He Commands the Oceans (Psalm 33)

He Commands the Oceans
Psalm 33

INTRODUCTION:
Why do you worship God?

Why are you here this morning?

“After being an employee at a 24/7 restaurant, Chick-fil-A’s founder, Truett Cathy, was all too familiar with working long and frequent hours. So when he debuted the first Chick-Fil-A location in Hapeville, Georgia in 1946, he made a mandate that his brand would be closed on Sundays to allow employees time to rest, recharge, and worship if they desire, according to the brand’s website.” Walsh goes on to point out that Chick-fil-A makes this choice despite it causing an estimated loss of $1.2 billion per year” (Karla Walsh, “The Real Reason Why Chick-fil-A Is Closed on Sundays,” Southern Living, April 13, 2024).

Today we will look at the second psalm out of the 6 that we will study this year… Psalm 33, which is a call to worship. Why should we worship God? Let’s feed our spirit on this psalm. We do not know who wrote the psalm but based on our point from Hebrews 3 last week, we are safe to say that the Holy Spirit is the author of the psalm.

One thing I want to point out is that the verbs in this psalm are all in the plural. That shows us that the writer is addressing his thoughts to many people - the whole nation of Israel.

WHO SHOULD WORSHP - 33:1:
Compare this verse with the last verse of chapter 32. Chapter 32 was written by David after he had committed adultery with Bathsheba and killed her husband and Nathan the prophet rebuked David for his sin. So in 32:11, David writes: “Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones; and shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.”

Notice again in this verse that the writer addresses the “righteous ones.” These are people who have done what God tells them to do to be holy and right in His eyes. These are the ones who are “upright.”

It is fitting and appropriate, when we look at these two psalms together, to see how “becoming” (the Hebrew word can mean “lovely”) it is for the upright to worship God! Why should we worship God? Because we are forgiven! Because we are “righteous.” We have experienced God’s grace and we cannot thank Him enough; we cannot worship Him enough.

In Psalm 100:3, the psalmist said, “We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.”

I also want to point out that the verbs in verses 1-3, all six, are plural verbs. The psalmist is calling the whole nation to come together to worship. Once again, Christianity is not a stay-at-home religion, as we saw last week from Hebrews 3. God wants us to get together and worship together.

When we grasp what a horrible predicament we were in and God saved us from that… then there’s never going to be any fuss about coming to worship God! We can’t worship God enough.

HOW SHOULD WE WORSHIP - 33:2-4:
Under the Law, the Israelites worshipped God with instruments and with voices. God commanded David to add instruments of music to worship (2 Chronicles 29:25). He has not commanded us to do that in the New Covenant.

Notice these voices were joyful voices. The writer mentions the “shout of joy” twice, once in verse 1 and once in verse 3. We will worship joyfully if and when we worship from the heart.

The expression “new song” is used nine times in the Bible. I believe this “new song” concept is the idea that once we realize we have been forgiven of our sins, we worship God with new energy and renewed vitality. The content of the song might be new - the “new song” in the book of Revelation focuses on the salvation we have in Jesus Christ - but it could also be the newness of the song to our own hearts because we are reminded we are saved.

Notice in verse 4 that the writer says we should worship God in joy because (“for”) the word of the Lord is upright (the same word used to describe worshippers in verse 1), and His work is done in “faithfulness.” How should we worship?

We should worship with the word of the Lord front and center in our lives - His commands, His threats, His promises, and His works. One of the verses from the NT that we use to show that we should sing in worship begins with the command: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Col. 3:16). The word of God should be front and center in our lives and so should God’s “faithfulness.” His faithfulness should be at the heart of our hearts when we worship.

When we pray, we pray because God is faithful.
When we give, we give because God is faithful.
When we observe the Lord’s Supper, we do it because we know God is faithful.
When we sing, we do so because God is faithful.

WHY SHOULD WE WORSHIP - 33:5-19:
The writer elaborates in this longest paragraph on why we should worship God…

Because of God’s creation (33:5-7):
When you know the word of God, you can be better acquainted with the God of the word. You can know something about God from nature; you can know something about God from looking at Jesus; but it takes the entire word of God - including nature and Jesus - show us the complete nature of God, at least as much as our finite minds can grasp.

Verse 5 - He is righteous; He “loves” righteousness - that’s referring to people who live righteously.
Verse 5 - He loves justice.
Verse 5 - the lovingkindness of Jehovah

We should always keep in mind the character of the God whom we worship. We should also keep in mind His works…

Verse 6 - The creative powers of God
Verse 7 - His powerful control over nature

Because of God’s plans (33:8-11):
Verse 8 - We should fear God and stand in awe of His awesome presence and power and personality.
Verse 9 - Still referring to the creation, the writer says that God spoke and the creation happened. Genesis 1 is not the only passage that teaches God created the world out of nothing.
Verse 10 - God controls the nations. If God chooses to “nullify” the efforts of nations who abuse His people, God has the ability to do that. See Acts 5:38-39. God can frustrate the plans of people who fight against His will and His own people - like God did with Saul of Tarsus.

Why should we worship God…?

Verse 11 - God’s wisdom, His counsel, stands forever. The plans that God has to bless His people exist and are powerfully fulfilled in generation after generation. The will of God comes from the heart of God so we should never be afraid or ashamed of how God deals with us as Christians.

Because of God’s Nature (33:12-15):

Verse 12 - The nation whose God is the Lord - which was Israel under the Old Covenant and the church of Christ under the New Covenant - is blessed. We are the people who belong to Him.

Verses 13-14 - God sees everything. These next few verses are all expressions of God’s care for us.
Verse 15 - God knows everything.

Because of God’s Faithfulness (33:16-19):
Verses 16-17 - God is all-powerful. These two verses reflect Israel’s military. A king is not saved by an army. A warrior is not delivered by strength. A horse - a military horse - is a false hope for victory. Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength. You have to trust in God’s power. And that’s why you worship Him. When God saved Israel from the Egyptian army at the Red Sea, the only “weapon” in anyone’s hand was the rod in Moses’ hand and he did not use that as a weapon! When Joshua and Israel took Jericho, the only weapons in their hands were torches and ceramic pitchers and they did not use those as weapons.

Verse 18 - God watches out for those who fear Him; here is the second time (ver. 8) the author has mentioned the fear of the Lord. The eye of the Lord is on those who “hope” or wait for the Lord’s lovingkindness to be revealed.

Verse 19 - God’s lovingkindness will be revealed at the right time, in the right way, to deliver the soul of those who fear God and hope in Him, to deliver them from death and to keep them alive in the time of famine.

That’s why you and I should worship God! Because of Who He is and what He does.

Why should we worship God? Because He cares for us!

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE WORSHIP - 33:20-22:
What happens when we do worship God?

When our soul waits for the Lord, He becomes our help and our shield - ver. 20.

Our heart rejoices in Him (cf. verses 1, 3). We trust in His holy name as representative of Who He is.

So when we worship, we call for God’s lovingkindness to be upon us, consistent with our hope in Him. Notice in verses 21-22 that we have reference to “faith, hope, and love.” Our hope in Christ will never disappoint us (Rom. 5:5).

When we come to worship, we are not interested just in leaving, feeling good about ourselves. Feelings are temporary and they are sometimes deceptive. What we need to do, is leave here loving God more and loving each other more and having a stronger faith in God’s promises and a deeper appreciation for Jesus and hope in Him, and going into our battle in life with more confidence and joy. If that is the case, then our worship has accomplished much good.

Take home message: Let us lift our voices in praise and bow our hearts in awe before the Lord.