Sing Praise to God
Psalm 33 commands us to sing praise to God. That’s how the psalm begins in verses 1–3, and then for the rest of the psalm, from verse 4 to 19 we see why we ought to sing praise to God. We can group these reasons into three categories, and these are three points for you:
Sing praise to God because of his creative word (vv. 4–9).
Sing praise to God because of his mighty wisdom (vv. 10–12).
Sing praise to God because of his sovereign care (vv. 13–19).
We’re going to walk through the text and look at each of these points, which basically amounts to meditating on God and his work. This is who he is and what he does, and when that truth is put before our minds and hearts, it compels us to praise him. And it compels so much that by the end of this thing we don’t even need to be told to praise God, because it’s so obvious. We’ve been compelled. That’s my hope for us this morning.
Let’s pray: Father, would you do that in us, by the power of your Spirit! Give us a fresh vision of you, and lead our hearts and mouths to praise you! In Jesus’s name, amen.
1) Sing praise to God because of his creative word (vv. 4–9).
For the word of the Lord is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;
he puts the deeps in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
So what God says, is. What he speaks becomes reality, and that is why there is such a connection between the word of God and work of God. God does no work apart from his word.
But we should think about this. There are times when the Bible will speak of God’s hands — like in Psalm 8, talking about humanity and creation, Davis says to God, “You have given him dominion over the work of your hands” (Psalm 8:6). Isaiah 42:5 speaks of God stretching out the heavens, implying his hands. We see this kind of talking in the Bible, but God the Father doesn’t really have hands. This kind of talking is called anthropomorphism — it’s metaphorical. It’s there to help us imagine God and his activity.
We see everything in the world, all the scenery around us, and we imagine God’s hands have been at work. And I think that’s good. The Bible does that. But an even better way to think about this is that it’s here by words. “For [God] spoke, and it came to be. He commanded, and it stood firm” (v. 9).
Everything you see in creation is here, is there, because God spoke it. Every work of God comes by the word of God, and that helps us make sense of verse 4. The two lines are basically repeating the same truth:
The word of Yahweh is upright — trustworthy. Good.
All his work is done in faithfulness — trustworthy. Good.
And it all comes from his heart. It’s important that verse 5 talks about God’s love. These aren’t merely facts about God, but this is what God loves. He loves righteousness and justice. He affectionately speaks upright words and he delights to do his all work in faithfulness. That means nothing in creation is arbitrary.
We can’t look at a tree and think that God just said, “Meh, tree.” No! Somehow these trees are an expression of his faithfulness, of his love for righteousness and justice. And that goes for every tree, every squirrel, every blade of grass. All his work is done in faithfulness. We need this kind of God-entranced vision of the world, because it’s reality.
And when we understand creation this way, we live in the reality of verse 5: “The whole earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.”
At the dinner table last week, I asked the kids to think about the world and tell me what is the world full of. That was my question: Kids, what fills the world?
And these kids, in their best theological astuteness, said, “Sin.” And I said Yep, but what else? And then these kids, in their best cultural astuteness, said, “Coronavirus.” And I said Yes again, and what else? Then they said, “People.” Yep. “Animals.” Yep. And they kept saying all kinds of right answers, and then I read this verse, Psalm 33:5.
The earth is full of a lot of things, but right here God tells us: “the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.” And I don’t think that is one right answer beside a bunch of other right answers. I think this is the main one that transcends everything else.
Yes, this world is broken. This world has viruses. This whole place is under the curse of sin — but where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more! The main message of the sun and clouds and wind is not that this world is broken, but it’s that God loves his people, and he loves his people so much that even in this brokenness, even in this filth, his loves shines through and his love will overcome. Do you know the miracle it is that we can see any beauty around us? It’s because of God’s steadfast love. That is the air we breathe.
So this is what I want for us, very practically (and God could do this for us right now). But the next time you feel a breeze, know it’s not just a breeze. But that breeze, that air all around you, is full of the steadfast love of Yahweh, and when you feel it, when it touches you, it has come to you straight from the heart of God who does everything he does in faithfulness.
Yahweh loves his people, and the whole earth is mainly full of that.
2) Sing praise to God because of his mighty wisdom (vv. 10–12).
The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
the plans of his heart to all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!
The Bible talks a lot about the wisdom of God, especially in the book of Psalms, and in books like Job, and there’s something important about God’s wisdom I want us to see. A lot of times when God’s wisdom is referred to it’s in a competitive context. That’s why I’m calling it mighty wisdom here, or conquering wisdom, triumphant wisdom.
To say that God is wise doesn’t mean that he is smart and he’s good at making decisions, but it means his way of doing things is the right way that will last, and that ultimately means God’s wisdom is going to topple every other pseudo-wisdom. We see that here.
God brings the counsel of nations to nothing. The best plans of the peoples are vulnerable to God’s overcoming will. There may be a room packed with the greatest minds of this world, and they’re all putting their heads together, making a plan, and whatever they come up with and start executing, God can say “Swipe.” And it’s over. And he would do this not because he’s cruel, but because he has something better.
