PSALMS 34
We will begin this lesson by giving the 33rd. Psalm in metre.
THE PSALMS OF DAVID IN METRE
Chapter 33
verse 1 "Ye righteous in the Lord rejoice; It well becomes the good
man's voice To sing Jehovah's praise. With harp praise ye
the Lord our King, With ten-stringed lyre his praises sing,
Aloud the anthem raise."
verse 2 "With joyful noise play loud and well, With notes of joy the
anthem swell, And let the song be new; For upright is
Jehovah's word, And all the doings of the Lord Most faithful
are and true."
verse 3 "In justice and in judgement right The Lord doth ever take
delight, His goodness fills the earth. Jehovah's word the
heaven hath made; To all the host therin arrayed His breath
hath given birth."
verse 4 "He rolled the waters heap on heap, And stored away the
mighty deep In garners He prepared. Let all the earth
Jehovah fear, And all within the world's wide sphere With
reverence Him regard."
verse 5 "He spake the word, creation came; He gave command, the
world's fixed frame At once to being rose. He makes the
heathen's counsel vain, The plans the people would maintain
At will He overthrows."
verse 6 "Jehovah's counsels shall endure, And of His heart the
thoughts secure Shall stand from age to age. Blest realm,
whose God is He alone; Blest people whom He makes His own,
His chosen heritage."
verse 7 "Jehovah looks from heaven to earth, And all the sons of
mortal birth His searching eye surveys; From heaven His
dwelling-place on high, On all who dwell beneath the sky,
Rests His oniscient gaze."
verse 8 "He forms alike their hearts each one; The works which by
their hands are done He carefully observes. No king is saved
by mighty hosts; 'Tis not the strength the strong man boasts
That him from harm preserves."
verse 9 "'Tis vain to trust the martial steed Nor can he by his
strength or speed Avail in peril great. With watchful eye
the Lord is near To those his holy name that fear, And for
His mercy wait."
verse 10 "He's ever near to them, to save Their soul from the
devouring grave, In famine life to yield. Our soul in hope
waits for the Lord, And He protection will afford; He is our
help and shield."
verse 11 "In Him our hearts shall joyful be, For on His holy name have
we in confidence relied. As we have hoped in thee alone,
Lord, let thy grace to us be shown, On us let it abide."
We will now begin the verse by verse study of Psalms chapter 33.
Psalms 33:1 "Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: [for] praise is
comely for the upright."
This Psalm was probably sung in the temple, so this first verse
sets the pace for the chapter. God inhabits the praises of His people.
The Christian's sacrifice unto God is praise. We have much to rejoice
for. We have been redeemed. The word comely, above, means suitable or
beautiful. I personally like beautiful better.
Psalms 33:2 "Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the
psaltery [and] an instrument of ten strings."
It is interesting to me that, the harp is specifically mentioned
as an instrument of praise here and in Revelation, as well. Revelation
14:2 "And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters,
and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers
harping with their harps:" In some churches today, it is forbidden to
use instruments of music to sing by. In Psalms, the use of instruments
for praise and worship was prominent. There are, also, two mentions of
the harp being used in praise to God in Revelation. I do agree that
some churches have allowed the music to become very worldly, however.
Music or singing should be worship and not entertainment. The psaltery
was a lyre. The instrument of ten strings could be many different
instruments, such as a guitar.
Psalms 33:3 "Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud
noise."
God is not nervous, so music a little louder than you and I like
it will not bother Him, if it is used in praise to Him. Singing to
entertain should not be done in the church. We should sing unto the
Lord. Have you ever gone down the road, singing to the Lord, thoughts
that came into your spirit? That is singing a new song to Him. To play
skilfully, one would have to be trained on the instrument he was
using. We want to be a sweet sound in His ear.
Psalms 33:4 "For the word of the LORD [is] right; and all his
works [are done] in truth."
