Who
wrote Psalm 33 is not known. But we can resonate with his call. This song is an
invocation to rejoice in the Lord and to praise Him because He is worthy. God deserves
to be praised. Right from the very first verse he urges everyone who is
righteous to rejoice in the Lord and to praise Him. Who are the righteous? The righteous
are those who are in right standing with the Lord. In the New Covenant, all of
us who have chosen to acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Lord, and accept the forgiveness
granted through His atoning works, are now in right standing with Him. We are the
righteous people who are justified and hence the righteous ones. So we should
rejoice in Him. Not just that, we should also praise Him.
How
are we to praise Him? With instruments such as harp and lyre. We are also to praise
Him with singing. We can now appreciate why singing takes such a prominent role
in any worship service. And in churches today, we use a variety of other modern
instruments in our worship. It is so good to sing joyfully to the Lord. Notice
that the Psalmist urges all musicians to sharpen their skill so as to skilfully
play their instruments, to inspire worship of this great and faithful God.
In
this Psalm we are given many reasons to praise God. We are called to praise Him
for His Word which is upright, and for His works that are done in truth. By
this the author meant works that God had faithfully accomplished. Every day
without fail the sun would rise to bring joy of a new day. Every night He
ensures that the skies are governed by lesser light so that we can rest. These
and many benefits we enjoy on a daily basis are the faithful works of His hand.
Verse
5 tells us that God deserves to be praised because He is the One who loves righteousness
and justice. And He has filled the earth with His goodness. He is the One who
had created everything by His powerful words. This brings us back to Genesis
where He brought everything into being by the word of His mouth. He brought
chaos into order. When we look at the magnificent imprint of His hand in the
vast universe, we would be brought to stand in awe of Him.
He
thwarts the plans and counsel of the wicked so that His people could be blessed.
And as the all-knowing God, He is fully cognizant of what is going on even
before they happen. Best of all He sees and knows the heart and the works of
all men, for He has formed and created everyone. Ever wonder at which stage of the
foetus growth did the human heart begin to beat? Ever wonder how a heart starts
beating and what triggered the first beat? If God did not breathe His breath
into us, our heart would never begin beating in the first place.
The
rise and fall of armies are all in His hand too. He causes one to rise and
another to fall and they all happen at His will. Why? Because this God controls
everyone and everything in the universe. He is the One who watches over His people
who fear Him and put their trust in Him. He stays around them to protect and
deliver them. With that the Psalmist requests that His mercy be showered upon all
of us according to the trust and hope they placed in Him.
There is nothing more
worthwhile than to praise the Lord and there’s nothing worth offering our
praise except God. So, day and night, night and day, let “praises”, like incense,
arise to His throne. For He is worthy of it all. For from Him are all things
and to Him are all things. He deserves the glory!
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