and often in the Prophets.<\/p>\n

[Str.<\/em> V. Psa 33:10-11<\/span>. Perowne: After speaking of Gods power in Creation, the Psalmist goes on to speak of His Providence as ordering the world. There is a manifest antithesis between the counsels and the thoughts of men which Jehovah brings to naught,<\/em> and the counsels and thoughts of Jehovah which abide forever.<\/em><\/p>\n

Psa 33:12<\/span>. Alexander: This is the centre of the whole Psalm, the conclusion from what goes before, and the text or theme of all that follows. Under the general proposition is included a particular felicitation of Israel as the actual choice and heritage of God, i.e.,<\/em> chosen to be His, in a peculiar sense, by hereditary succession, through a course of ages.C. A. B.]<\/p>\n

Str.<\/em> VI. [Psa 33:13-14<\/span>. From His Providence the Psalmist passes over to His Omniscience.<\/em> Comp. Psa 11:4<\/span>; Psa 14:2<\/span>.C. A. B.]<\/p>\n

Psa 33:15<\/span>. Former of their hearts all at once.<\/strong>The reference here is not to governing<\/em> the heart (Luther) as in Pro 21:1<\/span>; Jer 10:23<\/span>. By emphasizing the participle (Hengst., Delitz.) there is gained the idea of a continued<\/em> and essential activity of God; but the word itself and the context lead not to a Divine influence<\/em> with respect to forming the thoughts<\/em> of the heart, but only to the creative<\/em> formation of the heart. The overlooking and judicial activity of God described in Psa 33:13-14<\/span>, God exercises in the twofold capacity stated in Psa 33:15<\/span>. If stood at the beginning of the verse as Psa 49:3<\/span>; Psa 49:11<\/span>, it would have to be referred with Hupfeld to both clauses in the signification of pariter ac.<\/em> Its present position, however, is in favor of the usual meaning: all at once, altogether. The Vulgate renders this idea of being without exception, by singillatim<\/em> after the Sept. , whilst the plural is put instead of the singular.<\/p>\n

Str.<\/em> VII. Psa 33:16<\/span>. The king is not helped.<\/strong>The article before melech<\/em> makes the translation no king (De Wette [A. V.]) inadmissible. The particle of negation is to be referred to the participle with strong emphasis. Comp. Ewald, 321, a.<\/em><\/p>\n

[Psa 33:17<\/span>. The horse is a delusion for help.<\/strong>Alexander: The horse<\/em> meant is the war-horse, and is singled out as one of the elements of military strength in which the ancients were especially disposed to trust. Vid.<\/em>Psa 20:7<\/span>; Isa 31:1-3<\/span>. A lie,<\/em> a falsehood, i.e.,<\/em> something which deceives and disappoints the confidence reposed in it.C. A. B.]<\/p>\n

[Str.<\/em> VIII. Psa 33:18-19<\/span>. Alexander: While the material strength of other men fails to secure them, those who fear the Lord and hope in His mercy are secure beneath His vigilant inspection.C. A. B.]<\/p>\n

Str.<\/em> IX. Psa 33:20-22<\/span>. In the first half of the verse Hengstenberg finds an allusion to Gen 49:18<\/span>, in the second half to Deu 33:26<\/span>; Deu 33:29<\/span>. [For an explanation of help,<\/em> and shield, vid.<\/em>Psa 5:12<\/span>; Psa 10:14<\/span>; Psa 22:11<\/span>; Psa 30:10<\/span>. Perowne: This attitude of hope and trust is the attitude of the Church in all ages, for she is not yet made perfect; but the Jewish Church was in a special sense the Church of the future, and therefore also in a special manner a waiting and hoping Church. The whole history of Israel may indeed be summed up in Jacobs dying words: I have waited for Thy salvation, O Lord.C. A. B.]<\/p>\n

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. The solemn<\/em> and thankful praise<\/em> of God in the congregation corresponds on the one side with the will of God,<\/em> who by His prophet has demanded it, on the other side is appropriate to the upright,<\/em> who by virtue of their position in the congregation and to God, in the fulfilment of this duty of the appropriate recognition of God, are able to give suitable<\/em> expression to it. Their jubilation has not only as its subject the glory of God, but exhibits itself likewise as a joy in the Lord,<\/em> which does not despise the use of art,<\/em> yet employs it for the honor of God, encourages<\/em> those like-minded to praise God by personal, joyous confession,<\/em> and is impelled and enabled to make known in new<\/em> songs and new ways the renewed feelings of the heart. To the unrighteous the glory of God is not the subject of joy and of praise, but of terror and aversion.It is a sad sign of the decline of the Church when the demand to sing Him a new song is no longer executed. The more careful then must it be to preserve its old<\/em> songs (Hengst.) Comp. Psa 50:16<\/span>.<\/p>\n

2. The inexhaustible reason<\/em> for breaking forth in new songs of praise, and the fresh sounding forth of the old songs of faith in the congregation, is the recognition of the glory<\/em> of God, as it is manifest to the congregation in the word and providence<\/em> of the Lord. Both mutually confirm<\/em> one another, and declare God as the one who is worthy of praise, and who is alone reliable as well on account of His moral perfection<\/em> as with respect to His Omnipotence,<\/em> which are testified to in the creation and government of the world,<\/em> whilst they realize in both the unchangeable<\/em> thoughts and counsels of the righteousness and love<\/em> of God, which are made known to His chosen people in the words of revelation.<\/em><\/p>\n

3. All men have therefore good reason to fear<\/em> a God like this, but to esteem His chosen people as blessed,<\/em> that they have such a Lord for their God. They have every reason to trust<\/em> Him, in the greatest dangers to hope<\/em> in His assistance, and to expect deliverance<\/em> from Him out of the greatest troubles. For no creature can successfully resist the Creator,<\/em> nothing can escape the service of the Almighty, no works, yea no thought of the heart can be concealed from the eye of the Omniscient. And when men attempt it and not only singly, but in great masses follow their own end, turning away from God, they are obliged to experience that Gods decrees and order stand fast forever<\/em> and not only maintain themselves against all opposition and resistance, but are carried out<\/em> in the world to the honor of God, and the good of His people,<\/em> whilst the thoughts, counsels and works of the adversaries are observed, judged and brought to nought<\/em> by God.<\/p>\n

4. Since this is so, it is becoming for the pious, not only to praise God, but no more to fear the power of the adversary than rely upon earthly means of help, but much rather in true fear of God<\/em> to resort to the Lord, and in living faith<\/em> hope in His grace. But the hope of those who fear God and trust in Him will not be put to shame, for it is not based on human presumptions, suppositions and wishes, but on the holy name,<\/em> in which the true God has revealed His holy nature, and in which grace and faith<\/em> meet one another. Those who hide themselves<\/em> in God, will rejoice<\/em> in God, yet in all their rejoicings in God will not forget to pray<\/em> as penitent sinners for new tokens of grace from the faithful God of the covenant,<\/em> and thereby as true members of the congregation, show how God ceases not to show Himself to them even to the end, the same as He has declared Himself from the beginning, as ever the same reliable<\/em> God. The wickedness of men may have in itself the desire to injure, but it has not the power; there is no power except from God (Augustine).<\/p>\n

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL<\/strong><\/p>\n

To praise God<\/em> is for the pious a duty<\/em> as well as an honor<\/em> and joy.A new heart<\/em> is necessary for new songs.<\/em>How art<\/em> is sanctified,<\/em> when it is used to praise God<\/em> and edify the congregation.<\/em>The happiness<\/em> of the people whose God is the Lord:<\/em> 1) in what it consists;<\/em> 2) how it is expressed;<\/em> 3) how it may be preserved.<\/em>The great joy of the pious in Gods works<\/em> and government is magnified by their joy in Gods word and holy name,<\/em> and is fulfilled in a joy in God Himself<\/em> by a life in His grace.What God preserves in His treasury He bestows in blessings or in curses, in accordance with His will<\/em> and the conduct of men.<\/em>Human<\/em> thoughts and Divine<\/em> decrees.On what the confidence is based<\/em> that God will<\/em> help His people<\/em> out of all their troubles and can<\/em> help them!The pious can rely upon Gods holy word<\/em> with the same confidence,<\/em> as upon Gods holy Providence.<\/em>The reliable, comforting<\/em> and blessed<\/em> meeting of the Divine grace<\/em> and human faith.<\/em>How we may accomplish that our life<\/em> as well as our song<\/em> may begin<\/em> and close<\/em> with joy in God.God is not only the almighty Creator<\/em> and the kind Preserver<\/em> of the world, He is likewise the watchful Guardian<\/em> of the ordinances and laws instituted by Himself, the Omniscient and just Judge<\/em> of all men, the only reliable Protector and Helper<\/em> of His people..The consideration of the word and works<\/em> of God should encourage us to fear, love<\/em> and trust<\/em> in God respecting all things.God has made known to us His holy<\/em> name in order that we may call upon Him in all our troubles, pray<\/em> to Him, praise<\/em> and thank Him.<\/p>\n

Starke: If the work<\/em> which is done is to please God, the person<\/em> must first of all please Him and be justified by faith.If we properly understood our great benefits and heavenly treasures we would rejoice more over them than over all the honor and glory of this world.The ungodly cannot praise God, for they have no taste of the goodness of God; their praise pleases God as little as their prayers.All the works of God show, that He is honest, faithful and true.In all the commands, threatenings and promises of God look alone to the Divine authority of the Ruler, this will strongly impel you to the obedience of childlike respect and trust.If God has created the wonderful structure of the heavens with all its hosts and has thus far upheld it, how shall He not be able to sustain thee, who art only one creature and a little piece of earth? It is an especial grace of God, that He brings to nought the blood-thirsty devices of the enemy, the church would otherwise long since have perished.All that thou dost, take counsel at first with God, for if this is neglected it is an easy thing for Him to bring to nought all thy plans.Wilt thou have the gracious eye of God directed upon thee, then direct thine eye constantly to Him in faith, love and obedience.If we do not persevere in patience and constancy, we forfeit true Divine help, and do not obtain what we otherwise would.<\/p>\n

Osiander: We should use temporal good so that it may be our greatest joy that God is graciously disposed toward us.Menzel: God not only does righteousness, but He loves it and demands it likewise of others.Renschel: If it is true that God can and does do so much, it is likewise fair 1) that we should wait on Him, 2) that we should make Him our shield, 3) that we should rejoice in Him.Frisch: If a joyous praise and service of God is lacking to a man, he lacks likewise a true knowledge of what he has in God.Arndt: The great sea is surrounded by the commandments of God; how should He not then bridle men on earth, and put a bit in their mouths?Francke: Where a new song like this is sung, there must likewise be a new tongue; but a new heart is presupposed.Nitzsch: The glorifying of God our Saviour by the new songs, which He has awakened from the earliest times in His congregation. These songs glorify Him, 1) by virtue of their origin, since they come only from a newly created heart which is full of salvation; 2) by means of their meaning and contents as the signs of the highest satisfaction, which it is possible for men to attain here below, 3) by means of their long and deep effect upon the present and future; 4) as the living alliance of the saints with the lovely and beautiful.Umbreit: The same God, to the ordinance of whose words the physical world must submit, rules forever in the kingdom of spirits.All true power comes from God, and is crowned with victory by Him.Tholuck: The throne of God is not an idle seat of care, but the judgment seat of a king, from which with lofty glance the fates of the world are ruled.All victories on earth are gained only by the power of God.Taube: An appeal to all true Israelites to praise the glory of the Lord, who is the terror of His enemies, but the consolation of His people.Make no parade with the creature, but be not afraid of the creature, for it is in the hand of God.Schaubach. Fear and hope are seldom found together in men; but he who would hope in the goodness of God, must likewise fear His holy name.<\/p>\n

[Matth. Henry: What pity is it that this earth, which is so full of Gods goodness, should be so empty of His praises; and that, of the multitudes that live upon His bounty, there are so few that live to His glory.How easy may this thought make us at all times, that God governs the world, that He did it in infinite wisdom before we were born, and will do it when we are silent in the dust!They that fear God and His wrath must hope in God and His mercy; for there is no flying from God but by flying to Him.Barnes: God is a great and glorious Sovereign over all, and He will make everything subordinate to the promotion of His own great designs.True piety leads men to wait on the Lord; to depend on Him; to look to His interposition, in danger, sickness, poverty, want: to rely on. Him for all that is hoped for in this life, and for salvation in the life to come.Spurgeon: To rejoice in temporal comforts is dangerous, to rejoice in self is foolish, to rejoice in sin is fatal, but to rejoice in God is heavenly.Heartiness should be conspicuous in Divine worship.God writes with a pen that never blots, speaks with a tongue that never slips, acts with a hand which never fails. Bless His name.If earth be full of mercy, what must heaven be, where goodness concentrates its beams?Happy is the man who has learned to lean his all upon the sure word of Him who built the skies.The cause of God is never in danger; infernal craft is outwitted by infinite wisdom, and Satanic malice is held in check by boundless power.All Adams sons are as well watched as was Adam himself, their lone progenitor in the garden.The eye of peculiar care is their glory and defence. None can take them unawares, for the celestial Watcher foresees the designs of their enemies and provides against them.Believer, wait upon thy God in temporals. His eye is upon thee, and His hand will not long delay.The root of faith in due time bears the flower of rejoicing. Doubts breed sorrow, confidence creates joy.C. A. B.]<\/p>\n

Footnotes:<\/strong><\/p>\n

[5]<\/span>[However different these two Psalms may be in some respects, yet the close resemblance and the frequently recurring references in expressions and in sentiment to the previous Psalm, favor the idea that the two Psalms were originally one, but were afterwards separated for use in the congregation. The first verse of this Psalm takes up directly the sentiment and words of the closing verse of the previous Psalm. The references in Str. II. to the justice and goodness of God fully accord with these sentiments. The reference to the Divine power in the creation and government of the world is natural in this connection, where the penitent is rejoicing in the forgiveness of sins, especially as the two ideas are brought together in an inverse order in Psalms 19<\/span>. It is not unimportant that Psa 33:12<\/span> ascribes the same blessedness to the nation and people as was ascribed to the individual at the beginning of Psalms 32<\/span>. The terms and sentiments of Psa 33:16<\/span> sq. are in accordance with Psa 32:8-9<\/span>. And the final expressions of hope and trust in Jehovahs holiness and mercy form a proper conclusion to the sentiments of both Psalms.C. A. B.]<\/p>\n

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

CONTENTS<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The Psalmist is here engaged in praise, and this holy joy and thanks giving is founded upon the consciousness of God’s faithfulness, and truth; and mercy. The hymn closeth with a determined trust in God.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

A Psalm of David.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Psa 33:1<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

There is somewhat very beautiful and gracious in the opening of this Psalm. The man of God cannot be content in blessing Jehovah himself alone, but he calls upon all the redeemed to join in the Hallelujah, And he very properly founds his argument upon the justice of the thing itself, for all the world must confess that the Lord is entitled to the everlasting praises of his creatures. Let all that hath breath praise the Lord; and in an especial manner let the redeemed of the Lord say so, for they have peculiar praises to bring; Psa 107:2<\/span> .<\/p>\n

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

God’s Bounty<\/p>\n

Psa 33:7<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

I. When we speak of the harvest, we are accustomed to think only of the corn harvest; but the word has a far wider significance. Our granaries contain not a tithe of His gifts. Nor is the Creator’s bounty limited to the products of each passing year. The cycle of God’s harvests is measured by ages rather than by seasons.<\/p>\n

II. The lesson of trust. In days of a youthful and somewhat arrogant science, in our fancied knowledge of second causes, it is possible for our trust in God to be shaken. There is truth in the old Bible promise, that ‘while the earth remains’ our harvests shall not fail. We may yet believe that Christ is the King of all the earth, and not substitute for our creed the bare negations of a cold and cheerless agnosticism.<\/p>\n

III. The lesson of contentment. The great struggle between labour and capital, industrial and agricultural depression, God punishing us for our distrust and ingratitude.<\/p>\n

IV. Liberality. In all our varied gains, whether from an influx of better trade, or a rise in the share market, we should remember that the firstfruits belong to God, and the gleanings to the poor.<\/p>\n

Vivian R. Lennard, Harvest-tide,<\/em> p. 3.<\/p>\n

Reference. XXXIII. 13. Spurgeon, Morning by Morning,<\/em> p. 272.<\/p>\n

The Comfort of Physical Inferiority<\/p>\n

Psa 33:16<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

I. The doctrine of modern life is the survival of the fittest. Is the Psalmis in opposition to this view? No. He is quite willing to admit that the fittest survive; what he says is that their fitness does not lie in the physical. He says that even where the physical strength exists it is not the deepest ground of success. And is he not right? Take the simile in his own mind the sway of a kingdom. The greatest kingdoms of this world have been swayed by spiritual forces. Look at the Papacy of early days. It was the rule of one frail man without arms, without territories, without embattled walls, without military followers, without a right to draw the sword. What was the secret of the Pope’s power? Why did kings hold his stirrup and emperors court his favour and armies melt at his command and rude barbarians bow to his desire? It was because men believed in his holiness because they held him to possess the Spirit of God. Or, take our own Indian Empire, that to me is the miracle of history a small army holding in leash the millions of a conquered land. What is the power by which a little island has bound a chain round an enormous continent? Is it holiness? Alas, no, but it is none the less a power of the spirit. These millions could overwhelm us if they were mentally strong. Theirs is the homage of matter to mind. Is it not written of the forces of animal nature, ‘A little child shall lead them’.<\/p>\n

