Rejoice in the Lord – Psalm 33

“Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful. Praise the Lord with the harp. Make melody to Him with an instrument of 10 strings. Sing to Him a new song. Play skillfully with a shout of joy. For the Word of the Lord is right, and all His work is done in truth. He loves righteousness and justice. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.” Psalm 33:1-5

Why rejoice in the Lord? David is calling out to the righteous to rejoice in the Lord.

No one is righteous apart from the Lord. Isaiah 64:6, says, “We are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags.” Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For He [God] made Him [Christ] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Jesus took our deficient righteousness and gave us His perfect righteousness as a free gift. Free for us! Costly for Him!

The above message is the everlasting Gospel which the angel preaches in Revelation 14:6. He preaches it to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people.

The Gospel has inspired a multitude of beautiful praise songs. Innumerable songwriters and musicians have compose songs in honor of what Jesus Christ did for us and for our salvation.

In David’s day, harps and 10 stringed instruments were popular. Nowadays, keyboards, guitars and drums are popular. David urges the musicians to play skillfully and the singers to shout for joy. Those who play instruments and sing for fame and fortune know that practice makes perfect and so practice they do. Singers and musicians who seek to honor the Lord should work at their skills and harmony. Our Lord’s rewards surpass by far what the world has to offer us.

David urges the Lord’s singers and musicians to do new songs. Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you! Don’t do the same hand full of songs week after week. There’s so much to be said about and sung about the Lord.

David wrote, “The Word of the Lord is right.” Praise God for His Word! Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith composed a song from the words of Psalm 119:105, entitled, “Thy Word.”

David wrote, “All His work is done in truth.” Praise the Lord for His mighty acts. Casting Crowns’ lead vocalist Mark Hall and Steven Curtis Chapman wrote a song, entitled, “The Voice of Truth.” The song praises God for reminding us of our worth in a world that tends to put us down.

David wrote, “He loves righteousness and justice.” Chris Tomlin, Jason Ingram, and Pat Barrett composed a worship song, entitled, “Act Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly.”

David wrote, “The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.” There’s a contemporary song that Cece Winans has made famous, entitled, “Goodness of God.” Some of the words of the song are, “All my life You have been faithful and all my life You have been so, so, good with every breath that I am able. Oh I will sing of the goodness of God.”

“By the Word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap. He lays up the deep in storehouses.” Psalm 33:6-7

“At first, the earth was covered with water, but then, the Lord spoke, and the water receded and dry land appeared. He created store-houses for water.” “There is a vast amount of water under land, known as groundwater. It is not usually in large open rivers, but fills the spaces between soil, sand, and rock, and acts like water in a sponge. This water represents roughly 30% of the world’s fresh water and flows slowly through layers called aquifers.” [1]

“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.” Psalm 33:8-9

David was a king who urged people to stand in awe of God. He published numerous praise songs about God. He praised God for creating the world out of nothing. He praised God for making the earth a stable environment in which we can live.

David urged people to fear the Lord. We absolutely need God! The Lord deserves our worship.

Romans 8:1 says that there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. The opposite is also true. There is condemnation to those who are not in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:7 says, “The mind of flesh is enmity against God.” The mind of flesh wants to be God. In John 4:24, Jesus said, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” Romans 8:9 says, “Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” Thus, to lack a relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ should evoke fear which leads to repentance.

“The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations.” Psalm 33:10-11

Thankfully, the Lord sabotages many of the devious plans of nations. The nations would have destroyed each other long ago had the Lord not thwarted their evil plans towards one another.

In 2 Samuel 15:12, Ahithophel provided counsel to Absalom. If Absalom had taken his advice, he likely would have succeeded in destroying his father David. David prayed, “O Lord, I pray, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.” After that prayer, the Lord brought Hushai to David. Hushai was a highly respected royal counselor. David asked Hushai to return to Absalom and pretend to be for him, but to defeat the counsel of Ahithophel. Hushai was able to do that. Absalom’s coup attempt against his father failed.

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance.” Psalm 33:12

In case his people had not noticed, David said what everyone in his country should have been talking about, namely, how blessed they were to have the Lord. God gave to Isreal His Word, His prophets, His miracles and His presence. The Lord provided His light to them so they could see reality clearly. He gave them a good shepherd to lead them. He fought their battles for them.

“The Lord looks from heaven. He sees all the sons of men. From the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth. He fashions their hearts individually. He considers all their works.” Psalm 33:13-15

The Lord sees us. How many children have wished that their earthly father and mother would notice them and look at them with eyes of love? God looks on all the inhabitants of the earth. He knows how many hairs are upon our heads. He values sparrows, but values us people much more than He does the sparrows. God made our hearts in our mother’s womb and caused them to start beating. Thus, He watches us and thinks about us. Amazing! With so many people in heaven and on earth, God sees us all and considers each of us with love.

“No king is saved by the multitude of an army. A mighty man is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a vain hope for safety; neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.” Psalm 33:16-17

A king is nothing without God. Though David was one of the best kings who ever reigned, he gave to God the glory. The Lord says to us in Jeremiah 9:23-24, “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. Let not the mighty man glory in his might. Nor let the rich man glory in his riches. But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight, says the Lord.” The Lord humbles the proud and gives grace to the humble people who honor Him.

“Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.” Psalm 33:18-19

God sees everyone but His eye favors those who love Him, which is the first commandment. No one is so beautiful as one who genuinely loves you. God sees the faces and hears the voices of His lovers. He knows we are grateful to Him for saving our souls from death. The greatest famine is to be without God. While some like the rich man in Luke 16:23 end up in Hades, others, like Lazarus in that same verse, end up enjoying a happily ever after with the Lord.

“Our soul waits for the Lord. He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him because we have trusted in His holy Name. Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, just as we hope in You.” Psalm 33:20-21

We don’t want to go anywhere without the Lord. If He is not there, we don’t want to be there. The Lord is our help and shield. Is there a warrior anywhere who wants to face a vicious enemy without a shield? No. Who wants to face the devil without the Lord to help you overcome him?

Our souls must wait for Him to act on our behalf. There’s nothing that we can do to impress God, but when we let Him go before us in whatever undertaking we do, He impresses us.

When I move forward by faith in the Lord’s goodness and grace, the end result is rejoicing. The Lord does more than I could have thought to ask or imagine. Its due to His mercy.

David urged us to stop striving. Stop being reckless! Be still and know that God is God! Rejoice in the Lord! He is merciful and happy to help us. Praise the Lord!


[1] Matthew Henry’s Commentary and Google Sources