Verse 1. "Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous …" To rejoice in temporal comforts is dangerous, to rejoice in self is foolish, to rejoice in sin is fatal but to rejoice in God is heavenly. He who would have a double heaven must begin to rejoice below like those above.
C. H. Spurgeon
Verse 3. "Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise." "Sing unto him…" All songs of praise should be "unto him." Singing for singing's sake is worth nothing; we must carry our tribute to the King and not cast it to the winds. "Sing unto him a new song…" Let us not present old worn-out praise, but put life, and soul, and heart into every song since we have new mercies every day. "Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully…" The sweetest tunes with the sweetest voices with the sweetest words, are all too little for the Lord our God. Let us not offer him limping rhymes, set to harsh tunes, and growled out by discordant voices. "Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise." Heartiness should be conspicuous in divine worship. It is not that the Lord cannot hear us, but that it is natural for great exultation to express itself in the loudest manner. Men shout at the sight of their kings; shall we offer no loud hosannas to the Son of David?
C. H. Spurgeon
Verse 6. "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made…" Let any one make a world and he shall be a God, saith Augustine; hence is it that the Church maketh it the very first article of her Creed – "I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth …"
John Weemse
Verse 7. "He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap…" The Lord deals with fluids as if they were solids, the obvious allusion being to the crossing of the Red Sea. The main point is the description of God's handling of those vast liquid masses, as men handle solid substances, heaping the waves up and storing them away, as men might do with stones or wheat.
J. A. Alexander
Verse 8. "Let all the earth fear the Lord…" Let them not be afraid of any but Him. Doth a wild beast rage? Fear God. Doth a serpent lie in wait? Fear God. Do men hate thee? Fear God. Doth the devil fight against thee? Fear God. For the whole creation is under Him whom thou art commanded to fear.
Augustine
Verse 9. "For he spake and it was done…" Sermon - "The Irresistible Word of Jehovah."
Hints to the Village Preacher
Verse 17. "An horse is a vain thing for safety…" If the strength of horses comes from God, or is His gift, then trust not in the strength of horses. Use the strength of horses but do not trust the strength of horses. If you trust that strength that God hath given to anything you make that thing your god in place of God.
Joseph Caryl
Verse 18. "Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him…" Look upon the sun, how it casts light and heat upon the whole world; but let its beam be but concentrated in a burning glass, then it sets fire upon the object only. And thus God in the creation looks upon all His works with a general love. Oh! But when He is pleased to cast the beams of His love, and cause them to shine upon His elect through Christ, then their hearts burn within them, their affections are inflamed while others are but a little warmed.
Richard Holdsworth
Verse 20 "Our soul waiteth for the Lord…" Not our souls but our soul, as if they all had only one. And what is the language of God by the prophet? "I will give them one heart and one way." Thus the two disciples going to Emmaus, "Did not our heart burn within us?" And thus in the beginning of the gospel, "The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and soul." We have seen several drops of water on a table, being brought to touch, running into one. If Christians were better acquainted with each other, they would easily unite.
William Jay
This Page Title – Gleanings in the Psalms – Psalm 33 The Wicket Gate Magazine "A Continuing Witness". Internet Edition number 71 – placed on line March 2008 Magazine web address – www.wicketgate.co.uk |