II. In the presence of the great forest of India, Britain is physically but a child; yet the myriad denizens of the forest bend beneath her sway. They could crush her at a blow; to what do they bend? To that which as yet is to them a mystery the power of mind. The gigantic river has been arrested by one pebble; the sweep of the blast has been diverted by the single leaf of a tree. There is no power on earth so secularly strong as that which sleeps within a human soul. Remember this, thou mother with the delicate babe. Remember this, when thou bendest with sorrow over that cradle which seems to enshrine a physical failure. Eve christened her son by the name of Abel a vapour. The child seemed so fragile as to be but a breath; and the mother viewed his future with dismay. Was she right? No; that little pigmy in the primitive cradle was the most surviving man of all the race ‘he yet speaketh’. Remember that, when thou lookest upon the physical feebleness of thy babe. It may survive its strong brother Cain in the work of the world. The cry may be faint; but its cry is not its crown. O thou that holdest in thine arms a feeble form, remember that the frail casket may enclose a King.<\/p>\n

G. Matheson, Messages of Hope,<\/em> p. 252.<\/p>\n

References. XXXIII. 20. W. L. Alexander, Christian Thought and Work,<\/em> p. 155. XXXIII. 21. Spurgeon, Morning by Morning,<\/em> p. 184. XXXIII. 22. J. Keble, Sermons from Septuagesima to Ash Wednesday,<\/em> p. 432. XXXIV. International Critical Commentary,<\/em> vol. i. p. 294. XXXIV. 1. J. M. Neale, Passages of the Psalms,<\/em> p. 77. XXXIV. 1-8. W. H. Aitken, Mission Sermons<\/em> (1st Series), p. 310.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

PSALMS<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

XI<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to my usual custom, when taking up the study of a book of the Bible I give at the beginning a list of books as helps to the study of that book. The following books I heartily commend on the Psalms:<\/p>\n

1. Sampey’s Syllabus for Old Testament Study<\/em><\/strong> . This is especially good on the grouping and outlining of some selected psalms. There are also some valuable suggestions on other features of the book.<\/p>\n

2. Kirkpatrick’g commentary, in “Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges,” is an excellent aid in the study of the Psalter.<\/p>\n

3. Perowne’s Book of Psalms<\/em><\/strong> is a good, scholarly treatise on the Psalms. A special feature of this commentary is the author’s “New Translation” and his notes are very helpful.<\/p>\n

4. Spurgeon’s Treasury of David. <\/em><\/strong> This is just what the title implies. It is a voluminous, devotional interpretation of the Psalms and helpful to those who have the time for such extensive study of the Psalter.<\/p>\n

5. Hengstenburg on the Psalms. This is a fine, scholarly work by one of the greatest of the conservative German scholars.<\/p>\n

6. Maclaren on the Psalms, in “The Expositor’s Bible,” is the work of the world’s safest, sanest, and best of all works that have ever been written on the Psalms.<\/p>\n

7. Thirtle on the Titles of the Psalms.<\/em><\/strong> This is the best on the subject and well worth a careful study.<\/p>\n

At this point some definitions are in order. The Hebrew word for psalm means praise. The word in English comes from psalmos<\/em> , a song of lyrical character, or a song to be sung and accompanied with a lyre. The Psalter is a collection of sacred and inspired songs, composed at different times and by different authors.<\/p>\n

The range of time in composition was more than 1,000 years, or from the time of Moses to the time of Ezra. The collection in its present form was arranged probably by Ezra in the fifth century, B.C.<\/p>\n

The Jewish classification of Old Testament books was The Law, the Prophets, and the Holy Writings. The Psalms was given the first place in the last group.<\/p>\n

They had several names, or titles, of the Psalms. In Hebrew they are called “The Book of Prayers,” or “The Book of Praises.” The Hebrew word thus used means praises. The title of the first two books is found in Psa 72:20<\/span> : “The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.” The title of the whole collection of Psalms in the Septuagint is Biblos<\/em> Psalman <\/em> which means the “Book of Psalms.” The title in the Alexandrian Codex is Psalterion <\/em> which is the name of a stringed instrument, and means “The Psalter.”<\/p>\n

The derivation of our English words, “psalms,” “psalter,” and “psaltery,” respectively, is as follows:<\/p>\n

1. “Psalms” comes from the Greek word, psalmoi,<\/em> which is also from psallein<\/em> , which means to play upon a stringed instrument. Therefore the Psalms are songs played upon stringed instruments, and the word here is used to apply to the whole collection.<\/p>\n

2. “Psalter” is of the same origin and means the Book of Psalms and refers also to the whole collection.<\/p>\n

3. “Psaltery” is from the word psalterion,<\/em> which means “a harp,” an instrument, supposed to be in the shape of a triangle or like the delta of the Greek alphabet. See Psa 33:2<\/span> ; Psa 71:22<\/span> ; Psa 81:2<\/span> ; Psa 144:9<\/span> .<\/p>\n

In our collection there are 150 psalms. In the Septuagint there is one extra. It is regarded as being outside the sacred collection and not inspired. The subject of this extra psalm is “David’s victory over Goliath.” The following is a copy of it: I was small among my brethren, And youngest in my father’s house, I used to feed my father’s sheep. My hands made a harp, My fingers fashioned a Psaltery. And who will declare unto my Lord? He is Lord, he it is who heareth. He it was who sent his angel And took me from my father’s sheep, And anointed me with the oil of his anointing. My brethren were goodly and tall, But the Lord took no pleasure in them. I went forth to meet the Philistine. And he cursed me by his idols But I drew the sword from beside him; I beheaded him and removed reproach from the children of Israel.<\/p>\n

It will be noted that this psalm does not have the earmarks of an inspired production. There is not found in it the modesty so characteristic of David, but there is here an evident spirit of boasting and self-praise which is foreign to the Spirit of inspiration.<\/p>\n

There is a difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint. Omitting the extra one in the Septuagint, there is no difference as to the total number. Both have 150 and the same subject matter, but they are not divided alike.<\/p>\n

The following scheme shows the division according to our version and also the Septuagint: Psalms 1-8 in the Hebrew equal 1-8 in the Septuagint; 9-10 in the Hebrew combine into 9 in the Septuagint; 11-113 in the Hebrew equal 10-112 in the Septuagint; 114-115 in the Hebrew combine into 113 in the Septuagint; 116 in the Hebrew divides into 114-115 in the Septuagint; 117-146 in the Hebrew equal 116-145 in the Septuagint; 147 in the Hebrew divides into 146-147 in the Septuagint; 148-150 in the Hebrew equal 148-150 in the Septuagint.<\/p>\n

The arrangement in the Vulgate is the same as the Septuagint. Also some of the older English versions have this arangement. Another difficulty in numbering perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another, viz: In the Hebrew often the title is verse I, and sometimes the title embraces verses 1-2.<\/p>\n

The book divisions of the Psalter are five books, as follows:<\/p>\n

Book I, Psalms 1-41 (41 chapters)<\/p>\n

Book II, Psalms 42-72 (31 chapters)<\/p>\n

Book III, Psalms 73-89 (17 chapters)<\/p>\n

Book IV, Psalms 90-106 (17 chapters)<\/p>\n

Book V, Psalms 107-150 (44 chapters)<\/p>\n

They are marked by an introduction and a doxology. Psalm I forms an introduction to the whole book; Psa 150<\/span> is the doxology for the whole book. The introduction and doxology of each book are the first and last psalms of each division, respectively.<\/p>\n

There were smaller collections before the final one, as follows:<\/p>\n

Books I and II were by David; Book III, by Hezekiah, and Books IV and V, by Ezra.<\/p>\n

Certain principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection:<\/p>\n

1. David is honored with first place, Book I and II, including Psalms 1-72.<\/p>\n

2. They are grouped according to the use of the name of God:<\/p>\n

(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovah psalms;<\/p>\n

(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohim-psalms;<\/p>\n

(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovah psalms.<\/p>\n

3. Book IV is introduced by the psalm of Moses, which is the first psalm written.<\/p>\n

4. Some are arranged as companion psalms, for instance, sometimes two, sometimes three, and sometimes more. Examples: Psa 2<\/span> and 3; 22, 23, and 24; 113-118.<\/p>\n

5. They were arranged for liturgical purposes, which furnished the psalms for special occasions, such as feasts, etc. We may be sure this arrangement was not accidental. An intelligent study of each case is convincing that it was determined upon rational grounds.<\/p>\n

All the psalms have titles but thirty-three, as follows:<\/p>\n

In Book I, Psa 1<\/span> ; Psa 2<\/span> ; Psa 10<\/span> ; Psa 33<\/span> , (4 are without titles).<\/p>\n

In Book II, Psa 43<\/span> ; Psa 71<\/span> , (2 are without titles).<\/p>\n

In Book IV, Psa 91<\/span> ; Psa 93<\/span> ; Psa 94<\/span> ; Psa 95<\/span> ; Psa 96<\/span> ; Psa 97<\/span> ; Psa 104<\/span> ; Psa 105<\/span> ; Psa 106<\/span> , (9 are without titles).<\/p>\n

In Book V, Psa 107<\/span> ; III; 112; 113; 114; 115; 116; 117; 118; 119; 135; 136; 137; 146; 147; 148; 149; 150, (18 are without titles).<\/p>\n

The Talmud calls these psalms that have no title, “Orphan Psalms.” The later Jews supply these titles by taking the nearest preceding author. The lack of titles in Psa 1<\/span> ; Psa 2<\/span> ; and 10 may be accounted for as follows: Psa 1<\/span> is a general introduction to the whole collection and Psa 2<\/span> was, perhaps, a part of Psa 1<\/span> . Psalms 9-10 were formerly combined into one, therefore Psa 10<\/span> has the same title as Psa 9<\/span> .<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

QUESTIONS<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. What books are commended on the Psalms?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

2. What is a psalm?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

3. What is the Psalter?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

4. What is the range of time in composition?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

5. When and by whom was the collection in its present form arranged?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

6. What the Jewish classification of Old Testament books, and what the position of the Psalter in this classification?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

7. What is the Hebrew title of the Psalms?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

8. Find the title of the first two books from the books themselves.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

9. What is the title of the whole collection of psalms in the Septuagint?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

10. What is the title in the Alexandrian Codex?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

11. What is the derivation of our English word, “Psalms”, “Psalter”, and “Psaltery,” respectively?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

12. How many psalms in our collection?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

13. How many psalms in the Septuagint?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

14. What about the extra one in the Septuagint?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

15. What is the subject of this extra psalm?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

16. How does it compare with the Canonical Psalms?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

17. What is the difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

18. What is the arrangement in the Vulgate?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

19. What other difficulty in numbering which perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

20. What are the book divisions of the Psalter and how are these divisions marked?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

21. Were there smaller collections before the final one? If so, what were they?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

22. What principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

23. In what conclusion may we rest concerning this arrangement?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

24. How many of the psalms have no titles?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

25. What does the Talmud call these psalms that have no titles?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

26. How do later Jews supply these titles?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

27. How do you account for the lack of titles in Psa 1<\/span> ; Psa 2<\/span> ; Psa 10<\/span> ?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

XII<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS (CONTINUED)<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

The following is a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms:<\/p>\n

1. The author: “A Psalm of David” (Psa 37<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

2. The occasion: “When he fled from Absalom, his son” (Psa 3<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

3. The nature, or character, of the poem: <\/p>\n

(1) Maschil, meaning “instruction,” a didactic poem (Psa 42<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

(2) Michtam, meaning “gold,” “A Golden Psalm”; this means excellence or mystery (Psa 16<\/span> ; 56-60).<\/p>\n

4. The occasion of its use: “A Psalm of David for the dedication of the house” (Psa 30<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

5. Its purpose: “A Psalm of David to bring remembrance” (Psa 38<\/span> ; Psa 70<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

6. Direction for its use: “A Psalm of David for the chief musician” (Psa 4<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

7. The kind of musical instrument:<\/p>\n

(1) Neginoth, meaning to strike a chord, as on stringed instruments (Psa 4<\/span> ; Psa 61<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

(2) Nehiloth, meaning to perforate, as a pipe or flute (Psa 5<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

(3) Shoshannim, Lilies, which refers probably to cymbals (Psa 45<\/span> ; Psa 69<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

8. A special choir:<\/p>\n

(1) Sheminith, the “eighth,” or octave below, as a male choir (Psa 6<\/span> ; Psa 12<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

(2) Alamoth, female choir (Psa 46<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

(3) Muth-labben, music with virgin voice, to be sung by a choir of boys in the treble (Psa 9<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

9. The keynote, or tune:<\/p>\n

(1) Aijeleth-sharar, “Hind of the morning,” a song to the melody of which this is sung (Psa 22<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

(2) Al-tashheth, “Destroy thou not,” the beginning of a song the tune of which is sung (Psa 57<\/span> ; Psa 58<\/span> ; Psa 59<\/span> ; Psa 75<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

(3) Gittith, set to the tune of Gath, perhaps a tune which David brought from Gath (Psa 8<\/span> ; Psa 81<\/span> ; Psa 84<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

(4) Jonath-elim-rehokim, “The dove of the distant terebinths,” the commencement of an ode to the air of which this song was to be sung (Psa 56<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

(5) Leannoth, the name of a tune (Psa 88<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

(6) Mahalath, an instrument (Psa 53<\/span> ); Leonnoth-Mahaloth, to chant to a tune called Mahaloth.<\/p>\n

(7) Shiggaion, a song or a hymn.<\/p>\n

(8) Shushan-Eduth, “Lily of testimony,” a tune (Psa 60<\/span> ). Note some examples: (1) “America,” “Shiloh,” “Auld Lang Syne.” These are the names of songs such as we are familiar with; (2) “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” and “There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood,” are examples of sacred hymns.<\/p>\n

10. The liturgical use, those noted for the feasts, e.g., the Hallels and Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 146-150).<\/p>\n

11. The destination, as “Song of Ascents” (Psalms 120-134)<\/p>\n

12. The direction for the music, such as Selah, which means “Singers, pause”; Higgaion-Selah, to strike a symphony with selah, which means an instrumental interlude (Psa 9:16<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

The longest and fullest title to any of the psalms is the title to Psa 60<\/span> . The items of information from this title are as follows: (1) the author; (2) the chief musician; (3) the historical occasion; (4) the use, or design; (5) the style of poetry; (6) the instrument or style of music.<\/p>\n

The parts of these superscriptions which most concern us now are those indicating author, occasion, and date. As to the historic value or trustworthiness of these titles most modern scholars deny that they are a part of the Hebrew text, but the oldest Hebrew text of which we know anything had all of them. This is the text from which the Septuagint was translated. It is much more probable that the author affixed them than later writers. There is no internal evidence in any of the psalms that disproves the correctness of them, but much to confirm. The critics disagree among themselves altogether as to these titles. Hence their testimony cannot consistently be received. Nor can it ever be received until they have at least agreed upon a common ground of opposition.<\/p>\n

David is the author of more than half the entire collection, the arrangement of which is as follows:<\/p>\n

1. Seventy-three are ascribed to him in the superscriptions.<\/p>\n

2. Some of these are but continuations of the preceding ones of a pair, trio, or larger group.<\/p>\n

3. Some of the Korahite Psalms are manifestly Davidic.<\/p>\n

4. Some not ascribed to him in the titles are attributed to him expressly by New Testament writers.<\/p>\n

5. It is not possible to account for some parts of the Psalter without David. The history of his early life as found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1and 2 Chronicles, not only shows his remarkable genius for patriotic and sacred songs and music, but also shows his cultivation of that gift in the schools of the prophets. Some of these psalms of the history appear in the Psalter itself. It is plain to all who read these that they are founded on experience, and the experience of no other Hebrew fits the case. These experiences are found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles.<\/p>\n

As to the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition, I have this to say:<\/p>\n

1. This theory has no historical support whatever, and therefore is not to be accepted at all.<\/p>\n

2. It has no support in tradition, which weakens the contention of the critics greatly.<\/p>\n

3. It has no support from finding any one with the necessary experience for their basis.<\/p>\n

4. They can give no reasonable account as to how the titles ever got there.<\/p>\n

5. It is psychologically impossible for anyone to have written these 150 psalms in the Maccabean times.<\/p>\n

6. Their position is expressly contrary to the testimony of Christ and the apostles. Some of the psalms which they ascribe to the Maccabean Age are attributed to David by Christ himself, who said that David wrote them in the Spirit.<\/p>\n

The obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result if it be Just, is a positive denial of the inspiration of both Testaments.<\/p>\n

Other authors are named in the titles, as follows: (1) Asaph, to whom twelve psalms have been assigned: (2) Mosee, Psa 90<\/span> ; (3) Solomon, Psa 72<\/span> ; Psa 127<\/span> ; (4) Heman, Psa 80<\/span> ; (5) Ethem, Psa 89<\/span> ; (6) A number of the psalms are ascribed to the sons of Korah.<\/p>\n

Not all the psalms ascribed to Asaph were composed by one person. History indicates that Asaph’s family presided over the song service for several generations. Some of them were composed by his descendants by the game name. The five general outlines of the whole collection are as follows:<\/p>\n

I. By books<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Psalms 1-41 (41)<\/p>\n

2. Psalms 42-72 (31)<\/p>\n

3. Psalms 73-89 (17)<\/p>\n

4. Psalms 90-106 (17)<\/p>\n

5. Psalms 107-150 (44)<\/p>\n

II. According to date and authorship<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. The psalm of Moses (Psa 90<\/span> )<\/p>\n

2. Psalms of David:<\/p>\n

(1) The shepherd boy (Psa 8<\/span> ; Psa 19<\/span> ; Psa 29<\/span> ; Psa 23<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

(2) David when persecuted by Saul (Psa 59<\/span> ; Psa 56<\/span> ; Psa 34<\/span> ; Psa 52<\/span> ; Psa 54<\/span> ; Psa 57<\/span> ; Psa 142<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

