Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!
Praise befits the upright.
2 Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;
make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
3 Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
Praise befits the upright.
2 Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;
make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
3 Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
4 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.
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.
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.
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.
Psalm 33:1-9
I’ve been teaching through the Psalms on Sunday nights through the Fall and the Spring (broken up by a winter break in Ecclesiastes). Some Psalms require a little more work to turn into a message/sermon; but some just preach. Psalm 33 is one of those psalms. Since it is longer, I chose to cover only the first nine verses this past Sunday night. And I'm sharing it with you all today, since I haven't written in a long time!
Forgiven, to Worship
First, it’s helpful to note the similarities between Psalm 33 and 32. 32 describes the joy of finding righteousness with God, through having one’s sins forgiven and not held against them. It isn’t that their sin is obliterated totally (like wood turning into smoke when set ablaze). Rather their sin, though apparent in their sinful flesh, is not counted against them (32:1-2), so that they are put into a gracious state with God. This is why Paul quotes 32:1-2 in Romans 4 to prove justification by faith alone in the Old Testament. Further, he quotes it there alongside of Abraham’s justification by faith (see Gen. 15:6), because the word for “counts” is the Hebrew same in Genesis 15 and Psalm 32.**
The response of the justified is joy, for their having received from God "uprightness of heart" (32:10-11). This same thought is carried over into the opening verse of Psalm 33: “Shout for joy in the Lord O you righteous! Praise befits the upright.” Thus there is a clear connection between these Psalms – one describes the salvation process (justification by faith), and the next describes the worshipful response (joy and thanksgiving).
Second, we see the call to worship (33:1-3). Praise befits the upright, because God gets the glory for all that they enjoy (v. 1). Worship happens as instruments and new songs are employed to glorify God (vv. 2-3). Our hymnbook at church has, just to name a few, songs from the 4thcentury, 8thcentury, 12thcentury, 17thcentury, and the 20thcentury. All through time, God’s people have been worshiping Him with “new songs” as they’ve seen Him work in their day. May it continue!
Reasons for Worship
Third, the question is answered, "Why would one worship the Lord?" Thus we see here the reasons for worship (33:4-7). These include:
a) the uprightness of God’s Word (v. 4a) – His Word is true and good, with no crookedness or sidewaysness; thus His Word disciples and shepherds even the crooked into uprightness
b) that God does all His works in faithfulness (4b) – faithfulness to what? His plan from the fullness of time to unite all things in Christ (Eph. 1:10). All of God’s workings in history are to that end, and thus He is faithful to it; this always means good for His people. Thus they can trust that, in Christ, He always has their best interest in mind.
c) that God loves righteousness and justice (5a) – in Him is no darkness (1 John 1:5). It’d be a disaster if He was sovereign (in absolute control) and evil. It’d also be a disaster if He was not sovereign but was good. But the God of the Bible is both sovereign AND good. So He will have true justice in the end, and He works in the world today for true justice. Further, His heart is for those who have been beat up by the injustices of a fallen world (Ps. 34:18). Thus, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:3).
d) that the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord (5b) – not just in the west, which has been so richly blessed by the Gospel’s influence over 2000 years, but all over the world. His patience, mercy, and goodness is enjoyable all over the globe.
e) that He is the Creator by His powerful Word (6) – He made all things by speaking them into existence. Proof of this is seen in that our words have power (and words can hurt just as much as sticks and stones). Our words have power, yet we can’t speak things into existence like God can. The whole Bible, and all of reality, is meant to be discerned in light of Genesis 1.
f) that He rules and orders His creation how He wishes (7) – Verse 7 probably draws attention to the exodus event. But the general point of the exodus is that God’s glory as the One who does all that He pleases (Ps. 115:3) is to be put on display for the whole world to see (see Ex. 9:13-14). See Psalm 104:21ff. for an interesting study on God’s overruling what we call the “food chain” among species. Animals get their food from God, and they know it. Further, see Ecclesiastes 1:7 for the point that God rules the hydrological cycle many of us are witnessing strongly this rainy time of year.
This God is just so glorious and worthy of attention, time, and glory. Our awe is too often given to things not worthy of it. This leads to the final point.
The Right Response
Finally, we see the response of the upright (33:8-9). Their uprightness is seen in their acknowledging that which is true: He is glorious, and worthy of awe and fear. Since He does what He wants, with no compulsion by men (and even our prayer requests are only promised to be answered if we pray according to God’s will, cf. John 15:16), all the earth is called to:
- fear Him (that is, revere Him, glory in Him, thank Him, love Him as the right response of a heart that has witnessed His truth), and
- stand in awe of Him (to cease amazement at the things of this world that are not that amazing, and replace it with amazement at Him).
May we rightly order our attention and rightly fix our eyes. We're promised wisdom (Ps. 111:10) and light within (Matt. 6: 22). What could be better?
Do you see His power and glory? Will you turn your eyes on His worthiness and excellence? If so, count yourself among the upright in heart, and know that He'll keep you in His strong hand eternally. If you hear Him, you're already in His hand.
______
**This isn't meant to imply that the justified stay under sin's power. Rather, since they hope in Jesus, they "purify (their) selves as he is pure" (1 John 3:3). The point above is simply that though the person still "stumbles in many ways" (James 3:2), neither their stumbling nor their former sin is held against them, because God has placed them into a state of grace on account of Jesus' work at the cross.
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