October 7 - Psalm 33

October 7 - Psalm 33:1-22

Psalm 33:1-3 is a glorious call to praise. Sing a new song! Sing a song that you have never sung before. Make music with instruments and with your voice. What is a ten-stringed lyre? It's a hand-harp. The strings were stretched over a wooden frame. Each string was tuned to a different pitch. One hand plucked the strings while the other silenced the unused strings. The first time the lyre (Hebrew: nebel) is mentioned in scripture is in I Samuel 10:5. The harp (Hebrew: kinnore) is more like a three-stringed lute. That is the instrument that David used to sooth Saul's soul in I Samuel 16:14-23.

I find Psalm 33:3 interesting because it calls for the musician to play skillfully and shout for joy. While I understand the necessity to bring everyone into worship without regard to technical ability, it seems that David is calling for the musical leaders to do their job with a level of excellence. God did not offer us his mundane and mediocre, we should offer back no less than our very best.

Psalm 33:4-11 give us the reasons behind this extraordinary praise that David is calling forth: truth, faithfulness, God's love of righteouness and justice. He then gets to creation itself. In Psalm 33:6 we read that 'by the word of the Lord...' What else do you know about the Word of the Lord. I'll take you to John 1:1-3. The Word was with God at Creation. It's incredible that these words are such an integral part of Hebrew teaching, yet they did not recognize the Word when He came to earth in the form of man.

The assurance of Psalm 33:11 is that God's plans stand forever. Nothing we do can alter His plans. We can't surprise Him, we can't stop Him.

This knowledge goes with us as we read Psalm 33:12-19. You have to know that as I study Scripture, I get very excited about the way that God has tied the entire Bible together. As an author who regularly attempts to write fiction, I find it very difficult to remember all of the parts and pieces I wrote in the first chapter to keep a cohesive story line going through the 8th or 9th chapter. I also get really annoyed with the lack of cohesion in a movie or television series. They pay people big money to keep track of all of the small details. But, over the course of thousands of years, millions of people, and many words, the Bible is still a cohesive unit.

This Psalm showed us The Word (John 1:1 says the Word is Jesus Christ). We find that the Lord has plans that are eternal. And as I read Psalm 33:12-19, I was reminded of the final book in the Bible. By the time we get to the final battle (Rev. 19:11-21), all of the kings of earth come out to meet Jesus Christ for battle. Before any battle can occur, it is over. The Word, Jesus Christ, is the final victor.

When David wrote these words, He wrote them because He trusted that God spoke truth. When John wrote the words of the Revelation, He wrote them because He trusted that God spoke and showed Him the truth. Yet neither of these men had been exposed to the final scene in the story.

David ended Psalm 33 with the words, "We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.

As you finish today, read Psalm 33:20-22. It's easy to believe that we are fully in control. It's easy to forget that God is actually working to bring together His plan. It feels like we are screwing everything up and that God won't be able to move unless we do something.

That kind of ownership is stressful. That's not what God wants for us. Make these three verses a foundation for your life. Hope in the Lord. He's got it.