(3) David the King (Psa 101<\/span> ; Psa 18<\/span> ; Psa 24<\/span> ; Psa 2<\/span> ; Psa 110<\/span> ; Psa 20<\/span> ; Psa 20<\/span> ; Psa 21<\/span> ; Psa 60<\/span> ; Psa 51<\/span> ; Psa 32<\/span> ; Psa 41<\/span> ; Psa 55<\/span> ; Psa 3:4<\/span> ; Psa 64<\/span> ; Psa 62<\/span> ; Psa 61<\/span> ; Psa 27<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

3. The Asaph Psalms (Psa 50<\/span> ; Psa 73<\/span> ; Psa 83<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

4. The Korahite Psalms (Psa 42<\/span> ; Psa 43<\/span> ; Psa 84<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

5. The psalms of Solomon (Psa 72<\/span> ; Psa 127<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

6. The psalms of the era of Hezekiah and Isaiah (Psa 46<\/span> ; Psa 47<\/span> ; Psa 48<\/span> )<\/p>\n

7. The psalms of the Exile (Psa 74<\/span> ; Psa 79<\/span> ; Psa 137<\/span> ; Psa 102<\/span> )<\/p>\n

8. The psalms of the Restoration (Psa 85<\/span> ; Psa 126<\/span> ; Psa 118<\/span> ; 146-150)<\/p>\n

III. By groups<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. The Jehovistic and Elohistic Psalms:<\/p>\n

(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovistic;<\/p>\n

(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohistic Psalms;<\/p>\n

(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovistic.<\/p>\n

2. The Penitential Psalms (Psa 6<\/span> ; Psa 32<\/span> ; Psa 38<\/span> ; Psa 51<\/span> ; Psa 102<\/span> ; Psa 130<\/span> ; Psa 143<\/span> )<\/p>\n

3. The Pilgrim Psalms (Psalms 120-134)<\/p>\n

4. The Alphabetical Psalms (Psa 9<\/span> ; Psa 10<\/span> ; Psa 25<\/span> ; Psa 34<\/span> ; Psa 37<\/span> ; 111:112; Psa 119<\/span> ; Psa 145<\/span> )<\/p>\n

5. The Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 11-113; 115-117; 146-150; to which may be added Psa 135<\/span> ) Psalms 113-118 are called “the Egyptian Hallel”<\/p>\n

IV. Doctrines of the Psalms<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. The throne of grace and how to approach it by sacrifice, prayer, and praise.<\/p>\n

2. The covenant, the basis of worship.<\/p>\n

3. The paradoxical assertions of both innocence & guilt.<\/p>\n

4. The pardon of sin and justification.<\/p>\n

5. The Messiah.<\/p>\n

6. The future life, pro and con.<\/p>\n

7. The imprecations.<\/p>\n

8. Other doctrines.<\/p>\n

V. The New Testament use of the Psalms<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Direct references and quotations in the New Testament.<\/p>\n

2. The allusions to the psalms in the New Testament. Certain experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart, such as: (1) his peaceful early life; (2) his persecution by Saul; (3) his being crowned king of the people; (4) the bringing up of the ark; (5) his first great sin; (6) Absalom’s rebellion; (7) his second great sin; (8) the great promise made to him in 2Sa 7<\/span> ; (9) the feelings of his old age.<\/p>\n

We may classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time, thus:<\/p>\n

1. His peaceful early life (Psa 8<\/span> ; Psa 19<\/span> ; Psa 29<\/span> ; Psa 23<\/span> )<\/p>\n

2. His persecution by Saul (Psa 59<\/span> ; Psa 56<\/span> ; Psa 34<\/span> ; Psa 7<\/span> ; Psa 52<\/span> ; Psa 120<\/span> ; Psa 140<\/span> ; Psa 54<\/span> ; Psa 57<\/span> ; Psa 142<\/span> ; Psa 17<\/span> ; Psa 18<\/span> )<\/p>\n

3. Making David King (Psa 27<\/span> ; Psa 133<\/span> ; Psa 101<\/span> )<\/p>\n

4. Bringing up the ark (Psa 68<\/span> ; Psa 24<\/span> ; Psa 132<\/span> ; Psa 15<\/span> ; Psa 78<\/span> ; Psa 96<\/span> )<\/p>\n

5. His first great sin (Psa 51<\/span> ; Psa 32<\/span> )<\/p>\n

6. Absalom’s rebellion (Psa 41<\/span> ; Psa 6<\/span> ; Psa 55<\/span> ; Psa 109<\/span> ; Psa 38<\/span> ; Psa 39<\/span> ; Psa 3<\/span> ; Psa 4<\/span> ; Psa 63<\/span> ; Psa 42<\/span> ; Psa 43<\/span> ; Psa 5<\/span> ; Psa 62<\/span> ; Psa 61<\/span> ; Psa 27<\/span> )<\/p>\n

7. His second great sin (Psa 69<\/span> ; Psa 71<\/span> ; Psa 102<\/span> ; Psa 103<\/span> )<\/p>\n

8. The great promise made to him in 2Sa 7<\/span> (Psa 2<\/span> )<\/p>\n

9. Feelings of old age (Psa 37<\/span> )<\/p>\n

The great doctrines of the psalms may be noted as follows: (1) the being and attributes of God; (3) sin, both original and individual; (3) both covenants; (4) the doctrine of justification; (5) concerning the Messiah.<\/p>\n

There is a striking analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms. The Pentateuch contains five books of law; the Psalms contain five books of heart responses to the law.<\/p>\n

It is interesting to note the historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms. These were controversies about singing uninspired songs, in the Middle Ages. The church would not allow anything to be used but psalms.<\/p>\n

The history in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah is very valuable toward a proper interpretation of the psalms. These books furnish the historical setting for a great many of the psalms which is very indispensable to their proper interpretation.<\/p>\n

Professor James Robertson, in the Poetry and Religion of the Psalms constructs a broad and strong argument in favor of the Davidic Psalms, as follows:<\/p>\n

1. The age of David furnished promising soil for the growth of poetry.<\/p>\n

2. David’s qualifications for composing the psalms make it highly probable that David is the author of the psalms ascribed to him.<\/p>\n

3. The arguments against the possibility of ascribing to David any of the hymns in the Hebrew Psalter rests upon assumptions that are thoroughly antibiblical.<\/p>\n

The New Testament makes large use of the psalms and we learn much as to their importance in teaching. There are seventy direct quotations in the New Testament from this book, from which we learn that the Scriptures were used extensively in accord with 2Ti 3:16-17<\/span> . There are also eleven references to the psalms in the New Testament from which we learn that the New Testament writers were thoroughly imbued with the spirit and teaching of the psalms. Then there are eight allusions ‘to this book in the New Testament from which we gather that the Psalms was one of the divisions of the Old Testament and that they were used in the early church.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

QUESTIONS<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Give a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

2. What is the longest title to any of the psalms and what the items of this title?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

3. What parts of these superscriptions most concern us now?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

4. What is the historic value, or trustworthiness of these titles?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

5. State the argument showing David’s relation to the psalms.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

6. What have you to say of the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

7. What the obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result, if it be just?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

8. What other authors are named in the titles?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

9. Were all the psalms ascribed to Asaph composed by one person?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

10. Give the five general outlines of the whole collection, as follows: I. The outline by books II. The outline according to date and authorship III. The outline by groups IV. The outline of doctrines V. The outline by New Testament quotations or allusions.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

11. What experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

12. Classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

13. What the great doctrines of the psalms?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

14. What analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

15. What historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

16. Of what value is the history in Samuel, 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah toward a proper interpretation of the psalms?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

17. Give Professor James Robertson’s argument in favor of the Davidic authorship of the psalms.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

18. What can you say of the New Testament use of the psalms and what do we learn as to their importance in teaching?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

19. What can you say of the New Testament references to the psalms, and from the New Testament references what the impression on the New Testament writers?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

20. What can you say of the allusions to the psalms in the New Testament?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

XVII<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

THE MESSIAH IN THE PSALMS<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

A fine text for this chapter is as follows: “All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Psalms concerning me,” Luk 24:44<\/span> . I know of no better way to close my brief treatise on the Psalms than to discuss the subject of the Messiah as revealed in this book.<\/p>\n

Attention has been called to the threefold division of the Old Testament cited by our Lord, namely, the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms (Luk 24:44<\/span> ), in all of which were the prophecies relating to himself that “must be fulfilled.” It has been shown just what Old Testament books belong to each of these several divisions. The division called the Psalms included many books, styled Holy Writings, and because the Psalms proper was the first book of the division it gave the name to the whole division.<\/p>\n

The object of this discussion is to sketch the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah, or rather, to show how nearly a complete picture of our Lord is foredrawn in this one book. Let us understand however with Paul, that all prophecy is but in part (1Co 13:9<\/span> ), and that when we fill in on one canvas all the prophecies concerning the Messiah of all the Old Testament divisions, we are far from having a perfect portrait of our Lord. The present purpose is limited to three things:<\/p>\n

1. What the book of the Psalms teaches concerning the Messiah.<\/p>\n

2. That the New Testament shall authoritatively specify and expound this teaching.<\/p>\n

3. That the many messianic predictions scattered over the book and the specifications thereof over the New Testament may be grouped into an orderly analysis, so that by the adjustment of the scattered parts we may have before us a picture of our Lord as foreseen by the psalmists.<\/p>\n

In allowing the New Testament to authoritatively specify and expound the predictive features of the book, I am not unmindful of what the so-called “higher critics” urge against the New Testament quotations from the Old Testament and the use made of them. In this discussion, however, these objections are not considered, for sufficient reasons. There is not space for it. Even at the risk of being misjudged I must just now summarily pass all these objections, dismissing them with a single statement upon which the reader may place his own estimate of value. That statement is that in the days of my own infidelity, before this old method of criticism had its new name, I was quite familiar with the most and certainly the strongest of the objections now classified as higher criticism, and have since patiently re-examined them in their widely conflicting restatements under their modern name, and find my faith in the New Testament method of dealing with the Old Testament in no way shattered, but in every way confirmed. God is his own interpreter. The Old Testament as we now have it was in the hands of our Lord. I understand his apostle to declare, substantially, that “every one of these sacred scriptures is God-inspired and is profitable for teaching us what is right to believe and to do, for convincing us what is wrong in faith or practice, for rectifying the wrong when done, that we may be ready at every point, furnished completely, to do every good work, at the right time, in the right manner, and from the proper motive” (2Ti 3:16-17<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

This New Testament declares that David was a prophet (Act 2:30<\/span> ), that he spake by the Holy Spirit (Act 1:16<\/span> ), that when the book speaks the Holy Spirit speaks (Heb 3:7<\/span> ), and that all its predictive utterances, as sacred Scripture, “must be fulfilled” (Joh 13:18<\/span> ; Act 1:16<\/span> ). It is not claimed that David wrote all the psalms, but that all are inspired, and that as he was the chief author, the book goes by his name.<\/p>\n

It would be a fine thing to make out two lists, as follows:<\/p>\n

1. All of the 150 psalms in order from which the New Testament quotes with messianic application.<\/p>\n

2. The New Testament quotations, book by book, i.e., Matthew so many, and then the other books in their order.<\/p>\n

We would find in neither of these any order as to time, that is, Psa 1<\/span> which forecasts an incident in the coming Messiah’s life does not forecast the first incident of his life. And even the New Testament citations are not in exact order as to time and incident of his life. To get the messianic picture before us, therefore, we must put the scattered parts together in their due relation and order, and so construct our own analysis. That is the prime object of this discussion. It is not claimed that the analysis now presented is perfect. It is too much the result of hasty, offhand work by an exceedingly busy man. It will serve, however, as a temporary working model, which any one may subsequently improve. We come at once to the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah.<\/p>\n

1. The necessity for a Saviour. This foreseen necessity is a background of the psalmists’ portrait of the Messiah. The necessity consists in (1) man’s sinfulness; (2) his sin; (3) his inability of wisdom and power to recover himself; (4) the insufficiency of legal, typical sacrifices in securing atonement.<\/p>\n

The predicate of Paul’s great argument on justification by faith is the universal depravity and guilt of man. He is everywhere corrupt in nature; everywhere an actual transgressor; everywhere under condemnation. But the scriptural proofs of this depravity and sin the apostle draws mainly from the book of the Psalms. In one paragraph of the letter to the Romans (Rom 3:4-18<\/span> ), he cites and groups six passages from six divisions of the Psalms (Psa 5:9<\/span> ; Psa 10:7<\/span> ; Psa 14:1-3<\/span> ; Psa 36:1<\/span> ; Psa 51:4-6<\/span> ; Psa 140:3<\/span> ). These passages abundantly prove man’s sinfulness, or natural depravity, and his universal practice of sin.<\/p>\n

The predicate also of the same apostle’s great argument for revelation and salvation by a Redeemer is man’s inability of wisdom and power to re-establish communion with God. In one of his letters to the Corinthians he thus commences his argument: “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? -For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preach-ing to save them that believe.” He closes this discussion with the broad proposition: “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God,” and proves it by a citation from Psa 94:11<\/span> : “The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.”<\/p>\n

In like manner our Lord himself pours scorn on human wisdom and strength by twice citing Psa 8<\/span> : “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight” (Mat 11:25-26<\/span> ). “And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children that were crying in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, and said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?” (Mat 21:15-16<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

But the necessity for a Saviour as foreseen by the psalmist did not stop at man’s depravity, sin, and helplessness. The Jews were trusting in the sacrifices of their law offered on the smoking altar. The inherent weakness of these offerings, their lack of intrinsic merit, their ultimate abolition, their complete fulfilment and supercession by a glorious antitype were foreseen and foreshown in this wonderful prophetic book: I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices; And thy burnt offerings are continually before me. I will take no bullock out of thy house, Nor he-goat out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, And the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all of the birds of the mountains; And the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of goats? Psa 50:8-13<\/span> .<\/p>\n

Yet again it speaks in that more striking passage cited in the letter to the Hebrews: “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers, once purged should have no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance made of sins year by year. For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, But a body didst thou prepare for me; In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hadst no pleasure: Then said I, Lo, I am come (In the roll of the book it is written of me) To do thy will, O God. Saying above, Sacrifice and offering and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou wouldst not, neither hadst pleasure therein, (the which are offered according to the law), then hath he said, Lo, I am come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second” (Heb 10:1-9<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

This keen foresight of the temporary character and intrinsic worthlessness of animal sacrifices anticipated similar utterances by the later prophets (Isa 1:10-17<\/span> ; Jer 6:20<\/span> ; Jer 7:21-23<\/span> ; Hos 6:6<\/span> ; Amo 5:21<\/span> ; Mic 6:6-8<\/span> ). Indeed, I may as well state in passing that when the apostle declares, “It is impossible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins,” he lays down a broad principle, just as applicable to baptism and the Lord’s Supper. With reverence I state the principle: Not even God himself by mere appointment can vest in any ordinance, itself lacking intrinsic merit, the power to take away sin. There can be, therefore, in the nature of the case, no sacramental salvation. This would destroy the justice of God in order to exalt his mercy. Clearly the psalmist foresaw that “truth and mercy must meet together” before “righteousness and peace could kiss each other” (Psa 85:10<\/span> ). Thus we find as the dark background of the psalmists’ luminous portrait of the Messiah, the necessity for a Saviour.<\/p>\n

2. The nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah. In no other prophetic book are the nature, fullness, and blessedness of salvation so clearly seen and so vividly portrayed. Besides others not now enumerated, certainly the psalmists clearly forecast four great elements of salvation:<\/p>\n

(1) An atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit offered once for all (Psa 40:6-8<\/span> ; Heb 10:4-10<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

(2) Regeneration itself consisting of cleansing, renewal, and justification. We hear his impassioned statement of the necessity of regeneration: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts,” followed by his earnest prayer: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me,” and his equally fervent petition: “Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psa 51<\/span> ). And we hear him again as Paul describes the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputes righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, And whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not reckon sin Psa 32:1<\/span> ; Rom 4:6-8<\/span> .<\/p>\n

(3) Introduction into the heavenly rest (Psa 95:7-11<\/span> ; Heb 3:7-19<\/span> ; Heb 4:1-11<\/span> ). Here is the antitypical Joshua leading spiritual Israel across the Jordan of death into the heavenly Canaan, the eternal rest that remaineth for the people of God. Here we find creation’s original sabbath eclipsed by redemption’s greater sabbath when the Redeemer “entered his rest, ceasing from his own works as God did from his.”<\/p>\n

(4) The recovery of all the universal dominion lost by the first Adam and the securement of all possible dominion which the first Adam never attained (Psa 8:5-6<\/span> ; Eph 1:20-22<\/span> ; Heb 2:7-9<\/span> ; 1Co 15:24-28<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

What vast extent then and what blessedness in the salvation foreseen by the psalmists, and to be wrought by the Messiah. Atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit; regeneration by the Holy Spirit; heavenly rest as an eternal inheritance; and universal dominion shared with Christ!<\/p>\n

3. The wondrous person of the Messiah in his dual nature, divine and human.<\/p>\n

(1) His divinity,<\/p>\n

\n

(a) as God: “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever” (Psa 45:6<\/span> and Heb 1:8<\/span> ) ;<\/p>\n

\n

(b) as creator of the heavens and earth, immutable and eternal: Of old didst thou lay the foundation of the earth; And the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; As a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed. But thou art the same, And thy years shall have no end Psa 102:25-27<\/span> quoted with slight changes in Heb 1:10-12<\/span> .<\/p>\n

