Download the Bethlehem Baptist Church Mobile App
Available for iOS and Android
August 13/14, 2016
Jason Meyer | Psalms 33:1-22
Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous!
Praise befits the upright.
Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre;
make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
For the word of the LORD is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD.
By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;
he puts the deeps in storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the LORD;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
The counsel of the LORD stands forever,
the plans of his heart to all generations.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!
The LORD looks down from heaven;
he sees all the children of man;
from where he sits enthroned he looks out
on all the inhabitants of the earth,
he who fashions the hearts of them all
and observes all their deeds.
The king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
The war horse is a false hope for salvation,
and by its great might it cannot rescue.
Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love,
that he may deliver their soul from death
and keep them alive in famine.
Our soul waits for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.
For 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.—Psalm 33
Introduction: 3-D Burdens
I know that many of you come to this place of worship today weighed down by many burdens. Three big burdens I hear today could be summarized as 3-D’s: (1) direction, (2) deficit, and (3) discouragement. First, I hear many people during this election season concerned about the direction of our country. A Psalm like this one comes along and says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (v. 12), and you say, “That does not describe our nation.” Our nation does not have that blessing!
Second, some of you are burdened with a sense of deficit. It could be financial—you are struggling to make ends meet (not enough money), and there never seems to be enough. It could be you are burdened with a relational deficit—you feel lonely; you don’t feel known, or understood, or appreciated. It could be you struggle with a sense of moral deficit—struggling with sin and guilt and shame, and you know that you are not good enough, consistent enough, faithful enough. We are burdened by all of the problems in this fallen world, and then added to that we are doubly burdened by how limited we are in our ability to fix them or address them.
That leads to the third “D”: discouragement. People are discouraged, depressed, and anxious. Discouragement comes from comparing all your problems with your ability and realizing that you are not enough (problems – ability = not enough). So I am going to invite you to take your eyes off of you for a moment and look to God and his ability. Faith comes from comparing all your problems with all of his ability and realizing he is more than enough (problems – ability of God = more than enough).
Main Point
If we truly know Him, then we will truly worship Him and wait for Him. We can probably be more specific and shorten the main point. You have heard the song “Whistle While You Work” in Snow White. The song of Psalm 33 is worship while you wait.
Outline:
The outline shows the relationship between theology (who God is in verses 4–19) and doxology (our response in verses 1–3 and 20–22). The life of worship and waiting is built upon the word and ways of God.
Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous!
Praise befits the upright.
Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre;
make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.—Psalm 33:1–3
Psalm 33 begins where Psalm 32:11 left off:
Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous,
and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
Psalm 33 has no superscription because Psalm 33 builds on Psalm 32 (like we saw with Psalm 9–10). Psalm 32 builds upon the relationship between Psalm 1, 14, and 22. Psalm 1 pronounces a blessing upon the one who walks in all of God’s ways. Psalm 14:1, 3 says no one does that—none are good, no not one (cf. Romans 3:10). Psalm 22 says that the Messiah King was forsaken (Psalm 22:1) so that sinners could be adopted and accepted into the family of God (Psalm 22:22). Psalm 32 pronounces a blessing on all the ungodly who are forgiven by faith (Psalm 32:1, 10)—trusting in the sacrifice of Psalm 22.
Therefore, the reference to the righteous must be a reference to the unrighteous that God justified (or declared righteous). The righteous in the Psalms are unrighteous sinners who are declared righteous by faith in the work of the Messiah. Now Psalm 32:11 and Psalm 33 show that God’s people should explode with justified joy.
But don’t miss the glory of Psalm 32–33. The new covenant includes the gift of a new heart. God takes out the dead, stony heart and puts in the heart of flesh—the upright heart of Psalm 33:1. Worshippers have changed hearts. God writes his law on the hearts of his people so that they are not idolaters—they have no other gods beside the one true God.
