Psalm 33: You Can Trust Him

Introduction

The Bible moves us from indicative (is) to imperative (ought). For example, in many of Paul’s letter’s, he spends the first few chapters explaining deep doctrine then he ends the letter giving ethical commands. Your understanding of God affects how you live. The God of the Bible is big enough to handle all our problems; we can trust Him. But most of us carry a few verses of God around. Then when tragedy comes, trusting God is hard. Today’s passage directs us to trust (vv. 20-22). But notice that it does so through a call to worship (vv. 1-3) and a sermon on theology (vv. 4-19).

The Passage

Sing for joy in the Lord, O you righteous ones; Praise is becoming to the upright. Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; Sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings. Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy. For the word of the Lord is upright, And all His work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord. By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance. The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men; From His dwelling place He looks out On all the inhabitants of the earth, He who fashions the hearts of them all, He who understands all their works. The king is not saved by a mighty army; A warrior is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a false hope for victory; Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength. Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope for His lovingkindness, To deliver their soul from death And to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. For our heart rejoices in Him, Because we trust in His holy name. Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us, According as we have hoped in You. Psalm 33

Call to Worship (Ps 33:1-3)

Worship is communal, musical, and joyful.

First, worship is communal. These songs of joy are fitting for the righteous (v.1). The righteous aren’t self-righteous. They simply say “yes, Lord!” The assembly of God worships Him together, not individuals in the silence of their heart.

Second, worship is musical. These songs of thanks should be accompanied with stringed instruments (v.2). This implies musical forms should fit the words of the song. The stringed instruments here were like violins and guitars with wooden sound chambers (1 Kings 10:12). Skillful stringed instruments are appropriate for a thanksgiving Psalm while other instruments would not be.

Finally, the worship music should be new, skillful, and joyful (v. 3). The new song should probably be understood as “repeated song” as in a song of thanksgiving you sing after God gives a “new” gift (Ps 40:3; 96:1; 144:9; 149:1; Isa 42:10; Rev 5:9; 14:3).

When the righteous worship, they’re always disappointed when the song is done. “Is that the best we can do?” Christians should learn how to find Malachi in their Bibles. They should also learn to sing in four-part harmony.

The shouts refer to loud cries like shouts of war (Jer 4:19; Amos 1:14) or shouts of joy (Lev 25:9; Job 8:21). Worship is communal because Jesus saved a people (1 Pet 2:9). Worship is musical because God is a singing God (Zeph 3:17). Worship is joyful because worship is a blood-bought gift from Jesus (Heb 12:28). Remember, not to drop one of these attributes for another. Some churches drop righteousness for skill. They hire the least mature Christian (or even non-Christians) to perform their music because they’re professionals. Some churches drop skill for joy. There was a time you could go into any protestant church in America and hear four-part harmony.

God’s Works are Trustworthy (Ps 33:4-7)

God’s works in nature reflect His attributes. In theology, God’s communicable attributes are the ones that His creation share to a lesser degree (e.g., love, wisdom, justice). God is upright and faithful, so His works are upright and faithful (v. 4). God loves righteousness and justice. His world then is filled with lovingkindness (v. 5). Everything God made is good (1 Tim 4:4). God cannot make something not good. Sin is when we reject the goodness of God. Even though the hearts of this world stand against God, the created world eagerly waits for God to redeem it (Rom 8:21-22).

God’s word made His works. This section mentions God’s word twice. In verse 4, God’s word is upright. And in verse 7, God’s word made the heavens. As Christians who possess the New Testament, we can read the Old Testament with greater clarity. We know that God the Son is also God the Word who made everything that came into being (John 1:1-3).

God stands over His works. Although God’s works are good because He made them, God’s works are also not Him. Atheists sometimes pose questions like, “Could God create a boulder so big He couldn’t lift it?” No. God made gravity. Gravity is subject to God. God is not subject to gravity. Which is why God is also not subject to tidal waves and bad weather (v. 7; Mark 4:35-41). Because God made everything, including your life, you owe God thanks for that gift. At the heart of atheism isn’t logic or reason, but ingratitude. They don’t want to say “Thank you!”

God’s Plans are Trustworthy (Ps 33:8-11)

God is powerful. Man uses the power of calories to move around. Man uses the power of fuel and electricity to move other things. All of our power is borrowed power. But God’s ABCs have power (v. 9). We know from other places in scripture that God has spoken His divine will over history (Is 46:10; Eph 1:11). Just like His word for “light” created light. God did not look down the corridor of time to figure out His plan. God made the corridor of time according to His plan (v.11). God has spoken. The nations have no power over God’s word (v. 10)

It’s either God’s Way or No Way; It’s either Christ or Chaos. Our world wants you to think small thoughts of God. God is big, but if the secular world can convince you that all God cares about is your name on the roster in heaven, then they can convince you there’s a job opening to fix your current problem. I see Christians who claim to trust God with their eternal soul run to google when a crises comes their way. But God made this universe with His breath. The only logical response to the God of scripture is fear (v. 8). We should conform our lives to the God of power and goodness. Fear and awe of Him conform us to His standards.

God’s Choices are Trustworthy (Ps 33:12-15)

God sees man clearly. God observes all creation from the throne of heaven (vv. 13-14). Where the mind of man cannot comprehend God, God sees every human heart and understands all their works (v. 15).

God blesses those He chooses. Despite man’s sinful nature, God still graciously interacts and blesses sinful man. Notice that the nation God chooses is blessed, not the nation that chooses God. However, God still invites any and all to be blessed by Him. The wicked reject this offer because they doubt God can really see (Ps 94:7; 10:11) or hear them (Ps 59:7). The righteous, however, are not righteous in and of themselves (God sees their sin) but because they live openly before God (Ps. 10:14). Trust God. He has a plan.

Man’s Power is Untrustworthy (Ps 33:16-19)

All power is God’s power. Kings can’t trust in large armies. Soldiers can’t trust in powerful weapons (vv. 16-17). Why? Because the power in armies, weapons, bombs, and nations isn’t theirs. It’s God’s. All power comes from Him. When people use power not according to God’s desires, they are stealing. But when you submit your will to God, you can use His gifts with His blessing. As Americans, we believe that if we throw enough money at a problem, then we can fix it. We can win wars, fix poverty, and educate children if we print enough money.

Man should trust and fear God. God looks after those who fear Him (v. 18). If we are in Christ, no other created thing can stand against us (Rom 8:37-39). He can deliver us from economic collapse, war, famine, and even death (v. 19). Don’t trust in anything that causes you not to trust in God.

Hope in God (Ps 33:20-22)

Wait on God. God is a shield. Stand behind Him. God is a help. Hold on to Him. The response to God’s care and provision is worship, not apathy (v. 21). Pray for God to bless and show His love to you (v. 22).

All of you in here are theologians. You’re either a good one or a bad one. Why? Because theology comes out your fingertips. When you gossip on facebook or look at those images on the computer, you’re saying something about God. Is He there? Does He care what your doing? When you enter a crises, a health scare, a family problem, are you living like God created volcanoes and elephants or are you living like God is taking a nap?

Conclusion

There is a duty in this psalm—praise God and hope in God. But that duty is built on the doctrine of God. Your duty to trust comes after God’s grace.

The entire point of trust in God is not your ability to trust. Your trust in God is not like bench pressing. The entire point of trust in God is “God.” Do you know Him? He created the sun, moon, and stars with a puff of breath. By His word, He formed biggest whale in the Pacific Ocean and the smallest bacteria in that whale’s stomach. This God knows what goes through your head when we sing on Sundays. He also sees your fears, doubts, and sins even when you don’t. This is the God who bled and died for you.