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Praises are offered to God both from the work of creation and especially from His providence toward human beings and His care for His people. — In the Hebrew no title is found. Already Eusebius of Caesarea saw that this psalm is closely connected with the preceding one, and that the words “rejoice, you just” refer to those who through saving grace have obtained the remission of sins. And indeed the first verse begins almost with the same words with which the other psalm ends in verse 11. Therefore you may join the two psalms into one choral song.
Ps 33:1-2 The just are admonished to rejoice in the Lord, on account of the Lord; therefore they are to proclaim His praises with the greatest joy; cf. Psalm 31:11. Praise befits the upright: it is fitting for the pious and upright to celebrate the praises of God; it is their proper task. For praise is not beautiful in the mouth of a sinner (Sirach 15:9): “To the sinner God said: Why do you recite my statutes with your mouth?” (Psalm 49:16). As Eusebius reports, Aquila translates: “For the upright, song is beautiful.” And what kind of praise befits the pious the psalmist teaches in verse 2: “Give thanks,” that is, praising, give thanks to the Lord with the harp; with the psaltery of ten strings sing to Him, with the ten-stringed nebel. Indeed, Josephus attributes twelve strings to the nebel (Antiquities 7.12.3). Thus a solemn song is required in the great assembly, with musical instruments sounding.
Ps 33:3: “Sing to Him a new song”; cf. Isaiah 42:10. There new things are announced, and therefore a new song is fittingly required. But in what way is it called a new song here? Is it for new benefits received? A remarkable or unusual song? Something new may be perceived in what follows: praise for the work of creation, for wholly universal providence, for the overthrow of the counsels of the nations. Moreover, perhaps “new song” may be understood as: let us sing again, anew, with a certain fresh affection of soul toward God and with a special impulse of praise. Thus it is said that God put a new song into the mouth after a notable benefit was bestowed (Psalm 39:4). It is called new (Psalm 95:1) where God’s majesty and judgment are proclaimed to all nations; likewise Psalms 97:1 and 149:1. But in Psalm 143:9 it seems to refer to a benefit which the psalmist asks for and for which he promises to sing a new song. “Sing to Him with joyful shouting,” that is, with the sound of the trumpet; cf. Psalm 26:6. Here the song is also new because so many musical instruments are joined to it.
Ps 33:4-5 Such praise must be rendered to God (verse 4) because “the word of the Lord is right,” sincere, true, without any deceit or falsehood, and “all His works are in faithfulness”; cf. Deuteronomy 32:4: “A faithful God, without iniquity, just and upright.” He loves justice (Hebrew, Jerome, Aquila, Quinta) and judgment; He wills that right prevail everywhere; just works and just judgments please Him. “The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord”: the earth is filled with His grace and kindness; for all things exist and are sustained by a certain communication and participation in His goodness (hence well the Quinta reads “full of grace,” verse 5).
Ps 33:6 A splendid proof of this communication is the very work of creation (verse 6): “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made.” There is an allusion to the manner of narration in Genesis 1: “God said: let it be, and it was.” From this also the Memra in the Targums takes its origin. “And by the spirit of His mouth all their host”: the “spirit of His mouth” is the word itself as uttered; therefore this member also refers to God’s word, command, or will. “All their host,” that is, all their adornment (Jerome); but better understood as all the stars, “which advance in ordered ranks like an army.” Clement of Alexandria and the Hebrews understand the stars in heaven as arranged like troops in formation.
Ps 33:7 From the height of the heavens the psalm leads us to consider the depths of the sea, thus embracing the whole universe: “gathering the waters of the sea as in a bottle,” continually collecting them, setting a boundary so that they do not pass their limits (Proverbs 8:29); cf. Psalm 103:9: “You set a boundary which they shall not pass.” The ancients all read “as in a skin,” while the Masoretic text reads “as a heap,” with an allusion to Exodus 15:8; but the former is uniquely fitting here. “Placing the depths in storehouses,” placing the waves in hidden chambers; God has the waves in storehouses as He has snow and hail (Job 38:22). He calls the place and mass of the sea a bottle and storehouses; cf. Genesis 7:11: “All the fountains of the great deep were broken up.”