Psalm 33 shows that this changed heart leads to a catalytic call to worship with justified joy. There are six actions in these first three verses: (1) shout joyfully, (2) give thanks, (3) make melody/music, (4) sing a new song, (5) play skillfully, and (6) shout loudly.
We should make music to the Lord that is joyful, thankful, and skillful. It should be fresh and fervent, loud and boisterous. I think the “new song” is a reference to songs that spring up from fresh demonstrations of God’s greatness and grace. New mercies lead to new music. New acts of God provoke new adoration of God. New saving acts of grace lead to new songs praising God’s glorious grace. We are not second-hand worshippers. We will see later how the new deliverance of Exodus 14 leads to a new song in Exodus 15.
I think the aspect of praise that we often overlook is found in verse 1: “Praise befits the upright.” Do you ever think about how “fitting” or “right” or “healthy” praise is for God’s people? Worship is a mark of spiritual health. C.S. Lewis says the same thing with his trademark, razor-sharp clarity.
“I had not noticed how the humblest, and at the same time most balanced and capacious minds, praised most, while the cranks, misfits, and malcontents praised least. …praise almost seems to be inner health made audible. … I had not noticed, either, that just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: “Isn’t she lovely? Wasn’t it glorious? Don’t you think that magnificent?” The Psalmists in telling everyone to praise God are doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about. My whole, more general, difficulty about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us, as regards the supremely Valuable, what we delight to do, what we indeed can’t help doing, about everything else we value” (C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms).
We will try to argue our case when there are competing values. Here is why this team is the best. Here is why this person is the best athlete, singer, actor, etc. Now the psalmist tells us—“here is why no one else deserves the glory and the praise except our God.” The little word “for” at the beginning of verse 4 signals the shift to point number two: the cause for worship.
Verses 4–5 give us a cumulative cause—four different reasons to worship God.
For the word of the LORD is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD.—Psalm 33:4–5
Causes for worship: (1) upright word, (2) faithful work, (3) righteous character, and (4) steadfast love. The next fourteen verses unpack each of these causes. Verses 6–9 unpack the upright word of God.
By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;
he puts the deeps in storehouses.Let all the earth fear the LORD;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.—Psalm 33:6–9
It should come as no surprise that the upright heart would delight in the upright word of God. The psalmist prizes the power of God’s word. Psalm 33:6 is like poetic commentary on Genesis 1. “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host” (emphasis mine). In Genesis 1, the word “to say” occurs nine times in rhythmic repetition (Genesis 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 26, 28, 29). God is the subject of all of them and the subject of every use of the word “create” (Genesis 1:1, 21, 27 [3x]) and “make” (Genesis 1:7, 16, 25, 26, 31).
Have you paused to consider what the vastness of creation says about the greatness of the Creator? Even thinking about the starry host can be life-changing. New York pastor, Tim Keller, said that something a Sunday school teacher said to him in 1970 changed his life.
“[The teacher] said, ‘If the distance between the earth and the sun—92 million miles—was reduced to the thickness of a sheet of paper, then the distance between the earth and the nearest star would be a stack of paper 70 feet high, and the diameter of the galaxy would be a stack of paper 310 miles high—that’s how big the galaxy is—and yet, the galaxy is nothing but a speck of dust, virtually, in the whole universe, and the Bible says that Jesus Christ holds this universe together with the word of his power—his pinky, as it were,’ she said. And then she asked the question: ‘Is this the kind of person you ask into your life to be your assistant?’” (Timothy Keller, from the sermon "The Gospel and Your Self")
We do not see him and say, “My assistant.” We look at him and say, “My Lord and my God.” Now the psalmist looks at the glory of God in comparison to the power of all the nations of the world.
The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
The counsel of the LORD stands forever,
the plans of his heart to all generations.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!—Psalm 33:10–12
This is the perspective of Psalm 2 again. Why do the nations rage? They can’t win! Their rebellion will be crushed. The emphasis on “nothing” recalls the perspective-changing message of Isaiah 40 as well.
Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket.
All the nations are as nothing before him,
they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.[He] makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.—Isaiah 40:15, 17, 23
We struggle with putting things into perspective. We do not have a proper scale to appreciate the greatness of God. We look at the power of the nations compared to us as individuals and we think: They are impressive. They are only impressive on a human scale. If we compare them to God, we end up with a different assessment. The Bible tells us to use a different word picture. One of the things that I have to do at least once a day is empty out the tray for our de-humidifier. I take it outside and dump it out in a way that tries to water multiple hostas. The nations are not like a tray of water. They are like looking into the tray after it is empty and seeing—oh, there is actually one drop of water that didn’t come out. And then you shake it a little more. The nations are a drop in the bucket. A bug (like in the movie “A Bug’s Life”) may look at a rain drop and think it is big, but an adult does not. It is all about scale and scope and perspective.
If you know God, even in part, you will not be very impressed with the kingdoms of the world or be depressed when they seem to be winning. This section is saying the same thing as the better-known statement in Proverbs 19:21—“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.”
God is righteous as a Judge that does not overlook anything because He sees everything. That is the stress of these verses—he sees “all, all, all.”
The LORD looks down from heaven;
he sees all the children of man;
from where he sits enthroned he looks out
on all the inhabitants of the earth,
he who fashions the hearts of them all
and observes all their deeds.—Psalm 33:13–15
There is a big difference between the stress on God’s sight in verses 13–15 and God’s sight in the next four verses.
The king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
The war horse is a false hope for salvation,
and by its great might it cannot rescue.Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love,
that he may deliver their soul from death
and keep them alive in famine.—Psalm 33:16–19
The fact that the war horse is a false hope for salvation is not a new fact. Everyone knew it from the great Old Testament act of deliverance at the Exodus. Egypt had horses and chariots, but they were no match for God. There was a mighty deliverance (Exodus 14) and then a new song (Exodus 15:18–21).
“The LORD will reign forever and ever.” For when the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the people of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea. Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing. And Miriam sang to them: “Sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”—Exodus 15:18–21
In fact, I think there is a clue that the author has the exodus in mind. Psalm 33:7 says, “He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap.” Exodus 15:8 uses this identical word: “At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up; the floods stood in a heap.” Get the scale right. Horses and chariots may seem scary—like a huge freight train may seem like a fearful, unstoppable force, but compared to God it is like a toy train that is stopped by God’s shoe. He saves.
The previous verses look at God’s sight like a surveillance camera that sees everything—where everything you do wrong gets “caught on tape.” These verses look at God’s sight in a loving, saving way—like a lifeguard. It is reassuring to know that someone is there watching because he is always ready to save and rescue and deliver.
Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love,
that he may deliver their soul from death
and keep them alive in famine.—Psalm 33:18–19
We come now to point three. If we have truly seen the power of his word, the faithfulness of his plans, the perfection of his judgment, and the steadfastness of his love, we will wait for him. Worship while you wait.
Our soul waits for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.
For 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.—Psalm 33:20–22
We wait for our help and shield with glad hearts that trust in his holy name, not in horses or chariots. As we hope in God, we know his steadfast love is on us. We are still surrounded by steadfast love like in Psalm 32:10.
Application
This week I taught through the Gospel of Mark for our Campus Outreach staff team. There was one story that took on a new dimension of glory and beauty for me. I had read it multiple times, but one little observation unlocked a great deal of worship this week in Mark 7.
And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”—Mark 7:32–37
I watched again the tender way that he took the man away from the crowd in private (he was not to be a sideshow). I always wondered why he put his fingers into his ears and why he spit on his fingers and then touched the man’s tongue. He could have just said “Be opened” and it would have healed him—his ears would be opened, his tongue would be set free.
