Psalm 33:20














The call to praise God is supported by a setting forth of that which his people possess in him. The theme of this second part of the psalm is set forth in the twelfth verse, "Blessed is the nation whose God is Jehovah."

I. BECAUSE GOD IS THE CREATOR HE HAS THE MOST PERFECT KNOWLEDGE. (Vers. 13-15.) He not only observes men's doings, but knows their hearts, as having created them. You cannot know a man perfectly from his acts; you must know his thoughts and purposes to know his character.

II. HIS PEOPLE HAVE IN GOD A STRONGER DEFENCE THAN THE GREATEST WORLDLY POWER WOULD BE. (Vers. 16-12.)

1. The victory of the king and the safety of the warrior are not they own works. Even the war-horse, a thing that promises much in strength, can in reality do nothing apart from God's overruling power.

2. The eye of God is ditched towards those that fear him, to deliver them from danger and death.

III. THE CHURCH ACKNOWLEDGES GOD AS ITS HELP, ITS SHIELD, AND ITS SOURCE OF JOY. (Vers. 20-22.)

1. The Church waits for God. (Ver. 20.) To be its Help and Shield.

2. The Church rejoices in the holiness of God. If he were not perfectly good we should have to tremble with terror and not rejoice.

3. The Church hopes in God. Hope has been the attitude of the Church through all the ages. It must be our personal attitude towards God in Christ. "Which hope we have as the anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast," etc. What can sufferers do but hope? - S.

Our soul waiteth for the Lord: He is our help and our shield.
I. THE SUBJECT OF THE EXERCISE — "our soul." Not our souls, but "our soul." Believers are said to be "of one soul." Drops of water brought into contact will run into one. So with the souls of God's people.

II. THE EXERCISE ITSELF — waiting for the Lord. It includes conviction, desire, hope, patience.

III. THE ENCOURAGEMENT GIVEN — "He is our help and our shield."

1. Their help. They need aid, and know their need.

2. Their shield, to defend from all the power of the adversary both from without and within.

(W. Jay.)

Homilist.
I. WAITING ON THE LORD FOR A GOOD REASON (ver. 20).

1. Waiting upon Him implies faith — faith in His existence; desire, a craving after some good; patience, biding His own good time. But how are you to wait on Him?(1) Wholly. He must be waited upon in every event, purpose, action, and place. True worship is an all-pervading spirit, not an occasional feeling or service.(2) Lovingly. It cannot be done perfunctorily or formally.(3) Constantly. It is spirit running through the life, giving unity, meaning, and worth to existence.

2. Such is the waiting but what is the good reason? "He is our help and our shield." A "shield." If He be for us, who can be against us? God is our refuge and strength. A "help." Life's labours are arduous, life's trials are heavy: He is the only effective helper in both. We will wait, therefore, on Him.

II. REJOICING IN THE LORD FOR A GOOD REASON (ver. 21).

1. True worship is joy — the only satisfactory and lasting joy of a moral intelligence. It is a rejoicing in His —

(1)Works.

(2)Government.

(3)Character.

(4)Fatherhood.

(5)Promises.What is the good reason for rejoicing? "Because we have trusted in His holy name." All joy is the fruit of that tree that is rooted in an unbounded confidence in God. All the streams that "make glad the city of our God" rise out of a settled faith in Him.

III. PRAYING TO THE LORD FOR A GOOD REASON (ver. 22).

1. Were we innocent sufferers, we should pray for justice, not mercy; but we are sinful, and mercy is what we require: mercy to pardon, to cleanse, and to qualify us for the high service and fellowship of the Holy One.

2. What is the good reason for this prayer? "According as we hope in Thee." We pray because our confidence is in Thee, and our expectation is from Thee. Men would never pray without this hope in God, and the compass of the prayer is measured by the expanse of this hope. We ask for little because our faith and hope are feeble.

(Homilist.).

I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
Homilist.
I. AN EXEMPLIFICATION OF TRUE PRAISE.

1. It is thorough.

(1)There is no praise without concentration of soul.

(2)Distracting forces are rife.

2. It is constant.

(1)In every department of action — intellectual, artistic, commercial, political.

(2)In every circumstance of life — sorrow, joy, adversity, prosperity, bereavement, friendship.

3. It is exultant. God is the sum total of all excellence, the primal fount of all joy; therefore let us boast in Him.

4. It is social. The true worshipper becomes magnetic; he draws others to the shrine before which he falls.

II. A REASON FOR TRUE PRAISE.

1. Past deliverance (ver. 4).

(1)He had been "delivered out of all his troubles." His troubles were great in their variety, number, but he was delivered.

(2)He had been delivered out of all his troubles by prayer. "I sought the Lord," etc.