And this is where it’s important again, I think, that God’s heart is mentioned here. Verse 11 says, “The counsel of Yahweh stands forever, [that is,] the plans of his heart to all generations.”
The wisdom of God that conquers every other wisdom is wisdom from his heart — and so what is the heart of God?
What you think about the heart of God is the largest driving force in your life. And a lot times it’s understated, subtle. But it’s there. What do you think about God’s heart?
What you think here is going to determine whether you hear verse 11 as a comfort or a threat. Well, we don’t have to wonder about God’s heart. God has told us who he is, spelled out clearly for us in Exodus 34: He is Yahweh, “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6).
God’s wisdom always stands, and ultimately his wisdom is always only for our good.
This is why Charles Spurgeon said, “God is too good to be unkind and he is too wise to be mistaken. And when we cannot trace his hand, we must trust his heart.”
And I realize that I’m saying this in the middle of a time when we have had a lot of frustrated plans. [Raise your hand if something hasn’t gone the way you planned it in 2020!]
I want you to know the wisdom of God never gets frustrated. Receive this: You can trust the plans of his heart.
3) Sing praise to God because of his sovereign care (vv. 13–19).
The Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man;
from where he sits enthroned he looks out
on all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 he who fashions the hearts of them all
and observes all their deeds.
16 The king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
17 The war horse is a false hope for salvation,
and by its great might it cannot rescue.
18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love,
19 that he may deliver their soul from death
and keep them alive in famine.
Before anything else, notice the sovereignty of God in these verses. Verse 13 begins by telling us that God looks down from heaven and he sees humanity. And there’s a repetition that’s intentional. Notices it’s “he sees all the children of man.” He look out “on all the inhabitants of the earth.” “He who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds.” Four times this word “all” is repeated because Psalm 33 wants us to know the sovereign pervasiveness of God’s sight. He sees everything, and there is nothing hidden from him. On way to say it: there is nothing about your life that is not God’s business.
That’s verses 13–15. He sees everything about everybody, and that might trouble us. Maybe we’ve got things in our lives that we don’t want God to see. What do we do about that?
Again, it’s important to know the heart behind the eyes that see everything about me. It’s interesting that verse 16 marks a transition to the theme of false hope. The psalmist goes from talking about how God sees everything about you to then describing all the things that will not save you. Not a great army. Not great strength. Not a great war horse. These are basically three different categories: associations, abilities, and assets. In the ancient world, this meant armies, strength, and horses. Today it looks different, but it’s the same things at heart, and our propensity as sinful humans is to hope in these things for salvation, and they are appropriately called false hopes. They are good things, no doubt, but they’re not saviors.
Any association you can surround yourself with, any kind of ability you can muster, any kind of asset you can procure, they will not save you from the sin that God sees when he sees all of you.
That’s the message through verse 17. But then verse 18.
Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love. …
And this is vital information when it comes to the sovereign sight of God. God absolutely sees everything. He sees all of us, but for us who fear him, who trust him, who hope in his steadfast love, his sight is not for scrutiny and judgment, but it’s for our care. The eye of Yahweh on you is because he’s looking after you, as verse 19 says, “that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine.” In other words, God sees everything about you, Christian, and his will is to rescue you from eternal suffering and preserve you through present sufferings. That’s why he keeps his eye on you. All of his sovereignty is harnessed for your care.
We see this and more in Psalm 33, but ultimately we see this in the cross of Jesus Christ. In fact, all the attributes about God that we find in Psalm 33 are most vividly seen in the person and work of Jesus. The creative word of God, the mighty wisdom of God, the sovereign care of God.
Jesus is the creative word of God made flesh who could stop the winds and the waves by speaking (see Matthew 8:23–27). Jesus is the mighty wisdom of God who shames the wisdom of this world (see 1 Corinthians 1:21–25, 30). Jesus is the sovereign care of God for us who, in seeing all of us, he loves us, and so much so that everything about us that is broken Jesus died to make whole; every wound in us he died to heal; all the ways that we have sinned against him he died to forgive. And Jesus sees you now not just as who you are, but as who you will be when he completes the good work that began in you (see Philippians 1:6).
I want to tell you something, and I want to qualify it very carefully. I don’t believe in self-help gobbledegook. I do not say untrue things to make people feel better. What I’m about to tell you, I’m saying with theological weight.
Here it is: If you are a Christian — if you trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins and the fulfillment of God’s promises, if you renounce Satan in all his works and ways, if you intend with God’s help to obey Jesus and follow him as your Lord, Savior, and Treasure — if you are a Christian, I want you to know that when Jesus sees all of you, he likes what he sees.
He loves you. He cares for you. He is for you.
And so we can trust him. He is our help and our shield. Our hearts are glad in him.
The Table
And as those who belong to Jesus, each week we come to this Table to together give him thanks. We remember his death and his great love, and so we eat and drink — and we sing his praise!