But then it dawned on me what he was doing. It wouldn’t work very well if I came up to a deaf person and tried to explain with loud words what I was about to do. Jesus is communicating in sign language. Here is what I am going to do: touch your ears (hearing) and your tongue (speaking). He also sighed deeply. He identified with the pain of this man. All the sorrow and the struggle that came from a life of not being able to hear or speak. Here is power, love, and tender attention to detail and communication.
Mark says the man had a speech impediment (μογιλάλos). That word is only used one other place in the Greek Bible: Isaiah 35. We spoke a little bit about Exodus 14 and 15 as the first Exodus. Isaiah 35 now testifies to the second exodus God is going to do.
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;
the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;
it shall blossom abundantly
and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the LORD,
the majesty of our God.Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who have an anxious heart,
“Be strong; fear not!
Behold, your God
will come with vengeance,
with the recompense of God.
He will come and save you.”Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute (μογιλάλos), sing for joy.And a highway shall be there,
and it shall be called the Way of Holiness;
the unclean shall not pass over it.And the ransomed of the LORD shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.—Isaiah 35:1–6, 8, 10
God is going to show up and do a second exodus (deliverance/ransom) and make a second path (a highway) that will lead God’s people back to the Promised Land. God appears in the flesh as Jesus the God-man. He saves the weak and humble. It is only those who know their neediness who come to Jesus for help in Mark’s Gospel. We are spiritually disabled. They are a picture of who we really are. We talked in the beginning of the sermon of feeling a deficit and discouragement because of it. Do you see yourself as lame, deaf, blind, mute, weak? Good news—you don’t have to be able to run fast enough (lame). You don’t need to hear everything (deaf), see everything (blind), say everything (mute), be able to do everything (weak, feeble). Rest in the One who can. Mark 7 is like seeing the God of Psalm 33 in the flesh on this earth. Indeed, he is. We have seen his glory.
The One who sees all, hears all, creates by speaking—calls hope and faith into existence by the word of his power. The One who has done everything it takes to save you forever. Look at how even the weakness of God displayed on the cross (Mark 15—he looks weak; others think they have overpowered him, and they are gloating over him) is the power of God—powerful enough to destroy death and forgive sin. He knew our true need—sinners in need of a Savior. He paid it all, he gave his life as a ransom for the many (Mark 10:45).
That new salvation leads to a new song in Revelation 5:9.
And they sang a new song, saying,
“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation.”—Revelation 5:9
The gospel is the power of God for salvation to all who believe. It is the gospel that helps us worship while we wait. The gospel teaches us if he didn’t spare his Son, but delivered him over for us all, how will he not with him freely give us all things (Romans 8:32)? He did the hard thing when we were enemies (didn’t hold back his Son from us even though we didn’t deserve it). Do you really think that he will fail to do the easier thing now (give to his beloved children everything we need)?
Conclusion: We Know the Captain
C.H. Spurgeon tells the story of a young boy who was out at sea during a dangerous storm. The passengers were all frightened and at their wits’ end, but the boy was not disturbed at all. He was cheerful. The others asked him “for a reason for the hope that was in him.” He replied that the captain of the ship was his father and he knew his father would take care of him.
That is the reason for the hope that is within us. Others may see the storm, but we see the captain. We know who he is and what he says and what he does and we know he cares. We know he will take us safely through. Jesus is our bridegroom. He has not abandoned his bride. He will come and will make all things new. We see the mess of this world and the storm of this life, but we also see the power and love of our Savior and so we wait and hope and cry out all the more loudly, “Even so, come.”
Closing Song: “Even So Come”
Sermon Discussion Questions
Outline
Main Point: If we truly know Him, then we will truly worship Him and wait for Him.
The outline shows the relationship between who God is (theology) and our response (doxology). The Psalm begins and ends with our response (worshipping and waiting). Those responses are built upon the foundation of truly knowing God in his fullness (cause for worship). The life of worship and waiting is built upon the word and ways of God.
Discussion Questions
Application Questions
Prayer Focus
Pray for a grace to worship and wait with fresh, renewed, rejuvenated hope and joy.