During the period of this Psalm, there was hardly any written script to tell of the wondrous creation of God. Yet the Psalmist tries to capture the creative power of God by seeing all that has been created. The Psalmist unveils the creative hands of God in every visible object and attributes the power of God as the reason for its existence. Unlike the Psalmist, we rely on the first two chapters of the book of Genesis to know the story of the creation but seldom look beyond the created things to find the Creator.

Rather than His creations, we prefer the things made out of our expertise. We proudly use terms like Nona-Binning or Adaptive Pixels in modern smartphone photography. Unfortunately, we are not seeing the beauty of His designs with our eyes and are failing to understand the expression of the power of God in His created things. We are either exchanging the power of God for images created by Him or limiting His creations to a photo filter, thereby denying the power of God.

Sing A New Song

Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.

Praise the LORD with the harp;
make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.

Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully, and shout for joy.

Psalms 33:1-3

The scripture tells us that the grace of God is new every day. Today we are cherishing His grace more than yesterday, and tomorrow it will be more than today. Are we able to experience His ever-increasing grace? While the previous Psalm (Psalm 32) tells us about the importance of confessing our sins to receive forgiveness, this Psalm portrays the joy that fills our hearts when we receive His forgiveness. When those sins that exchanged the glory of God for worthless things are swept away, we will be able to discern His presence and power through everything we see.

With this clear mind, if we read His words, it will give us new dimensions every day, and we cannot stop singing about it from the bottom of our hearts. God tunes our hearts to worship Him with our melodious voices and instruments.

Unfailing Love Of God

For the word of the LORD is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.
The LORD loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of his unfailing love.

Psalms 33:4-5

We are familiar with the love of people that eventually fades away but we are not able to even fathom the love of God that never fails. Living with people who are loaded with conditional love, we fail to understand the unconditional love of God. Instead, we strive hard to cope with the conditions of those people to try and receive their love. Our ears are accustomed to accosting and lying words of people, and we never venture to experience the word of God, which is right and just.

These lying people will fade away one day as their love fades away. For this reason, we should ignore them and be keen to receive the love of God available everywhere. It does not mean that only when we avoid deceptive people will our God love us. It simply means that ignoring such people, will help us to love God more, the one who has always loved us despite our unworthiness.

Let All The Earth Fear The LORD

By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
He gathers the waters of the sea into jars;
he puts the deep into storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the LORD;
let all the people of the world revere him.
For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.

Psalms 33:6-9

The heart of the Psalmist wept for the people who did not revere God. Does our heart have the burden for those who do not revere the Redeemer? We feel so bad when people are not acknowledging our good deeds but do we ever feel bad that many people are not accepting His unfailing love? When we gather every Sunday in His sanctuary, are we not able to hear His voice saying, “I had shed my Son’s blood for all the people of the world, and where are they?”

Visualizing the wondrous creations of the Lord, His wisdom of storing the water underneath the earth, and His unimaginable act of parting the red sea, the Psalmist strongly felt that the beneficiaries of His creations should revere Him. After bestowing immeasurable power to nature, God retains the portfolio of controlling them. The burning sun, glowing moon, twinkling stars, and wind with so many faces as cyclones, typhoons, hurricanes, and tsunamis are under the control of God.

Plans Of The Lord Stand Firm

The LORD foils the plans of the nations;
he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.

Psalms 33:10-11

Is God unjust in foiling and thwarting our plans sometime? It appears so, but if we understand His ways, we can see His kindness. Again, it looks like a selfish attitude of God in establishing His plans firmly. Job understood the purpose of his sorrowful life and declared that nothing could thwart the plans of God.

God foils our plans to open our eyes to see His redeeming hand. The people of Babel tried to restrict their life within a tower they built. God destroyed their plan to inhabit all the places on earth. Once there was a man who was stuck on a small island uninhabited by people. He had learned to live alone in that solitary condition and even built a small hut. One day that hut burned to ashes. He got frustrated and went towards the sea to commit suicide. To his surprise, he saw a ship approaching him, and he came to understand from the captain of that ship that the smoke raised from his hut drew their attention, and they thought someone was seeking help and arrived to save him. When our plans do not work out, God comes to our rescue with His far greater plans.

God Watches All Who Live On Earth

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he chose for his inheritance.
From heaven the LORD looks down
and sees all mankind;
from his dwelling place he watches
all who live on earth—

he who forms the hearts of all,
who considers everything they do.

Psalms 33:12-15

God has created the universe and all in it. Hence, from heaven, God watches all people He had chosen as prospective citizens of His Kingdom. The Psalmist considered the nations that trust in God as blessed nations. God created man in His image and kept a heart in him. God considers all the thinking and deeds of man, and He is willing to cleanse them to make his heart His dwelling place. His word judges the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts (Hebrews 4:12). Whether we tell Him or not of our problems and mistakes, God knows them. He cares for each dwelling on this earth. His words are a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. When we lose our way, Jesus helps us to find the way to reach Him. We are not only under His constant surveillance but also under His meticulous care.

Our Strengths Are In Vain

No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.
A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength, it cannot save.
But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.

Psalms 33:16-19

God is the one who gives victory to the armies. The Old Testament warriors depended on the presence of God for their victory. They carried the Ark of God to their battlefields to show their enemies the presence and the glory of God. God instructed Gideon to downsize his soldiers to show him His strength in the battle. There was an occasion when God asked the warriors to keep quiet and sing praises for Him with all kinds of musical instruments. God parted the Red Sea to show Pharaoh that neither the size of his army nor the strength of his horses could save him.

God supernaturally destroyed the wall of Jericho with mere sounds of the trumpets and the shouts of the army (Joshua 6:20). A single pebble in the hands of a young man who was zealous for the God of Israel, caused the fall of the entire army of the mighty Philistines along with their giant.

When we understand the unfailing love of God, we will be zealous of Him and He will take care of everything. He is the only one capable of saving us from eternal death and is keeping us alive. Jesus says if we do not depend on our strengths to live in this world but live by believing in Him, we will never die (John 11:26).

Wait For The Lord

We wait in hope for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.
In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
May your unfailing love be with us, LORD,
even as we put our hope in you.

Psalms 33:20-22

When it appears that we have been cornered by every means of this world, we should wait on God with hope. God has a purpose in our lives, and He accomplishes it when we wait for Him. Sometimes it may take a long time for us to understand His ways. It is not the delay on His part but on our part as we are not listening to Him and obeying Him. We should know that our strength or righteous deeds are not enough for God to accomplish His purpose in our lives. His ways are always higher than ours. As such, we cannot understand His ways instantly. During the Last Supper, Jesus told His disciples, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand (John 13:7).”

Trusting in His unfailing love will give us hope and understanding. If we start seeing things through His perspective, no matter what comes our way or how long we wait, our hearts will always rejoice in Him.

God, You are my help and my shield. May your unfailing love suffice my needs at all times according to your will.