สดุดี 33:14 วิจารณ์

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.

From the place of his habitation,.... Which is heaven, that is, the habitation of his holiness, and of his glory, Isa 63:15; he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth; good and bad; and not the nation of Israel only, but the Gentile world, whom in former times he overlooked, but under the Gospel dispensation visits in a way of mercy; by sending his son to die for them, by spreading his Gospel among them, by calling them by his grace, by planting churches in the midst of them, and by continuing his word and ordinances with them.

"From His prepared habitation:" from His habitation of assumed Humanity, which He prepared for Himself. "He looks upon all the inhabitants of the earth" [Psalm 33:14]: He looks mercifully upon all who live in the flesh, that He may be over them in ruling them.

Then when he says, "From his prepared dwelling place," he removes the doubt. For some believed that God dwells in the heavens as though in remote parts he would not know human affairs: Job 22: "He walks about the poles of heaven and does not consider our affairs." The Psalmist excludes this, saying, "From his prepared dwelling place"; as if to say, no one would prepare a place for himself so as to hinder himself. It would be different if another had prepared it. A king would be foolish who prepared for himself a throne where he could not govern his kingdom. And this is what he says, "From his prepared dwelling place," that is, from heaven, which he prepared for himself as his dwelling place -- not that he is contained by it, but because his glory shines forth more in it. He has looked, he says, "upon all who dwell on the earth," that is, upon the flesh, by subduing it: Ps. 112: "Who is as the Lord our God, who dwells on high and looks upon the lowly," and so on. Ps. 102: "The Lord has prepared his throne in heaven," and so on. Or, "from heaven," that is, from Christ. Through the angels or the apostles he has looked with the eye of his mercy to save men.

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.