Psalm 33
1Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.
2Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.
3Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.
4For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth.
5He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.
6By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
7He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses.
8Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
9For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
10The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.
11The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
12Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.
13The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men.
14From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.
15He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works.
16There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.
17An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.
18Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;
19To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.
20Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield.
21For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.
22Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.
Chapter 33
I like verse 1, especially where it says, "for praise is comely for the upright." Since I find my strength in Him, I praise Him for and because of that and I think the verse gives me more of a reason to praise Him. Even though I don't play a harp (v. 2), I can still use an instrument to glorify Him. I play harmonica every now and then and I've used that to glorify Him in the past, which is depicted in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-CIYN5uWWY I think I will continue to play harmonica for His glory and even continue to "play skilfully with a loud noise" (v. 3). I wanna be loud in a way that pleases Him, like a lot of the Christian metal bands I listen to. I've thought about being in a band before and it'd be cool to play metal for Him if that's part of His plan for my life. I like what Matthew Henry says about the first few verses, which I think pretty much speaks for itself, "Holy joy is the heart and soul of praise, and that is here pressed upon the righteous. Thankful praise is the breath and language of holy joy. Religious songs are proper expressions of thankful praise. Every endowment we possess, should be employed with all our skill and earnestness in God's service." I am thankful for the truth of His Word (v. 4). If His Word turned out to be a bunch of lies, I wouldn't know what to live by and I'd just go off in the world and do my own thing. I think it's cool that the earth, which is part of His creation, is a reflection of His goodness or lovingkindness (v. 5). Since I see His glory in His creation, I like the fact that He expresses His goodness to me by creating wonderful things on the earth, like seeds which grow produce, which express to me that He's faithful to provide for me. It's crazy to think about how powerful God's words were when He created the earth (vv. 6, 9). It's like, "Woah, the Creator did something so amazing by just saying a few words." It's things like that that make me thankful that I can tell the enemy to take by just saying a few words. I guess it's not about how many words God said but word the impact He knew they knew were gonna have. Verses 7-9 deal with God's creation of the earth, which I don't have much to say about. I do think the passage is beautiful, though. Matthew Henry states the following about verses 10-11: "He overrules all the counsels of men, and makes them serve his counsels; even that is fulfilled, which to us is most surprising, the eternal counsel of God, nor can any thing prevent its coming to pass." It's as if the counsel of men exists to serve its own self-centered purposes and the counsel exists to serve God. I'm glad to be involved in the counsel of Gof since it's eternal and since I don't have to worry about it going away. I suppose I do my part in the counsel by serving Him and helping out others in their Christian walk.
It'd be great if this nation was just all about God (v. 12), but I guess things are playing out how they're supposed to play out, such as the fact that there's wars and rumors of wars, political concerns and issues, and high gas prices. I think we're living in the end times and perhaps if this nation was all about God and loving one another, we wouldn't be living in the end times. I'm not saying that the world's gonna end in 2012 since I don't believe it will -- I'm saying that prophecy's coming to pass regardless and that Christ's return is soon. I believe the Antichrist will be on the earth first, but that's a discussion for another time. Perhaps one of these days I could share with y'all about what I believe concerning eschatology. God knows what's going on with humanity ("the sons of men") as He looks upon the earth. With that in mind, I try to act in a way that is pleasing to Him (vv. 13-15). Sometimes I mess up but I ask for Him to forgive me. I think those verses also point out the fact that no one can hide from God since He sees humanity and how it acts on earth. I don't trust in my own strength (v. 16-17) because doing so would result in failure. The way the world is these days, I gotta depend on God for strength because I don't I could handle it without Him. I am thankful that God is with me (v. 18) and that He helps me out in harsh times (v. 19). Matthew Henry comments on the last few verses by stating the following: "In difficulties they shall be helped; in dangers they shall not receive any real damage. Those that fear God and his wrath, must hope in God and his mercy; for there is no flying from him, but by flying to him." I like that because it illsutrates how God is my shield and how I can cling to Him in times of need (v. 20). I rejoice because when I trust Him, He doesn't let me down (v. 21) and I like the fact that His mercy is eternal (v. 22). If His wasn't eternal, I might go over how many times I could sin and I don't think I'd wanna deal with Him being mad at me if His mercy was limited.
Source used:
Henry, Matthew. "Concise Commentary on Psalms 33". "Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
on the Whole Bible". <http://www.searchgodsword.org/com/mhc-con/view.cgi?book=ps&chapter=033>.
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