Psalm 33: The Sovereignty of Yahweh in Creation
1 Rejoice in Yahweh, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful. 2 Praise Yahweh with the harp; make melody to Him with an instrument 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, and all His work is done in truth. 5 He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the goodness of Yahweh. 6 By the word of Yahweh the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. 7 He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deep 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 fast.
Rejoice in Yahweh our Savior, O you righteous, in whom there is no guile. “That is, O ye upright in heart, as it followeth here, and as Psalms 32:11. 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.“ (Trapp) “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.” (Hawker's Poor Man's)
For praise of Him from the upright is beautiful— is befitting, suitable, proper” (Albert Barnes) For we know Him to be none other than Our Refuge— the Lord Jesus Christ. “Praise Him with the harp; make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings. Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully with a shout of joy.” “I venture to believe that the only suitable concert under the New Testament dispensation, is the melody which is wholly spiritual, when true worshippers with one mind and one mouth glorify God. Romans 15:6. The new song since David's days hath been published; John heard it in vision; and the Church are enabled to sing it by faith; Revelation 5:9-10.” (Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary) Praise Him with your works( instruments) and your words (songs). “He would have nothing omitted by believers which tends to animate the minds and feelings of men in singing God’s praises.” (Calvin)
“’For the Word of Yahweh is right,’— “God’s counsel and decree concerning the creation and government of the world, which is unquestionably right, and agreeable to sound reason, and therefore they are to blame that dislike his doings.” (John Trapp) “It is worthy of universal belief— ‘and all his works are done in truth.’ He does all that He promises, and all that He does is such as to claim universal confidence. Whatever He does is, from the very fact that He does it, worthy of the confidence of all His creatures.” (Albert Barnes)
“’And all His work is done in truth. He loves righteousness and judgment’…. Or ‘righteous judgment’” (John Gill) that is, that the Bible has more edification for the hearts and minds of man concerning origins, than other theories, like evolution.
“And He delights in [justice] the administration of it Himself, Jeremiah 9:24; and He is well pleased with acts of righteousness done by others, when done according to His word, from love to Him, by faith in Him, and with a view to His glory; especially He loves the righteousness of His son, being satisfactory to His law and justice, and His people, as clothed with it; and He delights in the condemnation of sin in the flesh of Christ, and in the righteous judgment of the world.” (John Gill)
“By the word of Yahweh the heavens were made’; the hypostatical Word, Christ, who is oft called God’s Word, even by the Chaldee paraphrast; as also John 1:1-3, where he is said to be that Word by whom all things were made. So that which is here spoken more darkly and doubtedly, according to that state of the church, is more clearly declared in the New Testament. ‘And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.’” (Matthew Poole)
“The earth is full of the goodness of Yahweh.’ For by Him [Jesus] all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him.” (Colossians 1:16)
And by the same Word will the wicked be destroyed. “But with righteousness He will judge the poor, and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; and He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.” ( Isaiah 11:4) “Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming.” (2 Thessalonians 2:8) ‘Let the earth fear the Lord,’ etc.— All the people of the earth, as the next clause expounds this; not only Jews, but also Gentiles, who equally enjoy the benefit of this great and glorious work of God. ‘For he spake, and it was done’ — the work mentioned (6-7). ‘He commanded, and it stood fast’ — Hebrew יעמד, jagnamad, ‘it stood forth,’ as a servant at his Master’s command, prepared to do His will, and to execute His pleasure.” (Joseph Benson)
Psalm 33:The Sovereignty of Yahweh in His Government
10 Yahweh brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. 11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations.
“From the kingdom of God in the works of nature, the Psalmist here turns to the contemplation of his government in the kingdom of his providence. What a sweet thought is suggested here to God's redeemed and exercised family, in the consciousness of the Lord's over-ruling power. No counsel but God's can stand. Think of this, my brother, under any overbearing oppressions of the mighty: They may plan, they may threaten, they may for a while seem to exercise a high hand; but Jesus looks on: and whoso toucheth one of his little ones, toucheth the apple of his eye. Zechariah 2:8.” (Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary)
“Compare Isaiah 8:9-10, note; Isaiah 19:3… ‘Be broken, O peoples, and be shattered; and give ear, all remote places of the earth. Gird yourselves, yet be shattered; Gird yourselves, yet be shattered. Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted; State a proposal, but it will not stand, For God is with us.’ / ‘Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them; And I will confound their strategy, So that they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead And to mediums and spiritists.’ All the plans and purposes of the nations of the earth that conflict with the purposes of God will be vain; all those plans, whatever they may be, will be made subservient under His providence to the promotion of His great designs.” (Albert Barnes)
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is Yahweh, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance. 13 Yahweh looks from heaven;He sees all the sons of men. 14 From the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth; 15 He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works. 16 No king is saved by the multitude of an army; almighty man is not delivered by great strength. 17 A horse is a vain hope for safety; neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.
“‘Blessed is the nation whose God is Yahweh, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance.’ The Jews, who were elected to be His heritage, whom He preserved as such for two thousand years, and whom He has reprobated because of their unbelief and rebellion, and elected the Gentiles in their place.” (Adam Clarke) But only those who trust in Jesus! “How blessed indeed must be the Church and people, who have the Lord for their God! There is nothing else to give happiness or security. The strength of horses or chariots, the strength of a host or an army, the power of kings or giants, nay, of all mighty men; what can be the whole of creatures, whose breath is in their nostrils? But in Jesus there is everlasting strength, and therefore the prophet sings aloud, ’Surely shall one say, in Yahweh have I righteousness and strength: even to Him shall men come, and all that are incensed against Him shall be ashamed;’ Isaiah 45:24.” (Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary)
18 Behold, the eye of the Yahweh is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy, 19 to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.
“‘Behold, the eye of the Yahweh is on those who fear Him,’ He who has thus bound, can unloose; he who has created, can destroy. He has promised life and prosperity only to the godly.” (Adam Clarke)
“If unfolded and explained in a gospel strain, do they not in effect say, Behold and take notice, every individual of you that are the Lord's heritage, the eye of Jesus is always upon you; His arm is stretched forth to your protection, help, and deliverance. In times of... spiritual famine, Jesus will keep both body and soul alive: your Bread shall be given, and your Water shall be sure. He that is your God, will be, and is all that you can need. Isaiah 33:16.” (Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary)
20 Our soul waits for Yahweh; He is our help and our shield. 21 For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name.
"Yes! the Lord is both a sun and a shield. He that now gives grace, will by and by give glory. And observe, Reader, the joy of the believer is because he trusteth in the holy name of God in Christ. Our safety is in Jesus; and our joy is when we have a believing trust in Jesus. And, indeed, if this would not bring joy, nothing would. This makes the soul of the believer not only assured that heaven is his own, because Jesus is his own: but he rejoiceth now in the hope of, and anticipates by present possession, the glory that shall be revealed , because Jesus is his portion. And this, no doubt, is what Paul the apostle meant, when he prayed for the Church, that the God of hope might fill them with all joy and peace in believing, that they might abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. Romans 15:13.” (Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary) Jesus is “the help of us Israelites, to whom He hath made many promises and glorious discoveries of His goodness.” (Matthew Poole) For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name
22 Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, just as we hope in You.
“‘Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, just as we hope in You,’ not according to any merits of ours. “Hail, Lord Jesus! Thou art the Mercy promised. We bless Thee in Thy first coming with all Thy finished work of redemption: and we desire to live and die in the full assurance and expectation of Thy second coming, when that hope we have in Thy salvation will be swallowed up in absolute enjoyment, and we shall live with Thee, and enjoy Thee forever!” (Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary)