Psalm 33 highlights the strength and the might of God, or the power of God. Before we go on, let’s take note of the literary structure. Psalm 33 has a chaistic structure, which is a mirrored setup (ABCDCBA) and the goal is to bring the readers to the centre of the structure.
(A) Reveling in the Mighty God (Ps 33:1-3, 20-22)
The Psalm begins with a call to shout for joy and sing (Ps 33:1-3). It also calls us to play instruments (lyre, harp of 10 strings). These are fairly specialised instruments played by a small group of people. There is a range of call to worship here. Everyone is called to sing and make loud shouts, but there’s also a specialised group called to play a musical instrument. The people are being called to worship God with whatever they have.
The command also comes with an emotional state (“shout for joy”). It is also right for us to praise God and make melody to Him.
Everything is directed to God. Now, why don’t we do this more? So often, we take our worship as a specialised event. This Psalm is calling us to worship at all times. Maybe we don’t sing as much as we ought to because we’ve made it too professional and specialised. We may have also filtered our spiritual content to make it not praiseworthy. So much of our spiritual content has become moral content and application for practical living, and so little of it is about God. Does the greatness of God excite you? Does God and all that He is cause you to rejoice? Scripture calls us to meditate on the attribute of God. Let us not take these 3 verses lightly. They are calling us to worship God.
Let’s compare the opening with the closing verses in Ps 33:20-22. The verses at the end contrast with the opening. The verbs here are different from the first 3 verses — “wait”, “heart is glad”, “hope in you”. There’s a transition from outward, loud state to a quieter, inward internalisation. The psalmist seems to have moved from the great hall of worship and praise to a private bedroom. These are words that point to an internal, quiet state and seem even abstract. There isn’t anything physical to do. It is about the state of inward heart position.
What brings about this change? Notice the repetition of the word “in” in the opening and closing verses. We are called to worship God not merely because of what He does, but because of who He is. We are called to worship, know and delight in Him in such a way that our hearts rest in Him. J.I. Packer describes i in this way in his book, Knowing God:
“How may we form a right idea of God’s greatness? The Bible teaches us two steps that we must take. The first is to remove limits from our thoughts of God that would make Him small. The second is to compare Him to compare him with powers and forces which we regard as great.”
How can we apply these steps right now? What do you think of God today? Remove those limits and deny yourself any thoughts that would compensate for God. Look for reference points in your imagination that would make Him great.
(B) Revealing the Mighty God (Ps 33:4-9)
This section focuses on God’s own character and His strength and also on the revelation of His might. This section can be divided up as follows:
God’s righteousness, justice, uprightness revealed (Ps 33:4-5).
God created through His word (Ps 33:6-7).
Response to the Word (Ps 33:8-9).
This section helps us see the power of God through His word (Ps 33:6-7), this word formed the earth and even sustains the earth (Ps 33:4-5). This is a God who speaks and in His speaking nature, He reveals righteousness. It’s important to notice how “the word of the Lord” as a proxy for God. Of all the terms that can be associated with this God, the psalmist associates it with the “word of the Lord”. This reveals God Himself, His very nature and character.
We tend to think of power as an abstraction. It might mean something like magic, to have control over reality and bend reality as we choose and will. Theologians are much sharper in their definition of God’s power. Grudem says that God’s omnipotence means God is able to do all His holy will. Everything that God intends and plans, He has the means and ability to bring into being.
But God’s power is not like magic. Magic is the ability to control some aspect of nature to fulfil will. God’s power is not just tweaking a bit of of life. The power of God is closely related to His desire. Stephen Charnock also separates into God’s ordinate power compared to His absolute power. His absolute power deals with His power to do anything while HIs ordinate power is what He chooses to do. The power and the might of God must be thought of very carefully to His will. God’s power is nothing if it is not directed by His will. And His will isn’t just His whims and fancy. God conceives of a plan and by His power, it comes to be. Wayne Grudem describes God’s will in 2 categories: will of His command and the will of His decree. By the demonstration of His power, we learn something about who He is because we learn something about His will.