(c) As owner of the earth: The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein, Psa 24:1<\/span> quoted in 1Co 10:26<\/span> .<\/p>\n

(d) As the Son of God: “Thou art my Son; This day have I begotten thee” Psa 2:7<\/span> ; Heb 1:5<\/span> .<\/p>\n

(e) As David’s Lord: The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool, Psa 110:1<\/span> ; Mat 22:41-46<\/span> .<\/p>\n

(f) As the object of angelic worship: “And let all the angels of God worship him” Psa 97:7<\/span> ; Heb 1:6<\/span> .<\/p>\n

(g) As the Bread of life: And he rained down manna upon them to eat, And gave them food from heaven Psa 78:24<\/span> ; interpreted in Joh 6:31-58<\/span> . These are but samples which ascribe deity to the Messiah of the psalmists.<\/p>\n

(2) His humanity, (a) As the Son of man, or Son of Adam: Psa 8:4-6<\/span> , cited in 1Co 15:24-28<\/span> ; Eph 1:20-22<\/span> ; Heb 2:7-9<\/span> . Compare Luke’s genealogy, Luk 3:23-38<\/span> . This is the ideal man, or Second Adam, who regains Paradise Lost, who recovers race dominion, in whose image all his spiritual lineage is begotten. 1Co 15:45-49<\/span> . (b) As the Son of David: Psa 18:50<\/span> ; Psa 89:4<\/span> ; Psa 89:29<\/span> ; Psa 89:36<\/span> ; Psa 132:11<\/span> , cited in Luk 1:32<\/span> ; Act 13:22-23<\/span> ; Rom 1:3<\/span> ; 2Ti 2:8<\/span> . Perhaps a better statement of the psalmists’ vision of the wonderful person of the Messiah would be: He saw the uncreated Son, the second person of the trinity, in counsel and compact with the Father, arranging in eternity for the salvation of men: Psa 40:6-8<\/span> ; Heb 10:5-7<\/span> . Then he saw this Holy One stoop to be the Son of man: Psa 8:4-6<\/span> ; Heb 2:7-9<\/span> . Then he was the son of David, and then he saw him rise again to be the Son of God: Psa 2:7<\/span> ; Rom 1:3-4<\/span> .<\/p>\n

4. His offices.<\/p>\n

(1) As the one atoning sacrifice (Psa 40:6-8<\/span> ; Heb 10:5-7<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

(2) As the great Prophet, or Preacher (Psa 40:9-10<\/span> ; Psa 22:22<\/span> ; Heb 2:12<\/span> ). Even the method of his teaching by parable was foreseen (Psa 78:2<\/span> ; Mat 13:35<\/span> ). Equally also the grace, wisdom, and power of his teaching. When the psalmist declares that “Grace is poured into thy lips” (Psa 45:2<\/span> ), we need not be startled when we read that all the doctors in the Temple who heard him when only a boy “were astonished at his understanding and answers” (Luk 2:47<\/span> ); nor that his home people at Nazareth “all bear him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth” (Luk 4:22<\/span> ); nor that those of his own country were astonished, and said, “Whence hath this man this wisdom?” (Mat 13:54<\/span> ); nor that the Jews in the Temple marveled, saying, “How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” (Joh 7:15<\/span> ) ; nor that the stern officers of the law found their justification in failure to arrest him in the declaration, “Never man spake like this man” (Joh 7:46<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

(3) As the king (Psa 2:6<\/span> ; Psa 24:7-10<\/span> ; Psa 45:1-17<\/span> ; Psa 110:1<\/span> ; Mat 22:42-46<\/span> ; Act 2:33-36<\/span> ; 1Co 15:25<\/span> ; Eph 1:20<\/span> ; Heb 1:13<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

(4) As the priest (Psa 110:4<\/span> ; Heb 5:5-10<\/span> ; Heb 7:1-21<\/span> ; Heb 10:12-14<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

(5) As the final judge. The very sentence of expulsion pronounced upon the finally impenitent by the great judge (Mat 25:41<\/span> ) is borrowed from the psalmist’s prophetic words (Psa 6:8<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

5. Incidents of life. The psalmists not only foresaw the necessity for a Saviour; the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation; the wonderful human-divine person of the Saviour; the offices to be filled by him in the work of salvation, but also many thrilling details of his work in life, death, resurrection, and exaltation. It is not assumed to cite all these details, but some of the most important are enumerated in order, thus:<\/p>\n

(1) The visit, adoration, and gifts of the Magi recorded in Mat 2<\/span> are but partial fulfilment of Psa 72:9-10<\/span> .<\/p>\n

(2) The scripture employed by Satan in the temptation of our Lord (Luk 4:10-11<\/span> ) was cited from Psa 91:11-12<\/span> and its pertinency not denied.<\/p>\n

(3) In accounting for his intense earnestness and the apparently extreme measures adopted by our Lord in his first purification of the Temple (Joh 2:17<\/span> ), he cites the messianic zeal predicted in Psa 69:9<\/span> .<\/p>\n

(4) Alienation from his own family was one of the saddest trials of our Lord’s earthly life. They are slow to understand his mission and to enter into sympathy with him. His self-abnegation and exhaustive toil were regarded by them as evidences of mental aberration, and it seems at one time they were ready to resort to forcible restraint of his freedom) virtually what in our time would be called arrest under a writ of lunacy. While at the last his half-brothers became distinguished preachers of his gospel, for a long while they do not believe on him. And the evidence forces us to the conclusion that his own mother shared with her other sons, in kind though not in degree, the misunderstanding of the supremacy of his mission over family relations. The New Testament record speaks for itself:<\/p>\n

Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them. How is it that ye sought me? Knew ye not that I must be in my Father’s house? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them Luk 2:48-51<\/span> (R.V.).<\/p>\n

And when the wine failed, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. And Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. Joh 2:3-5<\/span> (R.V.).<\/p>\n

And there come his mother and his brethren; and standing without; they sent unto him, calling him. And a multitude was sitting about him; and they say unto him. Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answereth them, and saith, Who is my mother and my brethren? And looking round on them that sat round about him, he saith, Behold, my mother and my brethren) For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother Mar 3:31-35<\/span> (R.V.).<\/p>\n

Now the feast of the Jews, the feast of tabernacles, was at hand. His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples also may behold thy works which thou doest. For no man doeth anything in secret, and himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou doest these things, manifest thyself to the world. For even his brethren did not believe on him. Jesus therefore saith unto them, My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that its works are evil. Go ye up unto the feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; because my time is not fulfilled. Joh 7:2-9<\/span> (R.V.).<\/p>\n

These citations from the Revised Version tell their own story. But all that sad story is foreshown in the prophetic psalms. For example: I am become a stranger unto my brethren, And an alien unto my mother’s children. Psa 69:8<\/span> .<\/p>\n

(5) The triumphal entry into Jerusalem was welcomed by a joyous people shouting a benediction from Psa 118:26<\/span> : “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Mat 21:9<\/span> ); and the Lord’s lamentation over Jerusalem predicts continued desolation and banishment from his sight until the Jews are ready to repeat that benediction (Mat 23:39<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

(6) The children’s hosanna in the Temple after its second purgation is declared by our Lord to be a fulfilment of that perfect praise forecast in Psa 8:2<\/span> .<\/p>\n

(7) The final rejection of our Lord by his own people was also clear in the psalmist’s vision (Psa 118:22<\/span> ; Mat 21:42-44<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

(8) Gethsemane’s baptism of suffering, with its strong crying and tears and prayers was as clear to the psalmist’s prophetic vision as to the evangelist and apostle after it became history (Psa 69:1-4<\/span> ; Psa 69:13-20<\/span> ; and Mat 26:36-44<\/span> ; Heb 5:7<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

(9) In life-size also before the psalmist was the betrayer of Christ and his doom (Psa 41:9<\/span> ; Psa 69:25<\/span> ; Psa 109:6-8<\/span> ; Joh 13:18<\/span> ; Act 1:20<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

(10) The rage of the people, Jew and Gentile, and the conspiracy of Pilate and Herod are clearly outlined (Psa 2:1-3<\/span> ; Act 4:25-27<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

(11) All the farce of his trial the false accusation, his own marvelous silence; and the inhuman maltreatment to which he was subjected, is foreshown in the prophecy as dramatically as in the history (Mat 26:57-68<\/span> ; Mat 27:26-31<\/span> ; Psa 27:12<\/span> ; Psa 35:15-16<\/span> ; Psa 38:3<\/span> ; Psa 69:19<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

The circumstances of his death, many and clear, are distinctly foreseen. He died in the prime of life (Psa 89:45<\/span> ; Psa 102:23-24<\/span> ). He died by crucifixion (Psa 22:14-17<\/span> ; Luk 23<\/span> ; 33; Joh 19:23-37<\/span> ; Joh 20:27<\/span> ). But yet not a bone of his body was broken (Psa 34:20<\/span> ; Joh 19:36<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

The persecution, hatred without a cause, the mockery and insults, are all vividly and dramatically foretold (Psa 22:6-13<\/span> ; Psa 35:7<\/span> ; Psa 35:12<\/span> ; Psa 35:15<\/span> ; Psa 35:21<\/span> ; Psa 109:25<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

The parting of his garments and the gambling for his vesture (Psa 22:18<\/span> ; Mat 27:35<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

His intense thirst and the gall and vinegar offered for his drink (Psa 69:21<\/span> ; Mat 27:34<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

In the psalms, too, we hear his prayers for his enemies so remarkably fulfilled in fact (Psa 109:4<\/span> ; Luk 23:34<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

His spiritual death was also before the eye of the psalmist, and the very words which expressed it the psalmist heard. Separation from the Father is spiritual death. The sinner’s substitute must die the sinner’s death, death physical, i.e., separation of soul from body; death spiritual, i.e., separation of the soul from God. The latter is the real death and must precede the former. This death the substitute died when he cried out: “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me.” (Psa 22:1<\/span> ; Mat 27:46<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

Emerging from the darkness of that death, which was the hour of the prince of darkness, the psalmist heard him commend his spirit to the Father (Psa_31:35; Luk 23:46<\/span> ) showing that while he died the spiritual death, his soul was not permanently abandoned unto hell (Psa 16:8-10<\/span> ; Act 2:25<\/span> ) so that while he “tasted death” for every man it was not permanent death (Heb 2:9<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

With equal clearness the psalmist foresaw his resurrection, his triumph over death and hell, his glorious ascension into heaven, and his exaltation at the right hand of God as King of kings and Lord of lords, as a high Driest forever, as invested with universal sovereignty (Psa 16:8-11<\/span> ; Psa 24:7-10<\/span> ; Psa 68:18<\/span> ; Psa 2:6<\/span> ; Psa 111:1-4<\/span> ; Psa 8:4-6<\/span> ; Act 2:25-36<\/span> ; Eph 1:19-23<\/span> ; Eph 4:8-10<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

We see, therefore, brethren, when the scattered parts are put together and adjusted, how nearly complete a portrait of our Lord is put upon the prophetic canvas by this inspired limner, the sweet singer of Israel.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

QUESTIONS<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. What is a good text for this chapter?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

2. What is the threefold division of the Old Testament as cited by our Lord?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

3. What is the last division called and why?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

4. What is the object of the discussion in this chapter?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

5. To what three things is the purpose limited?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

6. What especially qualifies the author to meet the objections of the higher critics to allowing the New Testament usage of the Old Testament to determine its meaning and application?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

7. What is the author’s conviction relative to the Scriptures?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

8. What is the New Testament testimony on the question of inspiration?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

9. What is the author’s suggested plan of approach to the study of the Messiah in the Psalms?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

10. What the background of the Psalmist’s portrait of the Messiah and of what does it consist?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

11. Give the substance of Paul’s discussion of man’s sinfulness.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

12. What is the teaching of Jesus on this point?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

13. What is the teaching relative to sacrifices?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

14. What the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah and what the four great elements of it as forecast by the psalmist?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

15. What is the teaching of the psalms relative to the wondrous person of the Messiah? Discuss.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

16. What are the offices of the Messiah according to psalms? Discuss each.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

17. Cite the more important events of the Messiah’s life according to the vision of the psalmist.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

18. What the circumstances of the Messiah’s death and resurrection as foreseen by the psalmist?<\/p>\n

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Psa 33:1 Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: [for] praise is comely for the upright.<\/p>\n

Ver. 1. Rejoice in the Lord, O ye rightness<\/strong> ] That is, O ye upright in heart, as it followeth here, and as Psa 32:11<\/span> . For as there he ended, so here he beginneth, calling upon the saints to be cheerful; and indeed there is hardly any duty more pressed in the Old and New Testament, or less practised. To quicken them, therefore, to so necessary but much neglected a duty, this psalm seemeth to be added to the former, purposely to excite us, by many arguments, to consecrate our whole lives to the singing and setting forth of God’s worthy praises. In which regard nihil potest esse hoc carmine augustius,<\/em> saith Beza, this is surely a most excellent psalm; and if it were well practised we might have a very heaven here; as because it is not, we lose very much of the comtbrt of our lives. Only that cautionating counsel of Bernard would not be forgotten, Laeti simus, non securi; gaudentes in Spiritu Sancto, sed tamen caventes a recidivo; <\/em> Let us be cheerful, but not secure; and rejoice in the Holy Ghost, but take heed we let not fall the watch of the Lord. Crede mihi res severa est gaudium verum,<\/em> Believe me, true joy is a severe matter, said Seneca. We may better say so of spiritual joy, which he never tasted of, neither doth any stranger meddle with. And if Plato could tell the musicians, philosophers could tell how to be merry without music; much more may God’s people. Quid nobis cum fabulis, cure risu?<\/em> saith Bernard, What have we to do with carnal mirth and jollity? &c.; we have meat to eat, and music to our meat, that the world knoweth not of; let us make us merry with it. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

For praise is comely for the upright<\/strong> ] For them, and for none but them; high words are not fit for a fool, saith Solomon. Laudari ab illaudato,<\/em> to be praised by a praiseless person is no praise at all (Seneca). That State in story would not approve of good words from an evil mouth; no more doth God, Psa 50:15-16<\/span> . Christ would not suffer the devil to confess him. Hypocrisy slurreth all it toucheth. If a man should sing a good song with his voice, and play a bad one on his instrument, it would make but a black sanctus. Such is the praise of the unupright; who had better therefore be silent, unless themselves were better, since they do not only lose their labour, but commit sin. Displeasing service is double dishonour; and dissembled sanctity double iniquity.<\/p>\n

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

This is clearly a pendant on its predecessor, and begins where it left off, carrying on the joy and praise.<\/p>\n

When deliverance, and especially of an inward sort, is known, joy flows. Jehovah in word and deed is manifest and celebrated. The nations, once dreaded, are nothing before Him. Blessed is the nation whose God is Jehovah, Whose counsel alone stands when theirs is made void. He saw all, when it seemed not. His eye is toward those that feared Him and hoped in His mercy, as the remnant did. He would have His people happy in the knowledge of Himself; and Israel will know Him in displays of power on their behalf here below. We ought to know our God still better, viewing the cross of Christ in the light of His heavenly glory. Compare Joh 16:9-14<\/span> .<\/p>\n

Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 33:1-5<\/p>\n

1Sing for joy in the Lord, O you righteous ones;<\/p>\n

Praise is becoming to the upright.<\/p>\n

2Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;<\/p>\n

Sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings.<\/p>\n

3Sing to Him a new song;<\/p>\n

Play skillfully with a shout of joy.<\/p>\n

4For the word of the Lord is upright,<\/p>\n

And all His work is done in faithfulness.<\/p>\n

5He loves righteousness and justice;<\/p>\n

The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord. <\/p>\n

Psa 33:1-5 The first three verses set the mood of the Psalm in praise to God (i.e., five parallel imperatives). <\/p>\n

1. sing for joy in the Lord BDB 943, KB 1247, Piel imperative (this same verb ends Psalms 32)<\/p>\n

2. praise BDB 392, KB 389, Hiphil imperative <\/p>\n

3. sing praises to Him BDB 274, KB 273, Piel imperative <\/p>\n

4. sing to Him BDB 1010, KB 1479, Qal imperative <\/p>\n

5. play skillfully (BDB 618, KB 668, Piel infinitive construct) with a shout of joy BDB 405, KB 408, Hiphil imperative <\/p>\n

Psa 33:4-5 give the reasons for praise. <\/p>\n

1. YHWH’s word (BDB 182) is upright (BDB 449) <\/p>\n

2. all His work is done in faithfulness (BDB 53, see SPECIAL TOPIC: Believe, Trust, Faith, and Faithfulness in the Old Testament ) <\/p>\n

3. He loves righteousness (BDB 842, see SPECIAL TOPIC: RIGHTEOUSNESS ) and justice (BDB 1048, see SPECIAL TOPIC: JUDGE, JUDGMENT, and JUSTICE ) <\/p>\n

4. the earth is full of YHWH’s lovingkindness (BDB 338, cf. Psa 119:64; see SPECIAL TOPIC: LOVINGKINDNESS (HESED) at Psa 5:7) <\/p>\n

The key to peace and security is the faithful follower’s belief and trust in the unchanging, merciful, gracious character of the covenant-making God (cf. Psa 102:27; Mal 3:6; Heb 13:8)! The chief character of the Bible is God! It is His story! It is His project and purpose! <\/p>\n

Psa 33:2 Two stringed instruments are mentioned. <\/p>\n

1. lyre (BDB 490) this had two to four strings. It was widely used in the ANE. This is what David played for King Saul to soothe him (cf. 1Sa 16:16). <\/p>\n

