Psalm 33: Staring At The Sun
Psalm 33 is like turning your eyes to look at the sun. There is just so much radiance that it overwhelms us. The psalmist reflects on the power and majesty of God:
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
and all their host by the breath of his mouth.
He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle;
he put the deep in storehouses.
This same word that brought the world to life continues as his relation to the world. He did not just speak forth creation, he communicates his presence and his word is true and powerful to accomplish his will as he “works in faithfulness” (v. 4). As the voice of God comes into focus we hear his character communicated, the Lord “loves righteousness and justice” (v. 5a). And he pours himself into the world, filling the earth to the brim with “steadfast love” (v. 5b).
Two responses are enjoined to the faithful congregation. The first is participation—pick up an instrument, lift your voices, make a joyful noise (v.1, 3). The native tongue of the Kingdom of God is praise and thanksgiving (v. 2). The second response, is not contradictory but is like a rest placed into the clef of music. The psalmist tells us to “stand in awe” (v. 8) and to feel the otherworldly magnitude of his presence. This God spoke the world into existence so all of our words should start with a mouth agape, in awesome wonder of his beauty.
He is the Lord’s true king, all the governments and the nations make their plans, they draw their battle lines, but they are puppet states (vv.10-11). They act as if they will remain forever, that they are the architects of the future with their political slogans and their empty promises of greatness but they cannot deliver (v 11b). The only nation that remains forever is the eternal kingdom of God, the people called out by him (v. 12).
The psalmist then paints the Lord, seated on the vast heights, overlooking the world. The author writes that he sees all mankind (vv. 13-14) and it can feel like his vision is like our own when we look at a large crowd. Yes, we can “see” the people in totality but we cannot possibly know the stories of each individual person. And again, considering the scale of this majestic God, it almost makes sense. How could a God so endowed with power, majesty, and so responsible for the managing of the world get caught up in the minutiae of mundane human existence?
But this psalm will not leave us to our illusions of an aloof sovereign, distant and seated on high, removed from the pain and moments of our everyday lives. The psalmist tells us that God knows every human heart because he has made each one of them (v. 15) and he sees each individual (v. 18). Apparently, part of the greatness of this God is the ability to concern himself with the smallness of our world. Psalm 33 tosses us into the current of God’s raging strength and then shows us the deep spring that feeds this river: the steadfast love of God that delivers our souls from death and provides for our daily needs (vv.18-19).
The last stanza of the prayer paints our current reality:
Our soul waits for the Lord;
he is our help and shield.
Our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name.
Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you. (vv. 20-22)
We cannot long stare at greatness of this magnitude without being blinded. But what we find is that the glory of this God is not just great, not just awesome, or strong; it is good, kind, compassionate. Our world is awash in the warm sunlight of God’s love and—to channel Lewis—by its light we see everything else.