(This last Sunday we posted on Psalm 33. Our Sunday posts usually have been written years ago and we repeat these. Sometimes we write “addendums” with short additional notes. Once in awhile I read these and think I could do much better. That is the case here. This is a total rewrite. Certainly some of my thinking as I read this Psalm was prompted by yesterday’s second Presidential Inauguration of Donald J. Trump. I voted for the man, I don’t mind saying. But I am also bothered by the “god-like” treatment he receives, especially from Evangelical Christians in the USA and by the people AND government of Israel. This turned out to be two longer than usual posts!)
Let’s begin our study with a simple outline of the Psalm.
Ø 33:1-3: Call to praise!
Ø 33:4-5: Reason for praise #1
Ø 33:6-9: Reason for praise #2
Ø 33:10-11: Reason for praise #3
Ø 33:12-19: Blessing of this praise (Isaiah 30:1-17)
Ø 33:20-22: Commitment to praise
The purpose for the outline is to note that stanzas 2-4 are a continuous recitation of praise-worthy things about the LORD. Stanza 5 says that a blessing is on the nation that heeds this call to praise. The final stanza is the Psalmist’s commitment to do what was encouraged in the first stanza.
· 33:1-3: Call to praise!
Praise is beautiful, but note that beautiful praise comes from the upright. As this Psalm has “national” implications (v12), we should consider the problem with a “National Day of Prayer” or a national “Thanksgiving Day.” We have both in the United States. We consider them good because it reminds everyone that we owe all we have and are to our Creator. That’s fine. But praise that is given to the Lord from an unrepentant person is ugly.
One thing about being “upright” is that it is “godliness” in the true sense. The same Hebrew word (yasar) is applied to God’s word in v4 (NKJV right). In Prov. 3:31 Solomon says His secret counsel is with the upright. In Proverbs 3 the “upright” are defined by 3:1-12. That would be a worthwhile study.
· 33:4-5: Reason for praise #1.
The reason for praise is bound up in who God is, and more specifically, what we know of God. Everything we know of God! God is known to us by His “word” and His “works.” The word for “true” includes the idea of being “faithful.” Truth with the Lord is eternal, not just good for today but liable to change tomorrow.
From His “word” we can know what God’s loves. He loves righteousness and justice. You might think there are many other attributes of God that are revealed to us in the Bible, but these two are critical for what God looks for and loves in a nation. In terms of God’s “works” we can see that the “earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.” This is the purpose of a day of thanksgiving at the time of harvest (not just the Firstfruits but the fullness of God’s blessing at Succoth/ Feast of Tabernacles). What we are recognizing is His “goodness” (checed). Consider this. In a world that is under the curse, that was subjected to futility and is under the bondage of corruption (Rom. 8:20-21), we still see the goodness of God everywhere.
· 33:6-9: Reason for praise #2.
These “reasons” are progressive. The upright “word” and the “true” work the Psalmist is concerned with is that of Creation. This is why the earth is full of God’s goodness. It is because He made it all. By the “word” of His mouth He made the heavens. Let us remember that the heavens are key to the “seasons” of earth that God promised to maintain (Gen. 1:14-19; 8:22). A “work” of God in Creation was that He gathered the waters in oceans and lakes that became storehouses for producing food on the earth (Gen. 1:9-13). This did not happen by chance. It happened because it was the plan and work of a Creator who Himself is good.
Since we can see all around us the goodness of God, our first obligation is to respond to this goodness by glorifying Him as God and giving Him thanks (Rom. 1:21). To treat God as God is to fear the LORD and to stand in awe of Him. This gives us a clear definition of what it means for the upright to give God praise. And the only reason we need for this is God’s “word” and “work”: He spoke and it was done; He commanded and it stood fast.
· 33:10-11: Reason for praise #3.
God’s word and work are not only known in Creation. They are known in history where God is seen to be the Sovereign Lord. These are truths that we know from the same book of Genesis where we hear of God’s creation. Through the sons of Noah all the “nations” were established (Gen. 10) and it was God who confused their languages so that they were scattered over the earth (Gen. 11). It is God who determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings (Ac. 17:26) and for all the nations He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness (Ac. 14:17).
Furthermore, the Psalmist knows how God had a plan that the land of Canaan (Gen. 10:19) would become Abraham’s land (Gen. 12:1; 13:14-18), a land that would be unusually full of His goodness (Deut. 11:10-12). Despite the rantings and ravings of the nations against this plan (Ps. 2:1-3), God repeatedly brought the counsel of the nations to nothing while the counsel of the LORD stands forever. Beginning with Egypt (Exodus), and various nations in the wandering years (Numbers), when Israel entered Canaan (Joshua), and over the years while in the land (Judges, Samuel/Kings/Chronicles; we don’t know who the Psalmist is), God worked what was true/faithful and upright in His word to Abraham.
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