2. harp of ten strings (BDB 614 construct BDB 797). It was part of a group of instruments used in both secular and worship settings (cf. 1Sa 10:5). <\/p>\n

new song The peoples of the ANE wrote songs to commemorate major events and persons (cf. Exodus 15; 1 Samuel 22). Here the person is YHWH, the Creator (cf. Psa 40:3; Psa 96:1; Psa 98:1; Psa 144:9; Psa 149:1; Isa 42:10; Rev 5:9; Rev 14:3). <\/p>\n

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Rejoice = Shout for joy. Psalm 33 (without a title) is thus linked on to Psa 32:11. Other links maybe noted: Compare Psa 32:8 with Psa 33:17; and Psa 32:8 with Psa 33:18, &c. <\/p>\n

the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4. <\/p>\n

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Psa 33:1-22 <\/p>\n

Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely [or beautiful] for the upright ( Psa 33:1 ).<\/p>\n

Now, this is something that you might not be able to do as you read it.<\/p>\n

Praise the LORD with a harp: sing unto him with a psaltery ( Psa 33:2 )<\/p>\n

Another instrument in those days.<\/p>\n

and an instrument of ten strings ( Psa 33:2 ).<\/p>\n

Actually, David was quite a musician. These were all written to be sung. And he invented many instruments. David was actually an inventor of instruments. And so he had some instruments that he had made with strings, and he was a skillful player on the harp himself, and he was called the beautiful psalmist of Israel.<\/p>\n

Sing unto him a new song; and play skillfully with a loud noise ( Psa 33:3 ).<\/p>\n

And that is the motto of our Maranatha groups.<\/p>\n

For the word of the LORD is right; and all of his works are done in truth. He loves righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD ( Psa 33:4-5 ).<\/p>\n

If you will look around you can find the goodness of God that has been extended to us in so many ways.<\/p>\n

Now he speaks of the power of God’s word.<\/p>\n

By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all of the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He gathered the waters of the sea together as a heap: he laid up the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth reverence the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spake and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast ( Psa 33:6-9 ).<\/p>\n

I was up at the conference center last weekend with a lot of the fellows, and we had just a beautiful night up there. And after the service I took a walk out through the woods, just the Lord and I. I could see the Pleiades, because it was getting close to midnight and the winter constellations are starting now. If you wait until after midnight you can see the Pleiades, and Taurus and Orion, and of course, right above head was Corona. And I was looking up, and of course, you can still see up there the Milky Way. And looking up into the skies I thought of this verse, “For the word of the Lord is right. His works are done in truth, and by the word of the Lord were the heavens made.” Created by His word. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God said, “Let there be light holders, the stars, the sun,” and it was so. And I got to thinking of the power of God’s word. “He spake and it was done.” And then he said, “Let the earth stand in awe of Him.” And I will tell you, when you look at those skies up there, you stand in awe of God. Oh, how great is the power of His word.<\/p>\n

The LORD brings the counsel of the heathen to nothing: he makes the devices of the people of none effect. For the counsel of the LORD stands for ever, and the thoughts of his heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is Jehovah; and the people whom he hath chosen as his own inheritance ( Psa 33:10-12 ).<\/p>\n

Oh, how blessed is that nation who will honor God and who will serve God, and who will put God at the heart of their national life. Blessed, happy is the nation whose God is Jehovah. Not whose God is materialism, but whose God is Jehovah. And you look at the nations that have honored God, and put God at the heart of the nations, and you’ll see nations that have been blessed. I think of our forefathers and the founding of our nation, and I would recommend to you the book, “The Light and the Glory,” which brings out some interesting facets of the history of the United States that you don’t find in your usual textbooks. Gives you a little insight on the spiritual foundations of our nation. Putting on the coinage, “In God We Trust.” Placing within the Pledge of Allegiance, “One nation, under God.” Oh blessed, happy is the nation whose God is Jehovah.<\/p>\n

“And those people whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance,” that is you. You are God’s inheritance. Oh, that you might know what is the hope of His calling and the riches of His inheritance in the saints.<\/p>\n

The LORD looks from heaven; and behold all the sons of men ( Psa 33:13 ).<\/p>\n

Now, God is watching you. That can be very comforting; it also can be very terrifying. It all depends on what you are doing. “The Lord looks from heaven; He beholds the sons of men.”<\/p>\n

From the place of his habitation he looks upon all of the inhabitants of earth. He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considers all their work. There is no king that is saved by the multitude of a host: a mighty man is not delivered by his great strength. A horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon those that reverence him, upon those that hope in his mercy; To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the LORD: he is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee ( Psa 33:14-22 ). “<\/p>\n

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Psa 33:1. Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.<\/p>\n

False gods were worshipped with dolorous sounds, accompanied by cutting with knives and with lancets; but our God is the happy God, and he would have his people happy. Rejoice in Jehovah, O ye righteous. The praises of God are very beautiful when they are sung by holy people: for praise is comely for the upright. But the praises of God on the lips of godless men are altogether out of place. I wonder how Christians can allow those to lead their praises in the sanctuary who never can from their hearts praise God. They who sing to the worldling all the week should not be employed to sing to the God of the holy on the Sabbath, surely. Praise is comely for the upright. Hymns and psalms sung by the ungodly are but as sweet spices laid upon a dunghill; but praise is comely for the upright.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:2-3. Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise.<\/p>\n

Under a dispensation of types and shadows, the use of musical instruments seemed to be necessary and suitable; but in the early Christian Church, in her purest ages, these things were discarded as tending towards Judaism; and at this day, the sweetest singing in the world is heard in the assembly which utterly abjures the use of every musical instrument. Yet I believe that there is Christian liberty about these things; and, for my part, I like to think of Luther with his lute and of George Herbert with his harp. If they were helped to praise God the better, let them have the music. Yet the singing is never sweeter than when it is all song; and there is no better music than that which comes from hearts and tongues that are alive, and that know what sounds they make, and wherefore they make them. Anyhow, let us sing unto Jehovah. Hang not your harps on the willows, suspend not your music. Praise God somehow, praise him anyhow; but do praise him.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:4. For the word of the LORD is right;<\/p>\n

Praise him for his Word, then. It is truth, it is righteousness. If we had nothing else but the Bible for which. to praise God, there would be reason enough for giving him endless praise for bestowing upon us such a priceless treasure.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:4. And all his works are done in truth.<\/p>\n

Praise him for his providence. There is never a mistake in what he does All his works are done in truth.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:5. He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.<\/p>\n

Therefore praise him. So good a God should not be without your gratitude.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:6. By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.<\/p>\n

Praise your Creator, then, the Maker of the universe.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:7-9. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.<\/p>\n

These are simple but grand words. The work of creation was very wonderful, and it was all wrought by the word of the Lord. There were no angelic agencies. He spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:10. The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought <\/p>\n

They plot and they contrive, but he baffles them; men may think and scheme as they will, but God has his way, after all.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:10-11. He maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.<\/p>\n

His decrees stand fast. Still Jehovah reigns, and still he must reign for ever and ever.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:12. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.<\/p>\n

There is the reason why they are blessed, it is all owing to Gods electing love: the people whom he hath chosen. If God has chosen them, they are blessed people indeed. Whom he determines to bless, none can effectually curse.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:13. The LORD looketh from heaven; he beboldeth all the sons of men.<\/p>\n

As we look out of a window, and see the people passing in the street below, he beholdeth all the sons of men, whether at the pole or at the equator. None are hidden from his omniscient eye.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:14-15. From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. He fashioneth their hearts alike;<\/p>\n

Not that their hearts are alike, but it means that he only fashioneth all their hearts. They were all made by him. There is no understanding so great but he made it, and there is no mind so feeble but still he made it: he fashioneth their hearts.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:15-16. He considereth all their works. There is no king saved by the multitude of an host <\/p>\n

See what vast companies of soldiers Darius gathered together, yet Alexander smote them; and Napoleon led into Russia more than half a million of men, yet they melted away like snow.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:16. A mighty man is not delivered by much strength.<\/p>\n

Sooner or later, he dies, however strong he is.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:17. A horse is a vain thing for safety: <\/p>\n

It throws its rider, or falls upon him, or is killed with him.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:17-18. Neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy, <\/p>\n

Beautiful expression! I always like that mixture of fear and hope. An old fisherman used to compare it to his net. Fear, said he, is the weight that sinks it, and hope is the cork that floats it. To make a perfect character, there must he both fear and hope. The man that never fears may begin to fear; but he that is all fear is a miserable creature. God help him to begin to hope!<\/p>\n

Psa 33:19. To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.<\/p>\n

When ethers die of want, the Lord will take care of them that fear him. I remember a story of the siege of Rochelle, when the city was in such straits that the people had to eat cats, and dogs, and rats, and all manner of filthiness. There was one Christian woman, who, having some stores, fed the poor therewith, whereat her friends said she was a fool, for she would soon be starving. They asked, Who is to take care of you when all is gone? She answered, The Lord will provide for me. At last her stores were exhausted. She went to beg of her friends, but they refused her. She was nearly famished when, strange to tell (as we put it), some one, unknown to her, shot down a sack full of wheat at her door. She never knew who it was, and then she said to her friends, God has provided for me, and. while others died she lived, for she had practiced holy charity. She had feared God, and given to her neighbours, she had not selfishly hoarded what she had; and the Lord rewarded her. Let me read these two verses again: Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:20. Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield.<\/p>\n

Notice the three ours. Personal possession is the very soul of piety; all else is mere verbiage. Not, What hearest thou? but, What hast thou? Not, What he thou talk about? but, What dost thou possess? That is the thing: Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:21. For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.<\/p>\n

If you do but trust in his holy name, you shall one day rejoice in him. Trust him in the dark, and you shall see the light. Trust him in famine, and you shall surely be fed.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:22. Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according us we hope in thee.<\/p>\n

Let us each one pray that prayer now: Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in thee. Amen. Now turn to the 1st chapter of the 1st General Epistle of John, that you may see what an apostle had to say concerning joy.<\/p>\n

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 33. and 1 John 1.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Psa 33:1-3<\/p>\n

A NEW SONG OF PRAISE TO GOD<\/p>\n

“This is the last of the four Psalms in Book I that have no title, the others being, Psalms 1; Psalms 2, and Psalms 10. Of course, such an omission is the best excuse on earth for the denial of the Davidic authorship of the psalm and for declaring it to have, “A post-exilic date.<\/p>\n

To be sure, it must be admitted that a definite uncertainty clouds the question of who wrote the Psalm; but we believe that David wrote it for these reasons:<\/p>\n

(1) It is definitely ascribed to David in the LXX, published about 250 B.C., a full century prior to the “Maccabean period in which some date it.<\/p>\n

(2) For ages, it has been included with the other Davidic Psalms in Book I.<\/p>\n

(3) We have the first mention here of instruments of music being used in the worship of God; and that was David’s error. It is hardly reasonable to suppose that anyone except David would have done such a thing and then have written a psalm about it. <\/p>\n

(4) The downgrading of such military devices as the “horse” (Psa 33:17) would hardly have occurred at any time after Solomon’s acquisition of 40,000 horses as the pride of his military machine, indicating that the psalm was very probably written in the times of David.<\/p>\n

The general organization of this psalm was outlined by Maclaren as: “The first three verses are a prelude, and the last three are a conclusion. The central mass (Psa 33:4-19) falls into two divisions, (1) praise for the creative power of God as Creator of all things, and (2) His creative power with reference to salvation. We shall also observe subdivisions of these two parts.<\/p>\n

PRELUDE<\/p>\n

Psa 33:1-3<\/p>\n

“Rejoice in Jehovah, O ye righteous:<\/p>\n

Praise is comely for the upright.<\/p>\n

Give thanks unto Jehovah with the harp:<\/p>\n

Sing praises unto him with the psaltery of ten strings.<\/p>\n

Sing unto him a new song;<\/p>\n

Play skillfully with a loud noise.”<\/p>\n

“Praise is comely for the upright” (Psa 33:1). This means simply that it is becoming of righteous people to praise their God and Redeemer. The paraphrase of this in the Book of Common Prayer is, “For it becometh well the just to be thankful.<\/p>\n

“Rejoice … Praise …” (Psa 33:1). “The response of the righteous to the goodness of God takes the form of public worship.” We believe that this is always true. The people who love God and seek his favor are always the people who attend public worship.<\/p>\n

“Give thanks unto Jehovah with the harp” (Psa 33:2). This was David’s favorite musical instrument; and right here he first proposed the use of it in the worship of God, an action for which God’s prophet Amos most certainly announced God’s disapproval of it. See notes above.<\/p>\n

“Sing unto him a new song” (Psa 33:3). In all probability, these words designate this psalm as “new”; and we may inquire, `How is it new’? “To anyone who has (in the preceding Psalms) been traveling through the heights and depths, the storms and sunny gleams, its sorrows for sin and rejoicing from forgiveness, this Psalm is indeed a new song. It is exclusively a song of praise and rejoicing.<\/p>\n

“Play skillfully with a loud noise” (Psa 33:3). Some modern translators love to inject instrumental music into as many passages of the Old Testament as possible; and, in keeping with that intention, the RSV renders this place, “Play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.” “The words on the strings are not in the Hebrew text. The words were simply added to the sacred text by the translators!<\/p>\n

“The righteous … the upright” (Psa 33:1). These are not `perfect people,’ or `sinless souls’ who are called to worship. “They are the worshipping congregation of believers in God who acknowledge themselves to be God’s Covenant people.” Some of God’s enemies openly sneer at people who “only go to church”; but this is a good place to say that there is nothing that Christians can do as witness of their obedient faith that exceeds the importance of regular attendance at public worship. “Church attendance,” despite all the derogatory things sometimes said about it, is still the grand “separator” between the wicked and the righteous. It was true of old; it is still true.<\/p>\n

E.M. Zerr:<\/p>\n

Psa 33:1. The first definition of the original for comely is “suitable.” The expression is significant and agrees with a principle that is taught throughout the Bible. Praise is a term connected with the services offered to God. It is suitable or consistent for the upright to offer the service of praise to God. It is out of place for the wicked to pretend that they wish to praise the Lord. <\/p>\n

Psa 33:2. It is a well-known truth that David’s specialty in the field of religious exercises was the musical instruments of various kinds; so this verse is in true form. The harp was the national instrument of the Hebrews. It was a stringed instrument and was played on with a plectrum, an attachment worn on the finger. The psaltery also was a stringed instrument and specially used to accompany the voice. Ten strings is only a detail of the kind of instrument David meant when he said to praise the Lord with the psaltery, the word and not being in the original. <\/p>\n

Psa 33:3. Skilfully with a loud noise means to play correctly as to the proper strings plucked, and also to make it emphatic. It was to accompany a new song. <\/p>\n

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

This is a triumphant song of praise, opening with a call to vocal and instrumental music. “Rejoice,” “praise,” “give thanks,” “sing praises,” “sing,” “play”-thus all modes of expression are appealed to.<\/p>\n

The praise proceeds and the greatness and goodness of Jehovah are sung in general terms (4-11). The whole of the facts are summarized, His word is right, His work is faithful! (4). His character is perfect, combining light- “righteousness and judgment”; and love- “loving-kindness” (5). He is the Creator, full of power so that men should worship (6-9). He is the active King, overruling all the affairs of men (10-11). The song then praises Jehovah as the God of the chosen people (12-19). He chose them and in their interest watches all the sons of men (12-15). His watchfulness of His own is a greater security than armies or horses (16-19). The song ends with an affirmation of trust, an assurance of joy, and a prayer for mercy (20-22). There is a lilt and a lift about this psalm which is of the very essence of gladness.<\/p>\n

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

The Word of Jehovah <\/p>\n

Psa 33:1-12<\/p>\n

This psalm is eminently calculated to incite praise. Let us note the subjects which are touched upon, in the hope that presently one may strike a spark at which our cold hearts shall flame up.<\/p>\n

The words and works of Jehovah are the first to pass in review, Psa 33:4. Let us never forget that nothing was made apart from our Lord Jesus. He is emphatically the Word through whom the creative fiat went forth, Joh 1:3; Col 1:16; Heb 1:2. It is good, as we contemplate the beauties and wonders of creation, to turn in praise to Him, whose parables disclose the secrets which be hid in the works of His hands. If creation proceeded by the stages of evolution, it was due to His initiative and under His superintendence.<\/p>\n

Note the vivid touches with which the work of creation is described in Psa 33:6-9. Then turn to the description of Gods providential government, Psa 33:10-12. We are said to be Gods inheritance. See Psa 33:12. Eph 1:11 also tells us that we inherit Him, and Psa 33:18 that He inherits us. Bring every inch of us under thy tillage, Great Occupier! <\/p>\n

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

In the thirty-second Psalm David celebrates the blessedness of the man whose transgression is forgiven and whose sin is atoningly covered. We have now in the thirty-third Psalm that which should always follow the knowledge of redemption-the heart going out to God in worship and adoration. You remember what the Lord Jesus Christ said to the woman at the well, God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. For the Father seeketh such to worship Him (Joh 4:24; Joh 4:23). Have you ever thought much of that? The Father is seeking worshipers. We know whom the Son is seeking. We read, The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost (Luk 19:10). The Lord Jesus is seeking lost sinners, seeking them in order that He might save them; but among those who are already saved the Father is seeking worshipers. It is amazing how few believers know very much about worship, how few of them take the time to worship. Many people have such confused ideas of what worship is. You go to prayer meeting, spend the time in prayer and testimony and go away and say, We were worshiping God tonight. But prayer is not worship; testifying is not worship. You go to listen to the Word preached and expounded and go away and say, I have been down to worship God. But exposition of the Scripture is not worship; listening to the preaching is not worship. It is perfectly true that all these exercises ought to produce worship, for when we pray and we have such a wonderful sense of the nearness of God, that should lead our hearts out in adoration. That is what worship is: it is the souls adoration of God Himself. It is occupation not with His gifts, not coming to Him to receive something, but occupation with the Giver; the heart going out in gratitude not only for what He has done for us but also for what He is in Himself. I never like to start the day but that I take a little time to sit quietly over the Word of God, and I seek to lift my heart to God, not to ask Him for things, but to tell Him a little of how I appreciate His wonderful love and His grace, the goodness that He has lavished upon me as a sinner, and then to adore Him for what He is in Himself. I find that the day seems brighter for a little time spent like that.<\/p>\n

