Psalm 33:11

The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

33:1-11 Holy joy is the heart and soul of praise, and that is here pressed upon the righteous. Thankful praise is the breath and language of holy joy. Religious songs are proper expressions of thankful praise. Every endowment we possess, should be employed with all our skill and earnestness in God's service. His promises are all wise and good. His word is right, and therefore we are only in the right when we agree with it. His works are all done in truth. He is the righteous Lord, therefore loveth righteousness. What a pity it is that this earth, which is so full of the proofs and instances of God's goodness, should be so empty of his praises; and that of the multitudes who live upon his bounty, there are so few who live to his glory! What the Lord does, he does to purpose; it stands fast. He overrules all the counsels of men, and makes them serve his counsels; even that is fulfilled, which to us is most surprising, the eternal counsel of God, nor can any thing prevent its coming to pass.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The counsel of the Lord - The purpose of the Lord.

Standeth for ever - It will be carried out. It will never be changed. There can be no "superior" counsel or will to change it, as is the case with the plans of men; and no purposes of any beings "inferior" to himself - angels, men, or devils - can affect, defeat, or modify his eternal plans. No changes in human affairs can impede his plans; no opposition can defeat them; no progress can supersede them.

The thoughts of his heart - The things which he has "designed," or which he intends shall be accomplished.

To all generations - Margin, as in Hebrew, "to generation and generation." That is, from one generation of men to another; or, to all time. The plans of God are not changed by the passing off of one generation and the coming on of another; by new dynasties of kings, or by the revolutions that may occur in states and empires. Men can seldom cause their plans to be carried forward beyond the generation in which they live; and they can have no security that coming generations, with their own plans, will not abolish or change all that has been devised or purposed before. No man can make it certain that his own will, even in regard to "property," will be carried out in the generation that succeeds him. No monarch can make it certain that his plans will be perfected by his successors. Schemes devised with the profoundest care and the highest wisdom may be set aside by those who are next in power; and no individual can hope that coming ages will feel sufficient interest in him or his memory to carry on his plans. Who feels now any obligation to carry out the projects of Caesar or Alexander? How long since have all their plans passed away! So it will be with all who are now playing their parts on the earth! But none of these things affect the purposes of Him who will continue to live and to carry out His own designs when all the generations of human beings shall have passed away.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

10, 11. In God's providence He thwarts men's purposes and executes His own.

heathen—literally, "nations."

Matthew Poole's Commentary

All his purposes and designs, and especially those which concern his chosen people, of whom he speaks in the next verse, are always successful and irresistible.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever,.... By which are meant, not the doctrines of the Gospel, nor the ordinances of it; though these will stand firm, and remain to the end of the world; but the purposes and decrees of God, which are wisely formed in himself, are eternal and unfrustrable, and relate to all things in providence and grace. The Lord does all things according to the counsel of his will in the government of the world, and in the salvation of men: the choice of persons to everlasting life is according to it; and so are their redemption, effectual calling, and glorification;

the thoughts of his heart to all generations; which, with respect to his own people, are thoughts of peace, grace, and mercy; these are many, and within himself, were very early, even from all eternity, and have their sure and certain effect, Isaiah 14:24; see Proverbs 19:21.

Geneva Study Bible

The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

11. The A.V. obscures the parallelism between Psalm 33:10-11. The counsel of the nations and the thoughts of the peoples are contrasted with the counsel of Jehovah and the thoughts of his heart. His counsel stands fast like His work in creation (Psalm 33:9). Cp. Jeremiah 33:20-21. With Psalm 33:10, cp. Isaiah 8:10; Nehemiah 4:15; with Psalm 33:11, cp. Isaiah 5:19; Isaiah 19:17; Isaiah 46:10-11; Micah 4:12; Isaiah 55:8-9; Jeremiah 29:11; and generally, Proverbs 19:21; Proverbs 21:30. To us the words may suggest that “through the ages one increasing purpose runs,” and point forward to

“The one far-off divine event

To which the whole creation moves.”

The addition in P.B.V., and casteth out the counsels of princes, is derived through the Vulg. from the LXX.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 11. - The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations; or, the thoughts of his heart - the same word as in the latter clause of the preceding verse. The contrast is made as complete as possible. Human counsels and devices fail and come to nought, the Divine counsels and devices abide, stand fast, and remain firm for ever (comp. Proverbs 19:21; Isaiah 25:1; James 1:17). Psalm 33:11

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

His praiseworthiness (c) as the irresistible Ruler in the history of men. Since in 2 Samuel 15:34; 2 Samuel 17:14, and frequently, הפר עצה is a common phrase, therefore heepiyr as in Psalm 89:34, Ezekiel 17:19, is equivalent to הפר (Ges. ֗67, rem. 9). The perfects are not used in the abstract, but of that which has been experienced most recently, since the "new song" presupposes new matter. With Psalm 33:11 compare Proverbs 19:21. The עצת of God is the unity of the "thoughts of His heart," i.e., of the ideas, which form the inmost part, the ultimate motives of everything that takes place. The whole history of the world is the uninterrupted carrying out of a divine plan of salvation, the primary object of which is His people, but in and with these are included humanity at large.