Salmi 33:20 Commento

This is a psalm of praise; it is probable that David was the penman of it, but we are not told so, because God would have us look above the penmen of sacred writ, to that blessed Spirit that moved and guided them. The psalmist, in this psalm, I. Calls upon the righteous to praise God (Psa 33:1-3). II. Furnishes us with matter for praise. We must praise God, 1. For his justice, goodness, and truth, appearing in his word, and in all his works (Psa 33:4, Psa 33:5). 2. For his power appearing in the work of creation (Psa 33:6-9). 3. For the sovereignty of his providence in the government of the world (Psa 33:10, Psa 33:11) and again (Psa 33:13-17). 4. For the peculiar favour which he bears to his own chosen people, which encourages them to trust in him (Psa 33:12) and again (Psa 33:18-22). We need not be at a loss for proper thoughts in singing this psalm, which so naturally expresses the pious affections of a devout soul towards God.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 33 Though this psalm has no title to it, it seems to be a psalm of David, from the style and matter of it; and indeed begins with the same words with which the preceding psalm is ended. Theodoret is of opinion it was written by David as a prophecy concerning Hezekiah, as a song to be sung by the people after the destruction of the Assyrian army.

Our soul waiteth for the Lord,.... This, and what follows, are the words of the church, expressing her expectation, faith, and joy, by reason of what is suggested in the preceding verses. She signifies her expectation of good by waiting for the Lord; either for his coming in the flesh, and salvation by him; for which the patriarchs, prophets, and all the Old Testament saints, waited, Gen 49:18; and so the Targum paraphrases it, "our soul waiteth for the redemption of the Lord"; or for his spiritual coming, his appearance to them, and gracious presence with them, he having been for some time absent; and it is right and good so to do, and in the issue proves advantageous, Isa 8:17; and this being soul waiting, it denotes the heartiness, sincerity, and earnestness of it; he is our help and our shield; the Lord is the help of his people in time of trouble, when none else is or can be; and he is a present one, and helps right early, and at the best season: and he is their shield, who encompasses them about with his love and favour, and keeps them by his power in the greatest safety; all which encourages their waiting upon him, and expectation of good things from him.

"My soul shall be patient for the Lord:" that hereafter it may be filled with dainties incorruptible, meanwhile, while here it remains, my soul shall be patient for the Lord. "For He is our Helper and Defender" [Psalm 33:20]: our Helper He is, while we endeavour after Him; and our Defender, while we resist the adversary.

[God] is always helping and providing us with salvation. The term “protector,” you see, is a metaphor from those thrusting their own shields among the enemy and by protection from these often sheltering others and freeing them from every disaster.

When the psalmist says “he waits,” he indicates the endurance of the Christian … since it is endurance that makes the martyrs glorious, that watches over the good things of our faith, that conquers everything that stands against us, not by fighting against God’s will, but by enduring, not by complaining, but by giving thanks. Endurance suppresses deceptive luxury, it overcomes the heat of anger, it removes the jealousy that lays waste the human race, it renders people gentle, it smiles appropriately at the kind, and it sets the cleansed in good order for the rewards that are to come. Endurance wipes away the dregs of every pleasure; it makes souls appear bright. Through endurance we serve as God’s soldiers, through it we conquer the devil, through it we arrive as the blessed to his heavenly kingdom, for it is written, “in your endurance you will gain possession of your souls.”

The psalmist’s word waits reflects the patience of the Christian.… Patience is what makes glorious martyrs, what guards the blessings of our faith, what conquers all adversity not by wrestling but by enduring, not by grumbling but by giving thanks. Patience represses the extravagance that beguiles us. It overcomes hot anger, it removes the envy that ravages the human race, it makes people gentle, it smiles becomingly on the kind, and it orders people who are cleansed to attain the rewards that are to come. Patience wipes away the dregs of all pleasure; patience makes souls pure. Through patience we soldier for Christ, through it we conquer the devil, through it we blessedly attain the kingdom of heaven. As Scripture says, “In your patience you shall possess your souls.”

Then when he says, "Our soul," he shows what effect follows in these people from this consideration. And it is twofold. The first is the effect of hoping. The second, of praying, at "Let your mercy be upon us," and so on. Concerning the first he does two things. First, he shows how the effect of hope arises in them. Second, he assigns the reason, at "Because he is our helper." He says therefore: thus "the eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear him," and so on. And therefore "our soul waits for the Lord," that is, if any evils are sent upon us by God, let us endure them patiently. Jas. 5: "You have heard of the patience of Job." Likewise, awaiting his promises. He endures, therefore, both the one who punishes and the one who promises. And there is a twofold reason. One is because of the experience of benefits; the other because of the hope of future things. There: "In him our heart shall rejoice." The experience of benefits consists in the advancement of goods; hence he says, "Because he is our helper." Likewise, in protection from evils; and therefore he says, "And our protector." We hope, moreover, for future joy; hence he says, "In him our heart shall rejoice," that is, in his vision. Is. 66: "You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice." Job 22: "Then you shall abound in delights over the Almighty," and so on. And this joy is here imperfect, but there, in the homeland, it is perfect. And this because "in his holy name we have hoped." For "and" is used here in place of "because." His holy name is the name of his mercy; as if to say, therefore "we shall rejoice," because "we have hoped in his holy name," that is, in his goodness, or in his mercy, and not in our merits.

A call to lively and joyous praise to God for His glorious attributes and works, as displayed in creation, and His general and special providence, in view of which, the Psalmist, for all the pious, professes trust and joy and invokes God's mercy. (Psa. 33:1-22) The sentiment falls in with Psa 32:11 (compare Co1 14:15). The instruments (Psa 92:3; Psa 144:9) do not exclude the voice.

waiteth--in earnest expectation.

Accordingly, in this closing hexastich, the church acknowledges Him as its help, its shield, and its source of joy. Besides the passage before us, חכּה occurs in only one other instance in the Psalter, viz., Psa 106:13. This word, which belongs to the group of words signifying hoping and waiting, is perhaps from the root חך (Arab. ḥk', ḥkâ, firmiter constringere sc. nodum), to be firm, compact, like קוּה from קוה, to pull tight or fast, cf. the German harren (to wait) and hart (hard, compact). In Psa 33:20 we still hear the echo of the primary passage Deu 33:29 (cf. Deu 33:26). The emphasis, as in Psa 115:9-11, rests upon הוּא, into which בּו, in Psa 33:21, puts this thought, viz., He is the unlimited sphere, the inexhaustible matter, the perennial spring of our joy. The second כּי confirms this subjectively. His holy Name is His church's ground of faith, of love, and of hope; for from thence comes its salvation. It can boldly pray that the mercy of the Lord may be upon it, for it waits upon Him, and man's waiting or hoping and God's giving are reciprocally conditioned. This is the meaning of the כּאשׁר. God is true to His word. The Te Deum laudamus of Ambrose closes in the same way.