In Psalm 32 we have man delivered from his sins. In Psalm 33 we have the heart going out to the Deliverer in worship. We know that David wrote Psalm 32. We do not know who wrote Psalm 33. The Jews called the psalms that do not have any names at the head of them, Orphan Psalms. You say, But are they not all by David? They are called the Psalms of David. They are the Psalms of David in the sense that David was undoubtedly the first to put the collection together, but he did not write all the Psalms. The Jews used this book of Psalms as the expression of their worship, praise, thanksgiving, and their prayers in the synagogues and in the temple, but David did not write all of them. He included a great many Psalms written by writers whose names are not given. It is very remarkable the way the Psalms are arranged. They are arranged in divine order. In many instances we find the last verses of the one intro- ducing the theme of the next. This Psalm is a case like that. The closing verse of Psalm 32 is this, Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart Now notice how the thirty-third Psalm starts, Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.<\/p>\n

The first three verses of this thirty-third Psalm are occupied with a call to praise the Lord, to worship Him. Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto Him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. Sing unto Him a new song. That is the song of redemption. Play skilfully with a loud noise. In the temple of old they depended a great deal upon musical instruments. We may use them in our services today, but the instrument that God values above every other is that which the eye does not see nor the ears hear. The apostle says, Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord (Eph 5:19). And when your heart is attuned to God, when from the heart you are worshiping and praising, that is the sweetest music that ever reaches the ear of God. Sometimes people can sing very beautifully, they have trained voices and they never make a mistake in a note; everything is accurate, and yet there is not a particle in it for God. It is so easy to use talent and ability like that simply to attract attention to ourselves, just as it is easy to preach to glorify ones self and not God; but where the preachers ability or the singers ability is consecrated to God it is precious to Him. But even in a case where one cannot sing or play upon an instrument, if the heart is in tune and going out to Him in worship how precious it is to Jesus. He loves to find the hearts of His people occupied with Himself.<\/p>\n

Then in verses 4 to 9 the soul contemplates Gods Word and Gods work. These are two witnesses to God. Creation and the Bible are both from the same source. Some people talk about the disagreement between the Bible and science. There is no disagreement between the Bible and science, that is, real science. Science consists of an orderly arrangement of proven facts explaining the universe, but where you simply get a lot of hypotheses that have never been proven that is not real science. Some of these may often be in conflict with the Bible, but never true science; because true science is simply the explanation of the physical universe, and the God who inspired the Bible made the universe. In this section of the Psalm you find the work and the Word of God testifying to His perfection.<\/p>\n

For the word of the Lord is right; and all His works are done in truth. He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. You need open eyes to see that. If your eyes are not open to see the goodness of the Lord, you can see so much to fill you with sorrow. There are trials wherever we look; there is suffering; there is disaster; but when you can look back of them all and realize that there is a God of love behind this universe, how it changes everything. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made. That means, of course, the sun, the moon, and the stars. And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: He layeth up the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. Stand in awe, that is, a call to reverence. I think if there is one sin more than another that the people of God are guilty of in this country it is the sin of irreverence. You do not find it so much in some other lands. Cross the sea and go to Great Britain for instance. When people come together for the services of the Lord you do not find them rushing into churches and spending a lot of time in the foyer chatting and laughing, but they find their way quietly to their seats and bow in prayer as they wait for the service to begin. To me the shocking irreverence of American audiences is one of the hardest things to overcome. Sometimes it takes a half hour or so before ones spirit can get in tune for the meeting because of the noise and laughter and greeting one another that go on before the service. Stand in awe, and sin not (Psa 4:4). Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.<\/p>\n

In verses 10 to 12 He is celebrated as the one true and living God in contrast to the idols of the heathen. The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: He maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations. And now the writer of this Psalm speaks as a godly Israelite, grateful for the fact that God has revealed Himself to his people. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance. It is this holy nation of which the Apostle Peter speaks, that is made up of born again men and women everywhere all over the world. They constitute a nation of people that the Lord has set apart for Himself.<\/p>\n

In verses 13 to 17 you have God weighing the hearts of men, looking down upon mankind and testing their thoughts. The Lord looketh from heaven; He beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of His habitation He looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. He fashioneth their hearts alike; He considereth all their works. There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. God looks down upon mankind and what does He see? Just a world of weaklings, just poor, weak, sinful men unable to deliver themselves. But thank God He has a deliverance for them! And so in the last part of the Psalm, verses 18 to 22, you get Gods care for His own. Out of this world He has chosen those who put their trust in Him, and He undertakes for them. Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear Him, upon them that hope in His mercy; To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waiteth for the Lord: He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name. Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in Thee. It is a great thing for the soul to learn the meaning of that 20th verse, Our soul waiteth for the Lord. It is one thing to wait on the Lord; it is another thing to wait for Him. David says, My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him (Psa 62:5). But here he says, Our soul waiteth for the Lord. To wait on God means to come into His presence to worship Him, to adore Him, and to tell out your needs to Him, to bring your trials, difficulties, perplexities, tell them all to Him, wait on Him. But He does not always answer immediately. He does not always give instant deliverance. Perhaps you come to Him in sickness, and He does not always grant immediate healing. You come to Him in financial trouble, and He does not always give the means that you need to meet your responsibilities. You come to Him concerned about your family, maybe an unsaved one, a son, or daughter, wife, or husband, and you bring that one to God and talk to Him about him-you wait on the Lord. That is the right thing to do, but He may not always act immediately, and therefore we need to wait for Him as well as to wait on Him. Remember, if He does not answer immediately it does not mean that He is indifferent. Gods delays are not denials. We need to learn that and to wait for the Lord, for in His own time and in His own way He undertakes and answers prayer. We cannot dictate to Him how or when He is to act.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Psa 33:6<\/p>\n

Psa 19:1<\/p>\n

I. The whole of revelation reposes on this broad platform: how God and nature stand to one another. Now there are two opposite extremes into which our conceptions on this point may fall. We may immerse God in nature, or we may isolate nature from God. (1) We immerse God in nature if we treat nature as itself possessed of properties which are strictly personal, as when, for example, we accustom ourselves to think of it as originating its own processes, as intending its own results, or as conscious of its own plan. The corrective lies in the Scriptural idea of creation as an act of will in One who is outside of material being. (2) We may unduly isolate nature as God’s workmanship from God the Worker. We do this, e.g., when we conceive of the universe as teaching us nothing of God, being only a whirl of material change without spiritual meaning, or when we represent it as a machine which, being somehow endowed with a given stock of force, must go on, so long as the force lasts, like a watch that has been once wound up. Again, the Scriptural conception of nature will furnish the corrective. According to it, God is personally separate from and above nature; yet, for all that, He has put into His handiwork His own thoughts. We may fairly say that both sides of the idea lie in embryo in the solitary phrase, “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made.” For the word of any person serves two functions: it is the organ of command, conveying an act of will; it is also the organ of expression, revealing the speaker’s nature.<\/p>\n

II. The moral revelation which began with Abraham and culminated in Jesus Christ admits of being both compared and contrasted with the older nature revelation. (1) The later revelation starts from and builds upon the earlier one. (2) It must be clear that such a revelation as we actually possess in the Bible is only possible if God be (as the Bible teaches) at once above nature and yet present, self-revealed, in nature. (a) We are ourselves part of the world; and if we are to receive communications which transcend what the world itself can tell us, then He who gives them must stand outside of and above the world. (b) The actual revelation recorded in the Bible employed nature as its organ. God makes nature vocal with redemption. (c) Above all, His final revelation of Himself is in the life of a Man, so that the highest of all revelations is in appearance the most human, the least supernatural. Now how could all this be unless, first of all, creation were itself full of God and yet were, after all, God’s servant, to work withal? (3) The voice of the new revelation agrees with the voice of the old. (a) The absolute unity of plan which strict research is daily proving more and more-a unity now known to reach as far as the planets in their spheres-attests that the Creator is one. All Scripture proceeds on the unity of God. (b) Throughout all nature we find a will at work whose method is to bind itself by orderly method and fixed law. Now the revelation of the Divine will in Scripture is likewise the revelation of a law, and its chief end is the reduction of moral anarchy to moral order. (c) Again, we are daily learning how patiently, and through what long, slow, even laborious processes, God has been pleased to build up His physical universe. This is God’s way in nature, and it has been His way in grace. (d) Once more, the God of nature avenges the transgression of every physical law by a sentient creature. Scripture discovers precisely the same features in the moral and spiritual rule of God. Of law, of transgression, of penalty and reward, of life and death, nature has no more to say than the Bible has. But of another law higher than that of penalty-of the spiritual law of self-sacrifice, of redemption of life by life, and giving up of the just for the unjust, and forgiveness of sin, and the regeneration of the lapsed-the physical universe is wholly, or all but wholly, silent.<\/p>\n

J. Oswald Dykes, Sermons, p. 84.<\/p>\n

References: Psa 33:1.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iii., p. 355. Psa 33:2, Psa 33:3.-J. M. Neale, Occasional Sermons, p. 108. Psa 33:5.-D. Swing, American Pulpit of the Day, p. 460; G. Bainton, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xviii., p. 378. Psa 33:6.-J. Keble, Sermons from Ascension Day to Trinity, p. 384. Psa 33:13.-Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 272. Psa 33:20.-W. Lindsay Alexander, Christian Thought and Work, p. 155. Psa 33:21.-Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 184. Psa 33:22.-J. Keble, Sermons from Septuagesima to Ash Wednesday, p. 432. Psa 34:1.-J. M. Neale, Sermons on Passages of the Psalms, p. 77.<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Sermon Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Psalm 33 <\/p>\n

The Future Praise of Jehovah<\/p>\n

1. The call to praise Jehovah (Psa 33:1-3)<\/p>\n

2. His praise as the Creator (Psa 33:4-9)<\/p>\n

3. His praise of His governmental dealings (Psa 33:10-17)<\/p>\n

4. His praise as the Keeper and Deliverer of the Righteous (Psa 33:18-22)<\/p>\n

What the last verse of the preceding Psalm exhorts to shout for joy, is in this Psalm more fully unfolded. Such praise the Lord has not yet received, it looks forward to millennial times when all earth fears the Lord and all the inhabitants stand in awe of Him (Psa 33:8). Now they oppose and defy Him and His Word. Then the counsel of the nations will be brought to nought and His people Israel, His own nation, will be blessed. The last verse is a prayer that His mercy may be bestowed upon His people Israel, who hope in Him.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Rejoice: Psa 32:11, Psa 97:12, 1Co 1:30, 1Co 1:31, Phi 4:4 <\/p>\n

ye righteous: Psa 118:15, Rom 3:10, Rom 5:19 <\/p>\n

praise: Psa 50:14-16, Psa 78:36, Psa 78:37, Psa 135:3, Psa 147:1, Pro 15:8 <\/p>\n

Reciprocal: 2Ch 7:10 – glad 2Ch 29:30 – they sang Psa 9:11 – Sing Psa 30:4 – Sing Psa 34:3 – let us Psa 64:10 – righteous Psa 68:3 – But Psa 81:1 – make Psa 92:1 – good Psa 113:1 – O Psa 135:1 – Praise ye the Lord Psa 140:13 – Surely Joe 2:23 – rejoice Hab 3:18 – I will rejoice Luk 2:28 – and Rom 5:11 – but we Eph 5:4 – but Phi 3:1 – rejoice<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Psalms 32<\/p>\n

Proper Psalm for Ash Wednesday (Morning).<\/p>\n

Psalms 32-34 = Day 6 (Evening).<\/p>\n

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

The Triune God<\/p>\n

Psa 33:1-22<\/p>\n

INTRODUCTORY WORDS<\/p>\n

It is important for us to get a scriptural vision of the triune God. In the Book of Genesis we read, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” The word for God, however, is “Elohim.” It is a plural word.<\/p>\n

It is scriptural to say that God the Father created the heaven and the earth. It is just as scriptural to say that God the Son created the heaven and the earth. It is likewise scriptural to say that God the Spirit created the heaven and the earth. The reason for this is that “the Lord our God is one Lord.”<\/p>\n

The one God has been a contention of the Jews from time immemorable. The Christian will gladly admit that God is one, and yet, he knows that the. one God is manifested in three Personalities. God the Father is not God the Son; God the Son is not God the Holy Ghost; and yet, the triune God, our “Elohim,” is one Lord.<\/p>\n

We remember how Christ prayed, “That they may be one, even as We are one.<\/p>\n

In the marriage bond, God has said, “They twain shall be one flesh.” Here are two personalities, and yet they are reckoned “one” in the bonds of matrimony.<\/p>\n

Jesus Christ said, “The Son can do nothing of Himself.” He did not mean that He was an automaton, that He was a spineless weakling incapable of action. He did mean that He was so perfectly one with the Father (one in word, one in will, and one in works), that He could not do anything contrary to the Father. He spoke the Father’s words; He did the Father’s works; and fulfilled the Father’s will. He did all of this to such an extent that He could truthfully say, “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.”<\/p>\n

Thus it was that Christ manifested His oneness with the Father. He was the forthshining of God. In Him men saw the Father, for Christ declared Him unto them. The Lord Jesus was the very brightness of His Father’s glory, and the express image of His Father’s Person.<\/p>\n

The unity of the Father and the Son is seen in this fact that He that honors the Father honors the Son; and He that honoreth the Son, honors the Father. It is impossible, therefore, to honor the Father, unless we honor the Son.<\/p>\n

He who imagines that the Lord Jesus holds one attitude towards the sinner, and that the Father and the Holy Spirit hold another attitude, is altogether wrong. The idea that the Father is a demagogue whose wrath had to be appeased through the mediation of the Son is contrary to the unity of the triune God. God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, wrought in perfect harmony, both in the creation, and in the redemption of man.<\/p>\n

Jesus Christ was a Daysman, but He was a Daysman through whom the Father could reach out His hand of mercy and redeem the sinner. The Holy Spirit is the One who carries on to completion the redemptive work which God wrought in Christ, The knowledge of the Trinity and Their perfect oneness in all things is a study well worth our while.<\/p>\n

In this study we will seek to develop valuable scriptural aids to the understanding of the Trinity.<\/p>\n

I. THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD (Deu 6:4)<\/p>\n

1. God the Father is God. The Jews said to Christ, “We have one Father, even God.” Our Lord did not deny their contentions, but He said, “If God were your Father, ye would love Me: for I proceeded forth and came from God.”<\/p>\n

The fool may have said in his heart, “There is no God.” “In his head,” it seems impossible for anyone to make so foolish a negation. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handywork.”<\/p>\n

The things which we see around us, the material things, were not made of the things which do appear, God is their Creator. Could any one imagine, for a moment, that the great locomotive evolved or fabricated itself? Could any one assert that the airships, which sail through the air in our day, sprang into existence by some self-generating power? That could be the claim of only a disordered brain. We know that back of all these twentieth century marvels lie intelligent minds, and skilled mechanical hands.<\/p>\n

Just as truly does God, the all-intelligent Mind, and the supreme creative Hand He back of the physical creation.<\/p>\n

Man may create airships and locomotives, but God alone can create a flower, and place within it a self-propagating power: He alone can put the fragrance in the flower He creates.<\/p>\n

2. Christ the Son is God. There are three Scriptures in the Epistle to Titus which describe Christ as God.<\/p>\n

(1) We are told to “adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour” (Tit 2:10).<\/p>\n

(2) We are told of the “kindness and love of God our Saviour” (Tit 3:4).<\/p>\n

(3) We are told of the “commandment of God our Saviour” (Tit 1:3).<\/p>\n

Our Saviour is God, and God is our Saviour. Twice in the Book of Titus we read that Jesus Christ is our Saviour. These verses are Tit 1:4, and Tit 3:6. If our Saviour is God, then, Christ is God.<\/p>\n

The Second Epistle of Peter carries a similar message to that of Titus. There, once more, the Lord Jesus Christ is called God, and He is likewise called “the Lord and Saviour” four different times.<\/p>\n

In the Epistle to Jude we read of “the only wise God our Saviour.” Thus we will all agree with the statement of Col 2:9 : “In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”<\/p>\n

We will also agree with the statement of 1Jn 5:20, which reads: “His Son Jesus Christ.” “This is the True God.”<\/p>\n

3. The Holy Spirit is God. In the Book of Hebrews seven different times the Holy Spirit is spoken of as Deity. This is seen in the fact that the God who, in the Old Testament, was tested and tried by the Children of Israel during forty years of wilderness journeyings, is declared to be the Holy Ghost.<\/p>\n

The Spirit is spoken of as “the Spirit of the Lord.” Ezekiel said, “The hand of the Lord God fell there upon me, * * and the Spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven.”<\/p>\n

II. THE LORD OUR GOD IS LIFE (Psa 36:9)<\/p>\n

We have often wondered where life originated. The only answer is, that life originated in God.<\/p>\n

1. God the Father has inherent life.” Inherent Life” means just what you find in Joh 5:26, “The Father hath life in Himself.”<\/p>\n

2. God the Son has inherent life. The Bible declares of Christ, “In Him was life.” It also declares, “As the Father hath life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself.”<\/p>\n