We cannot see His power and will in isolation but need to realise that we need to see it in relation to His other attributes, e.g. HIs wisdom. We are not to just stand in awe of His might alone, but in His might and plans, we are to see His character. We are to worship God not only for His absolute power, but also for what He allows to happen. God also has the righteous nature to make all things right.
Therefore, when we consider all these truths about God, it is no wonder His people replies as it describes in Ps 33:8.
(C) Revealing acts of the Mighty God (Ps 33:10-19)
Ps 33:10-11 proceeds to compare God’s plans with man’s. There’s some level of anthropomorphic description here because God is outside of time and space, yet He is described as frustrating the plans of the people whereas His counsel and plans stand forever. He doesn’t just have a purpose in our lives. His purpose unfolds through lifetimes, from one generation to another. A trivial and silly illustration is the building up of the Marvel universe. We were amazed by the 10 year plan that Marvel had to weave in multiple characters and story arcs into a couple of movies.
How do these verses speak to our time? Nations have demonstrated such power to lockdown entire countries and civilisations. What do Ps 33:10-11 say? Even today, God’s power, wisdom and counsel is on display to do something that we may not be able to fully understand!
The psalmist doesn’t just stop here. He goes on to describe God’s actions in Ps 33:13-19. God looks and sees with a special intensity. He looks upon al things and sees all, but also zooms in on a specific group of people. His purposes for them is to deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine (Ps 33: 18-19). God acts to save His people. In contrast to these whom He has set His heart on, we see the rest of the world that God sees (Ps 33: 16-17). The psalmist highlights 3 false hopes: the king and his army, the warrior and his great strength, the war horse and the salvation it appears to provide. He is talking about proxies for human power and technology.
If God’s eye is on you, you have a greater hope than these false hopes. Does this speak to us uniquely in COVID-19? Scripture is telling us something simple and sure: Go to your God!
What plans have you been making? What strategies have you been looking to? What resources have you been relying on? If you are looking to anything other than your God to be your practical salvation, that is a false hope for salvation. Lay it down. It might promise a great might and provide a false hope, but it cannot rescue. What is your false hope and war horse today? God’s great act of salvation here is that HE is the one that will make it happen.
When we read all these things, no wonder we fear and wait for Him. When we gaze upon the power of our God and His commitment to save us, it leads us to worship.
At the start of the study, we pointed out how Ps 33 adheres loosely to a chaistic structure. Ps 33:12 is therefore the centre of the psalm and this verse starts off uniquely. It begins with “blessed” and this is different from the rest of the psalm. Why are they able to rejoice? Because they are God’s nation, and they are people chosen by Him to be His. This whole psalm is oriented towards this statement. God’s people recognise that they have not chosen to be His but He has chosen to make them His own.
This verse helps us understand the subsequent verses. God’s people can hope in his steadfast love and have the hope of being delivered from death (Ps 33:18-19). God’s people can wait for Him and be glad in Him (Ps 33:20-22). Yes, Psalm 33 helps us to see that God is greater than any great leader that we can think of today. That is true but another truth is that this great God has made me, His. In its context, this Psalm would have been read as the people of God collectively. We who call God “Yahweh” has been made in Him. The power that made us His own will sustain, rescue and deliver us! The great hope of this psalm is that we are not just the physical, geographical nation of Israel. He has done so much more for us as His holy nation.
Peter picks up on this in 1 Pet 2:9. This is full of identity terms that helps the people to see that they belong to God collectively. God’s good news is not just that I have been saved and will be going to heaven, but it is that God who has made all things by the word of His power, this God at the centre of all things endured the sins of creatures made in His image, died and was raised to newness of life. Through this, He redeems a people that are a holy nation.
Our inclusion into the story is really good news for us individually. We are assured of righteousness and salvation. This psalm speaks to us today and calls us to rest our hearts in Him. We will always be anxious and worried when we put ourselves at the centre of the story. But when we put ourselves down and trust in Him, we can worship and sing and play as the psalmist calls us in Ps 33. We can be confident that He sees and His counsel and plans stand. We can wait for Him.