Psalms 33:1

PSALM 33

A NEW SONG OF PRAISE TO GOD

"This is the last of the four Psalms in Book I that have no title, the others being, Psalms 1; Psalms 2, and Psalms 10."[1] Of course, such an omission is the best excuse on earth for the denial of the Davidic authorship of the psalm and for declaring it to have, "A post-exilic date."[2]

To be sure, it must be admitted that a definite uncertainty clouds the question of who wrote the Psalm; but we believe that David wrote it for these reasons:

(1) It is definitely ascribed to David in the LXX, published about 250 B.C., a full century prior to the "Maccabean period in which some date it."[3]

(2) For ages, it has been included with the other Davidic Psalms in Book I.

(3) We have the first mention here of instruments of music being used in the worship of God; and that was David's error. It is hardly reasonable to suppose that anyone except David would have done such a thing and then have written a psalm about it. (See a full discussion of this in Vol. 1 of my minor prophets series of commentaries, pp. 163-169,180-182.)

(4) The downgrading of such military devices as the "horse" (Psalms 33:17) would hardly have occurred at any time after Solomon's acquisition of 40,000 horses as the pride of his military machine, indicating that the psalm was very probably written in the times of David.

The general organization of this psalm was outlined by Maclaren as: "The first three verses are a prelude, and the last three are a conclusion."[4] The central mass (Psalms 33:4-19) falls into two divisions, (1) praise for the creative power of God as Creator of all things, and (2) His creative power with reference to salvation. We shall also observe subdivisions of these two parts.

PRELUDE

Psalms 33:1-3

"Rejoice in Jehovah, O ye righteous:

Praise is comely for the upright.

Give thanks unto Jehovah with the harp:

Sing praises unto him with the psaltery of ten strings.

Sing unto him a new song;

Play skillfully with a loud noise."

"Praise is comely for the upright" (Psalms 33:1). This means simply that it is becoming of righteous people to praise their God and Redeemer. The paraphrase of this in the Book of Common Prayer is, "For it becometh well the just to be thankful."[5]

"Rejoice ... Praise ..." (Psalms 33:1). "The response of the righteous to the goodness of God takes the form of public worship."[6] We believe that this is always true. The people who love God and seek his favor are always the people who attend public worship.

"Give thanks unto Jehovah with the harp" (Psalms 33:2). This was David's favorite musical instrument; and right here he first proposed the use of it in the worship of God, an action for which God's prophet Amos most certainly announced God's disapproval of it. See notes above.

"Sing unto him a new song" (Psalms 33:3). In all probability, these words designate this psalm as "new"; and we may inquire, `How is it new'? "To any one who has (in the preceding Psalms) been traveling through the heights and depths, the storms and sunny gleams, its sorrows for sin and rejoicing from forgiveness, this Psalm is indeed a new song."[7] It is exclusively a song of praise and rejoicing.

"Play skillfully with a loud noise" (Psalms 33:3). Some modern translators love to inject instrumental music into as many passages of the Old Testament as possible; and, in keeping with that intention, the RSV renders this place, "Play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts." "The words on the strings are not in the Hebrew text."[8] The words were simply added to the sacred text by the translators!

"The righteous ... the upright" (Psalms 33:1). These are not `perfect people,' or `sinless souls' who are called to worship. "They are the worshipping congregation of believers in God who acknowledge themselves to be God's Covenant people."[9] Some of God's enemies openly sneer at people who "only go to church"; but this is a good place to say that there is nothing that Christians can do as witness of their obedient faith that exceeds the importance of regular attendance at public worship. "Church attendance," despite all the derogatory things sometimes said about it, is still the grand "separator" between the wicked and the righteous. It was true of old; it is still true.