3. God the Spirit has inherent life. In Romans we read, “The Spirit is life”; and, again, we read “The Spirit of life.”<\/p>\n

The Holy Trinity not only possesses life, but the Holy Trinity imparts life. God hath quickened us, that is, He hath given us life. Jesus Christ said, “He that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me.”<\/p>\n

God has borne testimony, “He that hath the Son hath life.”<\/p>\n

The Holy Spirit also begets life in us, because we are born of the Spirit. This may seem wonderful, and it is. Salvation involves eternal life. The wicked must appear before God in judgment. The saved will live with God. This is eternal life, even to know the Father, and His Son Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

III. THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD MANIFESTED IN THREE DISTINCT PERSONS (Luk 3:21-22)<\/p>\n

1. At the baptism of Christ. Jesus Christ was there, being baptized of John; the Holy Ghost was there, for He descended in bodily shape like a dove; the Father was there, because He said, “Thou art My beloved Son; in Thee I am well pleased.”<\/p>\n

It is not difficult to understand, therefore, that Jesus was not the Father; and that the Holy Spirit was not Jesus. There were three distinct Personages at the baptism; and yet, not three Gods, but one God.<\/p>\n

2. In the wilderness temptation of Christ, three Personages are seen in the God-head. Satan addressed Christ, saying, “It Thou be the Son of God.” Christ spoke of the Father to Satan, when He said, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God”; while the temptation itself was brought about by Christ being led of the Spirit into the wilderness.<\/p>\n

3. In the Gospel of John Christ said,” He (the Father) shall give you another Comforter.” He also said, “He (the Comforter) shall testify of Me.”<\/p>\n

The Comforter in the next verse is spoken of as “the Spirit of Truth.” Observe carefully that the Comforter was not Christ, because He was another Comforter; neither was the Comforter the Father, because it was the Father who gave the Comforter.<\/p>\n

4. We read in the Word of God (Act 2:33) that Christ was exalted to the right hand of God; and that, being so exalted, and “having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this.” The Son was not the Father, because the Son went from the earth to the Father, and sat down at the right hand of the Father. The Holy Ghost was neither the Father, nor the Son, because the Holy Ghost was poured forth at Pentecost, by the Son, and upon the promise of the Father.<\/p>\n

5. Around the throne of God, in John’s apocalyptic vision, we discover three Personages. The One is seated upon the throne, another One stands at the throne, and the third is as a burning fire before the throne. The Father is on the throne, for He holds a book in His hands; the Son stands before the throne, for He is the Lamb to whom the Father delivers the book; and the Holy Spirit is before the throne, because His sevenfold perfection is described under the phrase “the Seven Spirits of God.”<\/p>\n

IV. THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD IN THE REDEMPTION OF THE SINNER (1Pe 1:2)<\/p>\n

Election includes the foreknowledge of God the Father, because that is the basis of election. Election is wrought out through the sanctification of the Spirit, because it is the Spirit that quickeneth and calls effectually.<\/p>\n

Election is also based upon the sprinkling of the Blood of Jesus Christ, because it was the Son who shed His Blood for the remission of sins.<\/p>\n

There are some who wish to put God the Father entirely outside of the realm of salvation; and yet it was God the Father who so loved the world, that He gave God the Son; and it is God the Spirit who effectually brings to the unregenerate heart, the story of the love of the Father, in the gift of the Son.<\/p>\n

Every time you hear the benediction pronounced in the church, you hear of the love of God, and of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Spirit. These are all working for the redemption of the lost. It is through Christ that we have access by one spirit unto the Father.<\/p>\n

When new converts are baptized they are baptized, “In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” This is because salvation was purposed by the Father, made possible by the Son, and enforced by the Holy Ghost.<\/p>\n

We want to warn the young people against having a “Jesus” religion. We are talking of the Trinity, because the Trinity has wrought our redemption.<\/p>\n

We are willing to grant that it was Christ who said, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,” but Christ Himself said that He spoke only the words of the Father. It is not Christ, apart from God, who invites men to be saved; for God is not willing that any should perish.<\/p>\n

Neither is it Christ, apart from the Holy Spirit, who calls upon men to be saved. The Spirit says, “Come.” Without this effectual calling of the Holy Ghost, no one can be saved. Remember the Bible reads, “My Spirit shall not always strive with men.”<\/p>\n

V. THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD IN DIRECTING SAINTS (Isa 6:8)<\/p>\n

Our key verse reads, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?”<\/p>\n

Who is the “Us” with which the quotation closes? There seems but one voice speaking, for it says, “Whom shall I send.” “I,” is singular in number, however, the “I” in the first part of the sentence is speaking in behalf of the “Us” in the latter part.<\/p>\n

Do you not remember how Christ said, “Even so send I you”? Do you not also remember how the saints in Act 13:4 were sent forth by the Holy Ghost? Withal we know that it was God who sent the Prophets unto the Children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ (Act 10:36).<\/p>\n

Our God is Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.<\/p>\n

1. The Father seals the saints (Joh 6:27). So also does the Son seal the saints (Eph 1:13). Likewise, the Spirit seals the saints, for we read in Eph 4:30, “The Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”<\/p>\n

2. The Father comforts saints. In 2Th 2:16 we read, “God, even our Father, * * hath given us everlasting consolation.”<\/p>\n

The Son, however, comforts saints, for in Php 2:1 is this expression, “If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort.” The Spirit also comforts saints, for the Word says, “Walking * * in the comfort of the Holy Ghost” (Act 9:31).<\/p>\n

3. The Father grants peace unto saints. Col 1:2 says, “Peace, from God our Father.” Joh 14:27, however, describes Christ as saying, “My peace I give unto you.”<\/p>\n

The Spirit also grants peace, because, according to Gal 5:22, “The fruit of the Spirit is * * peace.”<\/p>\n

4. The Father sanctifies saints. “Sanctified by God the Father” (Jdg 1:1). The Son, likewise, sanctifies saints, “Christ Jesus * * is made unto us * * sanctification” (1Co 1:30).<\/p>\n

The Spirit sanctifies saints, “Sanctified by the Holy Ghost” (Rom 15:16).<\/p>\n

5. The Father strengthens saints. “The God of all grace * * strengthen * * you” (1Pe 5:10).<\/p>\n

The Son also strengthens saints, “Christ which strengtheneth me” (Php 4:13).<\/p>\n

Again, the Spirit strengthens saints. “Strengthened with might by His Spirit” (Eph 3:16).<\/p>\n

6. The Father teaches saints. “Ye yourselves are taught of God” (1Th 4:9).<\/p>\n

The Son went around the villages teaching according to Mar 6:6; the Son said of the Spirit, When He is come “He shall teach you all things.”<\/p>\n

We have given you step by step this vision of the Triune God dealing in behalf of His saints. We pause only to say, that if God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost are so inter-related in everything that benefits and blesses saints; then saints should recognize the Triune God and include in their meditation and fellowship the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.<\/p>\n

VI. SAINTS SHOULD RECOGNIZE THE TRIUNE GOD IN ALL THINGS AND AT ALL TIMES (Jdg 1:20-21)<\/p>\n

The Scriptures, which we have before us, teach us that we should do three things. (1) We should keep ourselves in the love of God. (2) We should be looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. (3) We should be praying in the Holy Ghost.<\/p>\n

We wish in this final message to show the believer’s relationship to the Trinity.<\/p>\n

1. In our ministry. Paul wrote to the Romans, “That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ.” In the same verse, Paul wrote, “Ministering the Gospel of God.”<\/p>\n

Again, in the same sentence Paul wrote, “Being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.” The marvel of this almost startles us. Think of how the Godhead is brought into one verse of Scripture; even into one verse which is speaking of the ministry of saints.<\/p>\n

Let us then, never seek to minister apart from God the Father, or God the Son, or God the Holy Ghost.<\/p>\n

2. In our preaching. In the opening verses of 1Co 2:1-16, Paul, under inspiration, says three things:<\/p>\n

(1) “Declaring unto you the testimony of God.”<\/p>\n

(2) “I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”<\/p>\n

(3) “My speech and my preaching was * * in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.”<\/p>\n

Here you have it again, even as you find it in Romans, chapter 1. There it is the Gospel of God; and yet, a Gospel concerning His Son Jesus Christ. This Gospel is to be proclaimed in the power of the Holy Ghost.<\/p>\n

Let us bend the knee and worship, for we are on Holy ground. If we had time we could bring before you Scripture upon Scripture which unites an inseparable bond, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the Church, Paul wrote, “I have not shunned to declare the whole counsel of “God.” In the same breath He wrote to pastors: “Take heed * * to feed the Church of God, which He hath purchased with His own. Blood.” But this Church, Paul said, was one over which the Holy Ghost hath made us an overseer.<\/p>\n

We pray indeed that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Father of Glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.<\/p>\n

We pray that through the Son you may find access by the Spirit unto the Father.<\/p>\n

AN ILLUSTRATION<\/p>\n

When we begin to study the Triune God and His wonders of grace and glory we are drinking from the unfathomable waters of eternal verities.<\/p>\n

“The great river Amazon pours out so mighty a stream of fresh water into the Atlantic, that for miles out of sight of land, just opposite the mouth of the river, the water in the ocean is entirely fresh water.<\/p>\n

“Some years ago a sailing ship left Europe for a South American port, and, through storm and mishap, was so long on its voyage, that the water on board began to give out; and though the crew took every care, they shortly found themselves with their last tank or cask empty.<\/p>\n

“A day or two later, becalmed in a hot climate, to their great joy and relief they sighted another vessel, and, when near enough to signal, they ran up their flags telling of their piteous position: ‘We’re dying for want of water.’ To their astonishment, the reply, which came back quickly, seemed almost, to mock them: ‘Water all around you; let your bucket down.’<\/p>\n

“Little did they know that they were just then crossing the mighty Amazon’s current, and instead of being in salt water they were actually in fresh water without knowing it. Water all around! Fellow-traveler, you may be crying out, ‘What must I do to be saved?’ little realizing that the ocean of God’s love is all around you. Oh! ‘let your bucket down!’ “<\/p>\n

Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

This God the God of the whole earth.<\/p>\n

The psalm following shows us now that Jehovah, the God of redemption, is the God of the whole earth. If this God, then, be for us, all else must be; and this opens the way to the closing praise of the thirty-fourth: “I will bless Jehovah at all times.” The theme here, in what is the fourth psalm in the series, anticipates what is more fully brought out in the fourth book, where also Jehovah and the Second Man are shown as One; and thus the security of the earth in blessing is gloriously assured.<\/p>\n

1. The psalmist begins with an exhortation to praise Jehovah, the one theme of praise for the righteous. The first verses here are but the expansion of the closing verse of the previous psalm, where we have found that the righteous are such only by redemption. And Jehovah is the name of God as the Redeemer, -the special name under which He takes up the people in the book of Exodus (see Exo 3:1-22, notes); and thus the covenant Name of blessing for the redeemed. It is true that with Israel the legal spirit which inheres in man, and which had to be yielded to in the covenant of bondage at the mount of law, prevailed to obscure for them the glory of this Name, and still obscures it; yet in it, though veiled, their blessings are nevertheless wrapped up, and will be found in the day that is at hand.<\/p>\n

Jehovah is the living and unchanging God, acting from Himself necessarily as independent of all else, finding in Himself the sufficient argument for what He does. Thus no consideration of man has to come in, to hinder the fullest blessing for him. If man came in, it would be only to hinder God acting from Himself, for the glory of His Name, His purpose stands.<\/p>\n

Thus the exhortation may well be now, “Shout for joy in Jehovah, ye righteous! Praise is comely for the upright”; -for those delivered from guile by the grace that has wrought conviction of sin, and met with salvation the convicted sinner.<\/p>\n

This praise, as will be fully the case when Israel becomes the giver of it, will find its response in all creation round. This is what the harp and lyre in Israel’s hands declare, who, as the earthly people, will awaken this response. If we knew better what these instruments were, -which is disputed, -we should be able to realize, no doubt, distinctive meaning in them. All that we can say now is that the harp was certainly peculiarly connected with strains of joy; while the “ten strings” of the lyre or psaltery would seem to associate it with the more solemn strains of recompense and judgment, all of which must praise Him too.<\/p>\n

But no special instrument is connected with the “new song” of the third verse, which will be, assuredly, both for Israel and the earth, what the numeral probably intimates, a resurrection song. And this, like all resurrection of the higher kind, is not a mere restoration to the primitive condition, which would mean almost certainly that it was a mere turning of the wheel, the beginning of the old cycle of transition and decay, but a new and higher and fixed condition reached, in which the thought of God will now be realized, and His purpose from the beginning attained. No wonder that for the accompaniment now there should need skillful playing with loud sound!<\/p>\n

2. We have now the testimony given to Him by His work and word; His work being indeed the product of His word, the creation of His mind and will, bearing the impress, therefore, of His character. The written word does not seem here in question, although of course the same must be true of it, and more manifestly, sin having come in to obscure the witness of creation. But sin also does not come as yet into the picture, except quite inferentially.<\/p>\n

“For right is Jehovah’s word, and in faithfulness all His work”: as in truth the fixed laws that pervade it are a proof, -so fixed, so pervasive, that in all material points we soon get familiar with, and learn to rely on them. And this is an inestimable blessing which only our being so accustomed to it tends to hide from us. Suppose, even, they were certain, and yet so intricate as to make the knowledge of common effects difficult to obtain, what uncertainty would attend all our actions, and what disasters would arise! Instead of this we are in a world generally stable, and with only enough uncertainty to promote dependence. And all this is “faithfulness” to His creatures, the work of His hands who can apprehend these laws; while instinct guides even more surely, though in a more humble manner, the lower races. But moreover, <\/p>\n

“He loveth justice and judgment”; -it is not here in question how men pervert it, but of these same laws in their moral character, which testify for Him. The power which earth manifests is a power that “makes for righteousness.” And the earth is full of the goodness of Jehovah.” This is that diffuse benevolence which everything displays in nature, the eye, the ear, the senses generally, provided for and gratified; and beauty, melody, variety, showing with much else, (even though we are outside of Eden,) how God has cared for us. Life could go on without what only their prevalence and their inability to pall and injure us, forbid us to call the luxuries of life.<\/p>\n

The heavens and their host were called forth by Jehovah’s word; a majestic spectacle to arrest attention, wake up wonder and inquiry, and lift our thoughts above the earth. Preachers to us of our littleness and dependence, their testimony is manifestly in the line of His redemptive work. The philosopher Kant, whose critical spirit was not checked with any excessive reverence, unites “the starry heavens” with the “moral law” as that which filled him with unfailing admiration and reverence. And how easily might they have been shut out from our view, if God had not pleased to fling aside the veil, and bid us gaze! Whatever else those brilliant spheres were made for, they have surely been unveiled to impress us with the sight. They are an open Bethel: as, in the mind of the old patriarch, “the gate of heaven” is “the house of God.”<\/p>\n

Under these -their earthly reflection -stretches the great sea, whose waters, massed as a heap under Jehovah’s hand, still more, as with closer application, reduce man to nothingness before Him (Psa 107:23-30). The number of testing and of weakness points unmistakably to the meaning here, as does the word for “depths,” the plural of that in Gen 1:2, tehom, literally, the “raging deep.” These depths He layeth up beneath the quiet and smiling surface, in treasuries from which He bringeth them out whenever He has use for them, with decisive effect. Thus were the heathen sailors who carried Jonah, and Jonah himself, taught the folly of endeavoring to escape from Jehovah’s power.<\/p>\n

After this, therefore, comes the exhortation, “Let all the earth fear Jehovah: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him”: literally, “sojourn,” be as sojourners with Him, to whom alone belongs eternity. The argument is given in the next verse: “for He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast:” these mighty and stable powers came into existence by His mere fiat. The number is here the number of mastery; for He who brought them into being manifestly has them still in His control.<\/p>\n

3. From this contemplation of creation we are next brought naturally to consider Jehovah as realizing His name (the Unchangeable) in His dealings with His creatures. Against His counsel the counsels of the nations cannot stand. Nor, since the world is away from Him, and in opposition to Him, the thoughts of peoples either. The last would include, as the first does not, even Israel His “people” also. On the other hand, His counsel stands forever: the thoughts of His heart “from generation to generation.” The contrast here only results in more abiding comfort for those whose feebleness is anchored to the rock of His stability, “the nation whose God Jehovah is, and the people chosen” by Him (as Israel is) “for His inheritance.”<\/p>\n

4. From this safe harbor the world of living men is now reviewed. Jehovah Himself regards them: He not only beholds, He scrutinizes narrowly; and He is the One who fashioned them, who has perfect knowledge of all they do. But the result is only that man’s nothingness is once snore realized. Not the host that encircles a king can save him, nor the strength of a hero. Nor, even to escape, can the strength of a horse suffice to deliver him. But this is only the necessary prelude to another witness to God Himself.<\/p>\n

5. “Lo, Jehovah’s eye is toward them that fear Him, -toward those that hope in His mercy, to rescue their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.” And they who speak have realized this: “our soul hath looked for Jehovah: our help and shield is He.” The experience is briefly but sufficiently told, that has established the truth of this: “for our heart is glad in Him; because we have trusted in His holy Name.” The faithfulness of the divine government is finally invoked: “Let thy mercy, Jehovah, be upon us, according as we hope in Thee.”<\/p>\n

