1 Rejoice in Yahweh, you righteous! Praise is fitting for the upright. 2 Give thanks to Yahweh with the lyre. Sing praises to him with the harp of ten strings. 3 Sing to him a new song. Play skillfully with a shout of joy! 4 For the word of Yahweh is right. All his work is done in faithfulness. 5 He loves righteousness and justice. The earth is full of the loving kindness of Yahweh. 6 By Yahweh's word, the heavens were made; all their army by the breath of his mouth. 7 He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap. He lays up the deeps in storehouses. 8 Let all the earth fear Yahweh. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. 9 For he spoke, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood firm. 10 Yahweh brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He makes the thoughts of the peoples to be of no effect. 11 The counsel of Yahweh stands fast forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. 12 Blessed is the nation whose God is Yahweh, the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance. 13 Yahweh looks from heaven. He sees all the sons of men. 14 From the place of his habitation he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, 15 he who fashions all of their hearts; and he considers all of their works. 16 There is no king saved by the multitude of an army. A mighty man is not delivered by great strength. 17 A horse is a vain thing for safety, neither does he deliver any by his great power. 18 Behold, Yahweh's eye is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his loving kindness; 19 to deliver their soul from death, to keep them alive in famine. 20 Our soul has waited for Yahweh. He is our help and our shield. 21 For our heart rejoices in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. 22 Let your loving kindness be on us, Yahweh, since we have hoped in you. By David; when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.
This psalm has no title prefixed to it, and it is not possible to determine with certainty who was the author, or on what occasion it was written. There is nothing in the psalm that has any special allusion to David, nor is there reference to any circumstances which would enable us to determine when it was composed. It has, indeed, no particular allusion to the Jewish religion, or to the prevailing mode of worship in that land, and is, in fact, so "general" in its sentiments and in its descriptions, that it might have been written at any period of the Jewish history, or even in any land. As it is found "among" the Psalm of David, and is between psalms which are both ascribed to David, we may presume that it was believed to have been composed by him; and there is nothing in it that is at variance with that belief. It is really but a carrying out of the sentiment with which the preceding psalm closes; and it has been conjectured that the intimate relation of the two psalms may have been the reason why the title to the latter of them was omitted.
The psalm properly consists of three parts:
I. an exhortation to praise God;
II. reasons why he should be praised; and
III. the expression of a purpose thus to praise Him.
I. An exhortation to praise God, Psalm 33:1-3. In this there is a call on the righteous to praise Him with songs and with musical instruments - the harp, the psaltery, the instrument of ten strings; a call to make use of the best powers of music in all its varied forms in His service.
II. Reasons for thus praising Him, Ps. 33:4-19.
(1) His general character for goodness and truth, Psalm 33:4-5.
(2) The fact that He made the universe; or, the wisdom and power displayed by Him in creation, Psalm 33:6-9.
(3) The stability of His counsel or purposes, Psalm 33:10-11.
(4) The blessings which He bestows upon those who acknowledge Him to be their God - blessings of care, protection, and deliverance in danger, Psalm 33:12-19.
III. The purpose of the writer, and of those who were associated with him, thus to praise God, Psalm 33:20-22.
The psalm is thus one that is appropriate to the people of all lands and times, and will be better appreciated in proportion as people become more and more acquainted with God in the wisdom, the power, and the skill which He has shown in the works of creation, and in His providential government of the world.
The Lord is praised for his works of creation, Psalm 33:1-9; and for the stability of his own counsels, Psalm 33:10, Psalm 33:11. The blessedness of the people who have the knowledge of the true God, his grace, and providence, Psalm 33:12-15. The vanity of all earthly dependence, Psalm 33:16, Psalm 33:17. The happiness of them that fear God, and trust in his mercy, Psalm 33:18-22.
This Psalm has no title 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 MSS., this Psalm is written as a part of the preceding.
INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 33
Though this psalm has no title to it, it seems to be a psalm of David, from the style and matter of it; and indeed begins with the same words with which the preceding psalm is ended. Theodoret is of opinion it was written by David as a prophecy concerning Hezekiah, as a song to be sung by the people after the destruction of the Assyrian army.
(Psalm 33:1-11) God to be praised.
(Psalm 33:12-22) His people encouraged by his power.
Praise of the Ruler of the World as Being the Defender of His People
The Davidic Maskl, Psalm 32:1-11, is followed by an anonymous congregational song of a hymnic character, which begins just like the former closes. It owes its composition apparently to some deliverance of the nation from heathen oppression, which had resulted from God's interposition and without war. Moreover it exhibits no trace of dependence upon earlier models, such as might compel us to assign a late date to it; the time of Jeremiah, for instance, which Hitzig adopts. The structure is symmetrical. Between the two hexastichs, Psalm 33:1, Psalm 33:20, the materia laudis is set forth in eight tetrastichs.
*More commentary available by clicking individual verses.