The Word is Jesus Christ the Creator of all the world. He is
Truth. The Lord Jesus Christ is right in all His dealings. John 1:1
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God." John 1:2 "The same was in the beginning with God." John
1:3 "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing
made that was made."
Psalms 33:5 "He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is
full of the goodness of the LORD."
Every time God created something, He said, and it was good. All
things were created good. The sin came into the world by the deception
of Satan toward mankind. Satan, from the beginning, tried to turn the
good into evil. Jesus defeated Satan, when He shed His blood on the
cross. The blood of Jesus defeated Satan. God did not leave anything
out when He made the earth. The earth was made to be a beautiful
habitation for man. It will be just that again, during the 1000 year
reign of Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus is
righteousness for Himself and for all His followers, as well. Our
righteousness is in Christ.
Psalms 33:6 "By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and
all the host of them by the breath of his mouth."
If we were to look at the Scriptures in Genesis, we would find
that actually the Father, Word, and Holy Spirit were all involved in
the creation of the heavens, and the earth, and all that are therein.
Breath, in verse 6 above, means Spirit. The Word of God is, also,
Creator.
Psalms 33:7 "He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an
heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses."
We saw in the miracle at the Red sea that God had power of the
waters of the earth. We, also, saw in the flood of Noah that God told
the sea to rise, and it did. It, also, receded at His command. Jesus
spoke to the sea, and told it to be calm, and it did as He said. God
is the controller of nature.
Psalms 33:8 "Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the
inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him."
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Let all the
earth stand in awe. Any one, who does not have the greatest of respect
for God, should think about God making the whole world and everything
in it. Just the fact that the planets stay in orbit is a miracle, that
I can not explain. The human brain is said to be the most complicated
and sophisticated computer ever known to man. Only a fool would not be
in awe of God.
Psalms 33:9 "For he spake, and it was [done]; he commanded, and
it stood fast."
This says, not only that He made it, but that it followed every
command He made. Out of nothing, the Word of God created everything.
Psalms 33:10 "The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to
nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect."
In our study of the children of Israel being delivered out of
Egypt, we saw how helpless the great pharaoh was. Not only was the
great pharaoh of Egypt no match for God, but the gods of the Egyptians
were no match either. God's laws are absolute. They are not
changeable. Jesus fulfilled the law.
Psalms 33:11 "The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the
thoughts of his heart to all generations."
The counsel of the LORD is found in the Bible, the Word of God.
The Word of God is as current today as our daily newspaper. The Bible
is current to all generations. It is the Word of God, and will live on
forever. The thoughts of His heart were revealed through Jesus Christ
to all of His followers. The world would not understand, but the
followers of Jesus would understand.
Psalms 33:12 "Blessed [is] the nation whose God [is] the LORD;
[and] the people [whom] he hath chosen for his own inheritance."
Some time ago the United States proclaimed belief in God. It
seems in the last few years that many people want to get away from the
very belief this country was founded upon. We have been blessed,
because we proclaimed faith in the One true God. Even our coins
proclaimed {In God we trust}. It is a very dangerous thing for our
nation to wander away from God. We Christians are His inheritance.
Ephesians 1:18 "The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that
ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of
the glory of his inheritance in the saints,"
Psalms 33:13 "The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the
sons of men."
We know that God sees and knows everything. We know, also, that
He looks at individuals, as he did Job. Job 1:8 "And the LORD said
unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that [there is] none
like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth
God, and escheweth evil?" God does not look at the earth and see
great masses of people. He looks at individuals. He beholds all the
sons of men, one at a time.
Psalms 33:14 "From the place of his habitation he looketh upon
all the inhabitants of the earth."
The place of the habitation of God is heaven. He looks down on us
from His lofty position in heaven.
Psalms 33:15 "He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth
all their works."
We know that God has placed a heart in every individual. This
is, possibly, the part of man that God will judge. The heart of man is
what he is. God notices even when we give a cold cup of water to a
little child. No job, regardless of how small it is, goes unnoticed of
God, if it is done to His glory.