Ps 33:8-9 From considering the works of the Lord one must come to reverence for His majesty (verse 8): “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him,” trembling with reverence, following Him with a sacred fear and being struck with wonder at the greatness of His power, which is set before the eyes in a striking way (verse 9): “For He spoke, and they were made; He commanded, and they were created”; cf. Genesis 1.
Ps 33:10-11 As He has inanimate things subject to His command, so also the counsels and efforts of the nations (verse 10): “The Lord frustrates the plans of the nations,” renders them void; cf. Isaiah 8:10: “Take counsel, and it shall come to nothing.” He brings to nothing the thoughts of the peoples. Some add a third member about rejecting the counsels of princes, but others do not have it. “The Lord knows the thoughts of men, that they are vain” (Psalm 93:11). But “the counsel of the Lord stands forever” (verse 11); cf. Isaiah 14:27: “The Lord of hosts has purposed, and who shall annul it?”
Ps 33:12 Since therefore the Lord is so powerful, rightly is that nation called blessed (verse 12) whose God is the Lord, the people whom He chose as His inheritance; cf. Exodus 19:5–6; Deuteronomy 32:9; Psalm 46:5. What is said here seems to refer to an event similar to that described in Psalm 47:5–9.
Ps 33:13-15 Divine providence and governance are set forth in a striking way (verse 13): “The Lord looked down from heaven; He saw all the sons of men.” Each stands before His eyes as if he alone inhabited the earth; He looks attentively with a single gaze so that nothing escapes His sight. From His firm dwelling He governs changeable things without Himself being changed (verse 14). And how could anything escape Him (verse 15), “who formed their hearts individually,” creating each heart separately? Thus each heart is distinctly created. And He who formed hearts likewise understands all their works. “You have therefore an omnipotent God, all-knowing, governing all, providing for all, stable, firm, immutable,” as Augustine of Hippo says.
Ps 33:16-17 How does He show His providence toward His people? This is answered in what follows. First it is taught where hope for salvation is not to be placed (verse 16): “A king is not saved by great power,” nor a giant by the greatness of his strength. Other human aids are likewise vain; one example is given (verse 17): “A horse is a false hope for salvation,” though strong, it will not deliver its rider. “Vain is the salvation of man” (Psalm 59:13). “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we call upon the name of the Lord” (Psalm 19:8).
Ps 33:18-19Then it is taught positively where salvation is found (verse 18): “Behold, the eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear Him,” His constant and tender care is upon the pious and those who hope in His mercy, “to deliver their souls from death and to keep them alive in famine” (verse 19). He provides for His faithful so that they are not exposed to deadly danger or lack of food. There may be an allusion to deliverance from pestilence and famine, or from sword and famine during invasion or siege, for God threatens the wicked with pestilence, sword, beasts, and famine; cf. Deuteronomy 32; Jeremiah; Ezekiel.
Ps 33:20-21 Since this is God’s way of acting with His own, it follows that all should commit themselves to Him with full confidence. The psalmist expresses this sentiment in the name of all (verse 20): “Our soul waits for the Lord,” that is, we confidently await Him. “Our help and our shield,” or helper and protector, and in such help our heart rejoices, and we hope in His holy name (verse 21). The names help, shield, rock, fortress, and refuge express in various ways that essential name, the Lord, in its saving significance for His people.
Ps 33:22 The conclusion: “Let Your mercy be upon us, as we have hoped in You.” The sense is: we hope in You; therefore grant us Your grace. More subtly, Augustine thinks that the measure of mercy is given according to the measure of hope — that God gives as much as one hopes. But it seems unlikely that those praying would intend such strict proportion, nor would they ask for it; rather they pray that God be gracious beyond the measure of their hope: “Increase our faith, increase our hope.” Hardly anyone would ask: give me only as much as my hope deserves!
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