Thus that Jehovah, the God of redemption, is also the God of creation, is plainly the theme of the psalm; and that He shows Himself the Redeemer by His dealings with the people whose trust is in Him; against whom no creature-strength can possibly avail. This last is taken up and expanded (after the manner of these psalms) in the joyful song of praise with which this series ends.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Psa 33:1. Rejoice in the Lord Let his excellence, discovered in his works, be the matter of your praise. Praise is comely for the upright It well becomes them to be employed in this work of praising God, partly, because they are under great and singular obligations to him, and have abundant occasions to do so; and partly, they will praise him sincerely, affectionately, and with due reverence and thankfulness, as he requires and deserves to be praised; whereas ungodly men do indeed disparage and pollute the holy name of God while they pretend to praise it; and therefore God rejects their praises and prayers.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Psa 33:2. The psaltery, a little harp of sweet sound, and very generally used in unison with the voice.<\/p>\n

Psa 33:6. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, as in Genesis 1. By the Word the christian fathers, Basil and Theodoret, understand Christ, the uncreated Word. This ever-living Word, as in all the Jewish Targums, is the glorious Person who inspired the prophets, reproved kings, and expostulated with Jonah: the Word of the Lord, made flesh for man. By the breath, they understand the Spirit of the Lord, which moved on the waters. See on Pro 8:22. Isaiah 49. and 63.<\/p>\n

REFLECTIONS.<\/p>\n

Ingratitude is a foul offence against the gracious Lord. The earth makes returns to the husbandman, and the beasts in their way are grateful for food. Surely then it becomes the just to be thankful. A nation saved by victory from captivity and the sword, should make the whole land resound with grateful hymns and obedient hearts.<\/p>\n

This psalm celebrates the Creator in his providence; he gathers the waters of the sea by gravity, brings the counsel of the heathen to nought, and supersedes all their divinations, while the counsel of the Lord stands for ever.<\/p>\n

It notices the happiness of a nation strictly religious, which trust in the Lord, and not in an arm of flesh, for no king is saved by the multitude of his infantry; neither is it safe to trust to his cavalry, the horse being a vain defence. Let thy mercy, oh Lord, ever be on us, as on David, and on his people. <\/p>\n

This Psalm is an acrostic: the twenty two verses contain the exact number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet, and follow the same order. The sentiments are ardent, the language glowing; for the escape from danger when suspected of being a spy, made his soul overflow with gratitude.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

XXXIII. A Song of Praise.This Ps. has no title in MT. It may have been added at a later time to an older collection, probably Psa 33:3-22. The LXX prefix, By David, when he changed his face before Abimelech (sic) and he loosed him and he went away. The Ps. is an invitation to praise Yahweh as the Creator and for His care of Israel throughout its history. Yahweh alone can save His people, and for that salvation the Psalmist will wait.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

PSALM 33<\/p>\n

The godly in Israel called upon to celebrate the intervention of God on behalf of the nation.<\/p>\n

The psalm celebrates the full deliverance of Israel from every enemy, and makes manifest that this deliverance will not be brought about by the counsels of man, by victorious hosts, or human strength, but by the Lord Himself.<\/p>\n

(vv. 1-3) Seeing that deliverance comes from the Lord, the righteous are called to Rejoice in the Lord, to praise the Lord, and sing unto him a new song.<\/p>\n

(vv. 4-5) This great deliverance makes manifest how right are the word and the works of the Lord. His word and His works declare His character; He loveth righteousness and judgment, and goodness is combined with His righteousness.<\/p>\n

(vv. 6-9) By His word He brought the creation into being. All the earth, with all its inhabitants, are called to own Him as the mighty Creator.<\/p>\n

(vv. 10-11) Moreover His word and His works bring the counsels of the heathen to nought, and make manifest that the counsels of the Lord will not only be fulfilled, but will stand for ever.<\/p>\n

(vv. 12-17) How blessed then the nation whose God is the LORD. They may have failed greatly, but God having chosen Israel, will carry out the thoughts of his heart in regard to the nation. Men may oppose but God has seen all the sons of men. He knows their hearts: He considereth their works. Men trust in their kings, their armies, and their much strength, but the Lord disposes of all according to His counsels.<\/p>\n

(vv. 18-19) In the meantime the eyes of the Lord are upon those that fear Him, and that hope in His mercy. He will deliver such from death, and preserve them through times of need.<\/p>\n

(vv. 20-22) The psalm closes with the response of the godly to the goodness of the Lord as manifested in His Word and works. They wait for the Lord, and rejoice in Him.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

33:1 Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: [for] praise is {a} comely for the upright.<\/p>\n

(a) It is the duty of the godly to set forth the praises of God for his mercy and power showed to them.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Psalms 33<\/span><\/p>\n

This psalm calls the godly to praise Yahweh for His dependable Word and His righteous works, specifically His creative activities in nature and human history. The psalmist also assured the readers that He will be faithful to those who trust in Him.<\/p>\n

"If the purest form of a hymn is praise to God for what He is and does, this is a fine example. The body of the psalm is occupied with the Lord as Creator, Sovereign, Judge and Saviour, while the beginning and end express two elements of worship: an offering of praise, doing honour to so great a King, and a declaration of trust, made in humble expectation." [Note: Kidner, p. 136.] <\/span><\/p>\n

The Hebrew text does not identify the writer of this psalm, though the Septuagint translators believed he was David. Perhaps they concluded this because other psalms that David composed surround this one (cf. Psa 72:20). The occasion of writing appears to have been a national victory.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

1. A call to praise the Lord skillfully 33:1-3<\/span><\/p>\n

The psalmist appealed to the righteous to praise God because it is proper to do so in view of who He is and what He has done. Furthermore, we should praise Him in a manner suitable to His greatness, with beautiful musical accompaniment. Moreover, our praise should be fresh and skillful, not hackneyed and sloppy. God is worthy of the best in expressions of praise as well as in all we do for Him.<\/p>\n

"The ’new song’ is new in the sense that it celebrates a new act of God’s redemption (Psa 33:3; cf. Psa 40:3; Psa 96:1; Psa 98:1; Psa 144:9; Psa 149:1; Isa 42:10; Rev 5:9; Rev 14:3)." [Note: VanGemeren, p. 277.] <\/span><\/p>\n

"Psalms 33 is a new song<\/span> (Psa 33:3) that sings about a new world<\/span>. It is the world about which Israel always sings, the new world that Yahweh is now creating. It is a world ordered by God’s justice over which God presides with faithfulness. To such a world the only appropriate response is confident and sure praise to the one who makes that world available to us." [Note: Brueggemann, p. 33. See also Richard D. Patterson, "Singing the New Song: An Examination of Psalms 33, 96, 98, , 149," Bibliotheca Sacra 164:656 (October-December 2007):416-34.] <\/span><\/p>\n

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Psa 33:1-22<\/p>\n

This is the last of the four psalms in Book 1 which have no title, the others being Psa 1:1-6; Psa 2:1-12, which are introductory, and 10 which is closely connected with 9. Some have endeavoured to establish a similar connection between 32, and 33; but, while the closing summons to the righteous in the former is substantially repeated in the opening words of the latter, there is little other trace of connection, except the references in both to “the eye of Jehovah”; {Psa 32:8; Psa 33:18} and no two psalms could be more different in subject and tone than these. The one is full of profound, personal emotion, and deals with the depths of experience; the other is devoid of personal reference, and is a devout, calm contemplation of the creative power and providential government of God. It is kindred with the later type of psalms, and has many verbal allusions connecting it with them. It has probably been placed here simply because of the similiarity just noticed between its beginning and the end of the preceding. The reasons for the arrangement of the psalter were, so far as they can be traced, usually such merely verbal coincidences. To one who has been travelling through the heights and depths, the storms and sunny gleams of the previous psalms, this impersonal didactic meditation, with its historical allusions and entire ignoring of sins and sorrows, is indeed “a new song.” It is apparently meant for liturgical use, and falls into three unequal parts; the first three verses and the last three being prelude and conclusion, the former summoning the “righteous” to praise Jehovah, the, latter putting words of trust and triumph and prayer into their mouths. The central mass (Psa 33:4-19) celebrates the creative and providential work of God, in two parts, of which the first extends these Divine acts over the world (Psa 33:4-11) and the second concentrates them on Israel (Psa 33:12-19).<\/p>\n

The opening summons to praise takes us far away from the solitary wrestlings and communings in former psalms. Now<\/p>\n

“The singers lift up their voice, <\/p>\n

And the trumpets make endeavour, <\/p>\n

Sounding, In God rejoice! In Him rejoice forever!”<\/p>\n

But the clear recognition of purity as the condition of access to God speaks in this invocation as distinctly as in any of the preceding. “The righteous” whose lives conform to the Divine will, and only they, can shout aloud their joy in Jehovah. Praise fits and adorns the lips of the upright” only, whose spirits are without twist of self-will and sin. The direction of character expressed in the word is horizontal rather than vertical, and is better represented by “straight” than “upright.” Praise gilds the gold of purity and adds grace even to the beauty of holiness. Experts tell us that the kinnor (harp, A.V. and R.V.) and nebel (psaltery) were both stringed instruments, differing in the position of the sounding board, which was below in the former and above in the latter, and also in the covering of the strings (v. Delitzsch, Eng. transl. of latest ed. 1:7, n.). The “new song” is not necessarily the psalm itself, but may mean other thanksgivings evoked by Gods meditated on goodness. But in any case, it is noteworthy, that the occasions of the new song are very old acts, stretching back to the first creation and continued down through the ages. The psalm has no trace of special recent mercies, but to the devout soul the old deeds are never antiquated, and each new meditation on them breaks into new praise. So inexhaustible is the theme that all generations take it up in turn, and find “songs unheard” and “sweeter” with which to celebrate it. Each new rising of the old sun brings music from the lips of Memnon, as he sits fronting the east. The facts of revelation must be sung by each age and soul for itself, and the glowing strains grow cold and archaic, while the ancient mercies which they magnify live on, bright and young. There is always room for a fresh voice to praise the old gospel the old creation, the old providence.<\/p>\n

This new song is saturated with reminiscences of old ones, and deals with familiar thoughts which have come to the psalmist with fresh power. He magnifies the moral attributes manifested in Gods self-revelation, His creative Word, and His providential government. “The word of Jehovah,” in Psa 33:4 is to be taken in the wide sense of every utterance of His thought or will (“non accipi pro doctrina, sed pro mundi gubernandi ratione,” Calvin). It underlies His “works,” as is more largely declared in the following verses.<\/p>\n

It is “upright,” the same word as in Psa 33:1, and here equivalent to the general idea of morally perfect. The acts which flow from it are “in faithfulness,” correspond to and keep His word. The perfect word and works have for source the deep heart of Jehovah, which loves “righteousness and judgment,” and therefore speaks and acts in accordance with these. Therefore the outcome of all is a world full of Gods lovingkindness. The psalmist has won that “serene and blessed mood” in which the problem of life seems easy, and all harsh and gloomy thoughts have melted out of the sky. There is but one omnipotent Will at work everywhere, and that is a Will whose law for itself is the love of righteousness, and truth. The majestic simplicity and universality of the cause are answered by the simplicity and universality of the result, the flooding of the whole world with blessing. Many another psalm shows how hard it is to maintain such a faith in the face of the terrible miseries of men, and the more complex “civilisation” becomes, the harder it grows; but it is well to hear sometimes the one clear note of gladness without its chord of melancholy.<\/p>\n

The work of creation is set forth in Psa 33:6-9 as the effect of the Divine word alone. The psalmist is fascinated not by the glories created, but by the wonder of the process of creation. The Divine will uttered itself, and the universe was. Of course the thought is parallel with that of Genesis, “God said, Let there be and there was” Nor are we to antedate the Christian teaching of a personal Word of God, the agent of creation. The old versions and interpreters, followed by Cheyne, read “as in a bottle” for “as an heap,” vocalising the text differently from the present pointing; but there seems to be an allusion to the wall of waters at the passage of the Red Sea, the same word being used in Miriams song; with “depths” in the next clause, there as here. {Exo 15:8} What is meant, however, here, is the separation of land and water at first, and possibly the continuance of the same power keeping them still apart, since the verbs in Psa 33:7 are participles, which imply continued action. The image of “a heap” is probably due to the same optical delusion which has coined the expression “the high seas,” since, to an eye looking seawards from the beach, the level waters seem to rise as they recede; or it may merely express the gathering together in a mass. Away out there, in that ocean of which the Hebrews knew so little, were unplumbed depths in which, as in vast storehouses, the abundance of the sea was shut up, and the ever-present Word which made them at first was to them instead of bolts and bars. Possibly the thought of the storehouses suggested that of the Flood when these were opened, and that thought, crossing the psalmists mind, led to the exhortation in Psa 33:8 to fear Jehovah, which would more naturally have followed Psa 33:9. The power displayed in creation is, however, a sufficient ground for the summons to reverent obedience, and Psa 33:9 may be but an emphatic repetition of the substance of the foregoing description. It is eloquent in its brevity and juxtaposition of the creative word and the created world. “It stood,”-“the word includes much: first, the coming into being (Entstehen), then, the continued subsistence (Bestehen), lastly, attendance (Dastehen) in readiness for service” (Stier).<\/p>\n

From the original creation the psalmists mind turns over the ages between it and him, and sees the same mystical might of the Divine Will working in what we call providential government. Gods bare word has power without material means. Nay, His very thoughts unspoken are endowed with immortal vigour, and are at bottom the only real powers in history. Gods “thoughts stand,” as creation does, lasting on through all mens fleeting years. With reverent boldness the psalm parallels the processes (if we may so speak) of the Divine mind with those of the human; “counsel” and “thoughts” being attributed to both. But how different the issue of the solemn thoughts of God and those of men, in so far as they are not in accordance with His! It unduly narrows the sweep of the psalmists vision to suppose that he is speaking of a recent experience when some assault on Israel was repelled. He is much rather linking the hour of creation with today by one swift summary of the net result of all history. The only stable, permanent reality is the will of God and it imparts derived stability to those who ally themselves with it, yielding to its, counsels and moulding their thoughts by its. “He that doeth the will of God abideth forever,” but the shore of time is littered with wreckage, the sad fragments of proud fleets which would sail in the teeth of the wind and went to pieces on the rocks. From such thoughts the transition to the second part of the main body of the psalm is natural. Psa 33:12-19 are a joyous celebration of the blessedness of Israel as the people of so great a God. The most striking feature of these verses is the pervading reference to the passage of the Red Sea which, as we have already seen, has coloured Psa 33:7. From Miriams song come the designation of the people as Gods “inheritance” and the phrase “the place of His habitation”. {Exo 15:17} The “looking upon the inhabitants of the earth,” and the thought that the “eye of Jehovah is upon them that fear Him, to deliver their soul in death” (Psa 33:14, Psa 33:18), remind us of the Lords looking from the pillar on the host of Egyptians and the terrified crowd of fugitives, and of the same glance being darkness to the one and light to the other. The abrupt introduction of the king not saved by his host, and of the vanity of the horse for safety, are explained if we catch an echo of Miriams ringing notes, “Pharaohs chariots and his host hath He cast into the sea. The horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea.” {Exo 15:4; Exo 15:21}<\/p>\n

If this historical allusion be not recognised, the connection of these verses is somewhat obscure, but still discernible. The people who stand in special relation to God are blessed, because that eye, which sees all men, rests on them in lovingkindness and with gracious purpose of special protection. This contrast of Gods universal knowledge and of that knowledge which is accompanied with loving care is the very nerve of these verses, as is shown by the otherwise aimless repetition of the thought of Gods looking down on men. There is a wide all-seeingness, characterised by three words in an ascending scale of closeness of observance, in Psa 33:13-14. It is possible to God as being Creator: “He fashions their hearts individually,” or “one by one” seems the best interpretation of Psa 33:15 a, -and thence is deduced His intimate knowledge of all His creatures doings. The sudden turn to the impotence of earthly might, as illustrated by the king and the hero and the battle horse, may be taken as intended to contrast the weakness of such strength both with the preceding picture of Divine omniscience and almightiness, and with the succeeding assurance of safety in Jehovah. The true reason for the blessedness of the chosen people is that Gods eye is on them, not merely with cold omniscience nor with critical considering of their works, but with the direct purpose of sheltering them from surrounding evil. But the stress of the characterisation of these guarded and nourished favourites of heaven is now laid not upon a Divine act of choice, but upon their meek looking to Him. His eye meets with love the upturned patient eye of humble expectance and loving fear.<\/p>\n

What should be the issue of such thoughts, but the glad profession of trust, with which the psalm fittingly ends, corresponding to the invocation to praise which began it? Once in each of these three closing verses do the speakers profess their dependence on God. The attitude of waiting with fixed hope and patient submission is the characteristic of Gods true servants in all ages. In it are blended consciousness of weakness and vulnerability, dread of assault, reliance on Divine Love, confidence of safety, patience, submission and strong aspiration.<\/p>\n

These were the tribal marks of Gods people, when this was “a new song”; they are so today, for though the Name of the Lord be more fully known by Christ, the trust in it is the same. A threefold good is possessed, expected and asked as the issue of this waiting. God is “help and shield” to those who exercise it. Its sure fruit is joy in Him, since He will answer the expectance of His people, and will make His name more fully known and more sweet to those who have clung to it, in so far as they. knew it. The measure of hope in God is the measure of experience of His lovingkindness, and the closing prayer does not allege hope as meriting the answer which it expects, but recognises that desire is a condition of possession of Gods best gifts, and knows it to be most impossible of all impossibilities that hope fixed on God should be ashamed. Hands, lifted empty to heaven in longing trust, will never drop empty back and hang listless, without a blessing in their grasp.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: [for] praise is comely for the upright. 1. Rejoice ] Shout for joy: the same verb as in Psa 32:11 b, though in a different form. As in that verse, the righteous and the upright, the true Israelites, are addressed. Praise is their duty and their honour: in … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 33:1”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14379\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}