Psalms 33:16 "There is no king saved by the multitude of an host:
a mighty man is not delivered by much strength."
God does not save anyone because of their great power or wealth.
All, whether king or slave, must humble themselves as a little child
to come to God.
Psalms 33:17 "An horse [is] a vain thing for safety: neither
shall he deliver [any] by his great strength."
Pharaoh's army, on horseback, found out how little safety there
was in being on the back of a powerful horse. All of Pharaoh's
horsemen, and the horses they were using, drowned in the Red sea. God
delivered the Israelites on foot who had been slaves to Pharaoh.
Psalms 33:18 "Behold, the eye of the LORD [is] upon them that
fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;"
The only one acceptable for us to fear is the Lord. Fear of man
is lack of faith in God. God sees and knows who fear Him. The hope of
us all is in Jesus Christ our Lord. Nothing but the mercy of God will
get any of us to heaven. Not anyone I know wants justice from God. We
all cry out for His mercy. Be merciful to me a sinner, O Lord.
Psalms 33:19 "To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them
alive in famine."
God delivered Joseph and his family in the great famine that
struck that part of the known world. God showed Joseph how to provide,
and they lived through the famine. God miraculously fed the millions
of Israelites on their way to the promised land by raining down Manna
from heaven. Deliverance comes through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalms 33:20 "Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he [is] our help and
our shield."
We are cautioned to watch, and wait, for we know not when our
Lord will return. Be like the 5 virgins who waited, and were prepared
to meet their groom. God is not only our protector in time of trouble,
and our help when we are weak, but is, in fact, all things to us.
Without Him, we could do nothing. With Him, all things are possible to
us.
Psalms 33:21 "For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have
trusted in his holy name."
The following Scriptures tell us what we must do to be saved.
Romans 10:9 "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,
and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the
dead, thou shalt be saved." Romans 10:10 "For with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation." You see, salvation is of the heart. We who trust in
the name of Jesus will rejoice on judgement day, when we are called
His sheep.
Psalms 33:22 "Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we
hope in thee."
The Christian is not like the world who has no hope. We have hope
of the resurrection. The mercy of God has provided eternal life for us
who believe. My hope is in Jesus Christ our Lord. His mercy endureth
forever.
Questions 34
1. What was one of the probable uses of chapter 33 of Psalms?
2. God inhabits the ________ of His people.
3. What is the Christian's sacrifice to God?
4. What does comely, in verse 1, mean?
5. Verse 2 says, praise Him with _____.
6. Where is the harp being played, specifically mentioned besides in
Psalms?
7. Music and singing in church should be ________ not _________.
8. What should we want to be in His ear?
9. Who is the Word?
10. Who is Creator God?
11. Quote John chapter 1 verses 1, 2, and 3.
12. What did God say after He had created each thing?
13. When did Jesus defeat Satan?
14. What was the earth made for?
15. My righteousness is in _______.
16. How were the heavens made?
17. What is the breath speaking of in verse 6?
18. Name at least one miracle in the Bible that shows that God is in
control of the water.
19. What is the only fear that is pleasing unto God?
20. What is said to be the most complicated and sophisticated computer
known to man?
21. What two great world powers were defamed by God in Egypt?
22. Where is the counsel of the Lord found?
23. Who was the thoughts of God revealed to?
24. Blessed is the nation whose God is the _____.
25. Quote Ephesians chapter 1 verse 18.
26. God beholds all the sons of men, ____ __ a _____.
27. Where is God's place of habitation?
28. What must all people, great and small, do to come to God?
29. Give a good example of a horse not being able to save its rider.
30. What is fear of man?
31. We do not want justice from God, we want ______.
32. Give a good example of being saved in famine.
33. What must I do to be saved?
34. What is the Christian's hope?
35. How long does God's mercy endure?
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