2. Constant protection (ver. 7).

(Homilist.)

I. A RESOLUTION TO BLESS THE LORD, or to thank the Lord.

1. The things for which we ought to bless or thank the Lord: temporal; spiritual; personal; family; national; and Christian.

2. Whom we are to bless: "the Lord," the Giver of all; no mercy, except from Him; gives freely; bounteously, always.

3. When we are to bless the Lord: — "at all times."

II. A RESOLUTION TO PRAISE THE LORD.

1. This is a resolution which Nature even approves. "All Thy works praise Thee, O Lord."

2. A resolution which reason sustains.

3. A resolution which Scripture examples encourage.

4. A resolution which is in analogy with the customs of social life.

5. A resolution which accords with our obligation.

6. A resolution which harmonizes with the employment of the heavenly inhabitants.

7. A resolution which, if carried out, will contribute much to life's happiness, and promote the glory of God in our spheres of action.

(J. Bate.)

People
David, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Hope, Salvation, Shield, Soul, Souls, Waited, Waiteth, Waiting, Waits
Outline
1. God is to be praised for his goodness
6. for his power
12. and for his providence
20. Confidence is to be placed in God

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 33:20

     5527   shield
     8107   assurance, and life of faith
     8318   patience
     8613   prayer, persistence
     8678   waiting on God

Psalm 33:16-20

     8224   dependence

Psalm 33:18-22

     8031   trust, importance

Psalm 33:20-22

     9612   hope, in God

Library
The Work of the Holy Spirit in the Material Universe.
There are many who think of the work of the Holy Spirit as limited to man. But God reveals to us in His Word that the Holy Spirit's work has a far wider scope than this. We are taught in the Bible that the Holy Spirit has a threefold work in the material universe. I. The creation of the material universe and of man is effected through the agency of the Holy Spirit. We read in Ps. xxxiii. 6, "By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth." We
R. A. Torrey—The Person and Work of The Holy Spirit

Two Standpoints.
"By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth."-- Psalm xxxiii. 6. The work of the Holy Spirit that most concerns us is the renewing of the elect after the image of God. And this is not all. It even savors of selfishness and irreverence to make this so prominent, as tho it were His only work. The redeemed are not sanctified without Christ, who is made to them sanctification; hence the work of the Spirit must embrace the Incarnation of the Word
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

The Indwelling and Outgoing Works of God.
"And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth."--Psalm xxxiii. 6. The thorough and clear-headed theologians of the most flourishing periods of the Church used to distinguish between the indwelling and outgoing works of God. The same distinction exists to some extent in nature. The lion watching his prey differs widely from the lion resting among his whelps. See the blazing eye, the lifted head, the strained muscles and panting breath. One can see that the crouching lion is laboring intensely.
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

The Mercy of God
The next attribute is God's goodness or mercy. Mercy is the result and effect of God's goodness. Psa 33:5. So then this is the next attribute, God's goodness or mercy. The most learned of the heathens thought they gave their god Jupiter two golden characters when they styled him good and great. Both these meet in God, goodness and greatness, majesty and mercy. God is essentially good in himself and relatively good to us. They are both put together in Psa 119:98. Thou art good, and doest good.' This
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Excursus on the Worship of the Early Church.
(Percival, H. R.: Johnson's Universal Cyclopædia, Vol. V., s.v. Liturgics.) St. Paul is by some learned writers supposed to have quoted in several places the already existing liturgy, especially in I. Cor. ij. 9., [183] and there can be no doubt that the Lord's prayer was used and certain other formulas which are referred to by St. Luke in the Acts of the Apostles [184] as "the Apostles' prayers." How early these forms were committed to writing has been much disputed among the learned, and
Philip Schaff—The Seven Ecumenical Councils

"Nunc Dimittis"
We shall note, this morning, first, that every believer may be assured of departing in peace; but that, secondly, some believers feel a special readiness to depart now: "Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace;" and, thirdly, that there are words of encouragement to produce in us the like readiness: "according to thy word." There are words of Holy Writ which afford richest consolation in prospect of departure. I. First, then, let us start with the great general principle, which is full of comfort;
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

The Principle of Life in the Creature.
"By His Spirit He hath garnished the heavens; His hand hath formed the crooked serpent."-- Job xxvi. 13. We have seen that the work of the Holy Spirit consists in leading all creation to its destiny, the final purpose of which is the glory of God. However, God's glory in creation appears in various degrees and ways. An insect and a star, the mildew on the wall and the cedar on Lebanon, a common laborer and a man like Augustine, are all the creatures of God; yet how dissimilar they are, and how varied
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

They all Hold Swords, Being Expert in War; Every Man Hath his Sword Upon his Thigh Because of Fear in the Night.
They all hold swords to engage in combat with the soul which, by a secret presumption, attributes to self what belongs to God only; and this causes them to exclaim with united voice; Who is like unto God? The Divine Righteousness is the first that comes to fight with and destroy the self-righteousness of the creature, and then comes strength to bring to naught the power of man, and causing him to enter by experience of his own infinite weakness into the strength of the Lord (Psalm lxxi. 16), teaches
Madame Guyon—Song of Songs of Solomon

The Creation
Q-7: WHAT ARE THE DECREES OF GOD? A: The decrees of God are his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he has foreordained whatsoever shall come to pass. I have already spoken something concerning the decrees of God under the attribute of his immutability. God is unchangeable in his essence, and he-is unchangeable in his decrees; his counsel shall stand. He decrees the issue of all things, and carries them on to their accomplishment by his providence; I
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Holy Spirit in Relation to the Father and the Son. ...
The Holy Spirit in relation to the Father and the Son. Under this heading we began by considering Justin's remarkable words, in which he declares that "we worship and adore the Father, and the Son who came from Him and taught us these things, and the host of the other good angels that attend Him and are made like unto Him, and the prophetic Spirit." Hardly less remarkable, though in a very different way, is the following passage from the Demonstration (c. 10); and it has a special interest from the
Irenæus—The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching

The Host of Heaven and of Earth.
"The Spirit of God hath made me."--Job xxxiii. 4. Understanding somewhat the characteristic note of the work of the Holy Spirit, let us see what this work was and is and shall be. The Father brings forth, the Son disposes and arranges, the Holy Spirit perfects. There is one God and Father of whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ through whom are all things; but what does the Scripture say of the special work the Holy Spirit did in creation and is still doing? For the sake of order we examine
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Easter Tuesday
Second Sermon. Same Text. Acts 13, 26-39. THE WORD AND THE RESURRECTION.[1] [Footnote 1: This sermon appeared first in the Church Postil, the Explanation of the Epistle and Gospel Texts from Easter to Advent. Printed by Hans Lufft, Wittenberg, 1559.] 1. This sermon was preached by Paul in the synagogue at Antioch of Pisidia, where were gathered with the Jews some Greek converts. Wherever in a city Jews were to be found, there also were their synagogues in which they taught and preached; and many
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

How the Whole and the Sick are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 13.) Differently to be admonished are the whole and the sick. For the whole are to be admonished that they employ the health of the body to the health of the soul: lest, if they turn the grace of granted soundness to the use of iniquity, they be made worse by the gift, and afterwards merit the severer punishments, in that they fear not now to use amiss the more bountiful gifts of God. The whole are to be admonished that they despise not the opportunity of winning health for ever.
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

The Providence of God
Q-11: WHAT ARE GOD'S WORKS OF PROVIDENCE? A: God's works of providence are the acts of his most holy, wise, and powerful government of his creatures, and of their actions. Of the work of God's providence Christ says, My Father worketh hitherto and I work.' John 5:17. God has rested from the works of creation, he does not create any new species of things. He rested from all his works;' Gen 2:2; and therefore it must needs be meant of his works of providence: My Father worketh and I work.' His kingdom
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Power of God
The next attribute is God's power. Job 9:19. If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong.' In this chapter is a magnificent description of God's power. Lo, he is strong.' The Hebrew word for strong signifies a conquering, prevailing strength. He is strong.' The superlative degree is intended here; viz., He is most strong. He is called El-shaddai, God almighty. Gen 17:7. His almightiness lies in this, that he can do whatever is feasible. Divines distinguish between authority and power. God has both.
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Notes on the Third Century
Page 161. Line 1. He must be born again, &c. This is a compound citation from John iii. 3, and Mark x. 15, in the order named. Page 182. Line 17. For all things should work together, &c. See Romans viii. 28. Page 184. Lines 10-11. Being Satan is able, &c. 2 Corinthians xi. 14. Page 184. Last line. Like a sparrow, &c. Psalm cii. Page 187. Line 1. Mechanisms. This word is, in the original MS., mechanicismes.' Page 187. Line 7. Like the King's daughter, &c. Psalm xlv. 14. Page 188. Med. 39. The best
Thomas Traherne—Centuries of Meditations

Covenanting According to the Purposes of God.
Since every revealed purpose of God, implying that obedience to his law will be given, is a demand of that obedience, the announcement of his Covenant, as in his sovereignty decreed, claims, not less effectively than an explicit law, the fulfilment of its duties. A representation of a system of things pre-determined in order that the obligations of the Covenant might be discharged; various exhibitions of the Covenant as ordained; and a description of the children of the Covenant as predestinated
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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