PSALM 33

Many Christians go to the Psalms to find comfort since the psalmists have a way of echoing the various feelings we have as we go through life. But it is selling the psalms short to think that they are only the uncontrolled outpourings of some overly emotional authors. Although they may very well speak to our emotions, the composition of each one of these is done quite carefully, as is the compilation of the entire Psalter. I have demonstrated the latter fact in my post titled “Psalms: Introduction to the Literary Structure.”

But before even going into the individual verses within Psalm 33, there are first some general items to discuss. Anderson alludes to two of the most perplexing overall issues when he states, “Some scholars have seen a connection between the twenty-two verses of this Psalm and the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet...yet this similarity may be more of a coincidence than a deliberate feature of the style. The Psalm has no title, but LXX [the Greek version] attributes it to David. This may be either a later addition, or it could have been accidentally omitted from M.T. [the accepted Hebrew text].”

Concerning the first point, Baigent agrees: “There is no evidence that the twenty-two verses were intended to correspond to the twenty-two letters of the Heb. alphabet (cf. Ps. 34).” What both Anderson and Baigent are referring to is the fact that in other places in the Old Testament, such as Psalm 94, poems are structured as alphabetical acrostics in which each of the 22 verses in the composition starts with a consecutive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

But not all scholars agree, and it does seem rather a coincidence that the very next psalm in the collection (Ps. 34) is a true alphabetic acrostic, even though Ps. 33 does not contain that same regular progression of letters, and thus would be classified as a non-alphabetic acrostic. To me the deciding factor in favor of using that last label for our psalm in question comes from considering the overall structure of Psalms 1-41, often called Davidic Psalms due to the authorship assigned to 39 of them.

Figure 1: Structure of Psalms 1-41

A. Introduction (Ps. 1-2)

B. Seven Psalms of David, ending in an acrostic (Ps. 3-9)

C. Bridge (Ps. 10)

D. Psalms of David (Ps. 11-32)

C'. Bridge (Ps. 33)

B'. Seven Psalms of David, beginning with an acrostic (Ps. 34-40)

A'. Conclusion (Ps. 41)

Note the strong correspondences between the parallel psalms 10 and 33: (1) They are the only two in that collection which are not assigned to David in their superscriptions. (2) And whereas Psalm 10 is an incomplete alphabetic acrostic, Psalm 33 is, as I have stated, a non-alphabetic acrostic. As to the bridging function mentioned in Figure 1, Ps. 33 shares connections with both psalms 32 and 34.

M'Caw and Motyer note that Ps. 33 “picks up part of the concluding sentence of the previous psalm, but unlike it, is not a personal record of experience. It is a corporate expression of praise and worship marked by balance of thought and symmetrical structure.” More on that last thought below.

Holladay also remarks that Ps. 33 “seems to have had a peculiar relaton to Psalm 32 (one notes the likeness of 32:11 and 33:1).”

And, as mentioned earlier, Pss. 33 and 34 share an alphabetic connection.

These two commentators also provide some very helpful hints in constructing the organization of Psalm 33:

1. “The introduction (vv. 1-3) and the conclusion (vv. 20-22) are clearly distinguished from the body of the poem.”

2. “In the body of the psalm are two sections, vv. 4-12 and vv. 13-19, the first of which deals with God the Ruler, and the second with God the Judge.”

3. “Throughout all, He is faithful and steadfast to what He has spoken.” (vv. 4-5) And the same idea reappears in vv. 18-19: “The fundamental principle is simply that of the Lord's faithfulness.”

Supplementing the above three observations are the following: “steadfast love” appears in vv. 5 and 18; “heaven(s)” occurs in vv. 6-9 as well as vv. 13-15; and vv. 10-12 and 16-17 convey the thought that the nations and rulers by themselves are helpless.

Putting all these similarities together, it is extremely easy to reconstruct the overall symmetrical organization of this psalm, contra Jacobson's comment, “The structure of the poem is debated.”

                                                Figure 2: The Structure of Psalm 33

    A. Introduction (vv. 1-3)

            B. God's Faithfulness (vv. 4-5)

                    C. God as Creator (vv. 6-9)

                            D. The Helplessness of Nations (vv. 10-12)

                    C'. God as Creator (vv. 13-15)

                            D'. The Helplessness of Rulers (vv. 16-17)

            B'. God's faithfulness (vv. 18-19)

    A'. Conclusion (vv. 20-22)

The division into the above sub-units finds some confirmation in the scholarly literature. Thus, Anderson breaks the psalm into five units: verses 1-3 (A), 4-9 (B-C), 10-12 (D), 13-19 (C'-D'-B'), and 20-22 (A'). The RSV comes up with a slightly different combination of the groupings in Figure 2: vv. 1-3 (A), vv. 4-5 (B), vv. 6-7 (first half of C), vv. 8-9 (last half of C), vv. 10-12 (D), vv. 13-17 (C'-D'), vv. 18-19 (B'), and vv. 20-22 (A').

In addition, Freedman has done an extensive analysis of the number of syllables and stresses in each section of this psalm. Of most interest are the following results:

Verses         Section in Figure 2     # of Syllables     # of Stresses

1-3                 A                                  18                      48

20-22             A'                                 19                      49

4-5                 B                                  13                      32

18-19             B'                                 11                       32

Note how well the first two and last two sections of Figure 2 match up in this regard.

With all that as introduction, here are a few select comments relating to the individual sections:

Section A

Holladay: “binginot...is found in the superscriptions of Psalms 4, 6, 54, 55, 67, and 76. The NRSV rightly translates 'with stringed instruments, ' that is, various types of lyres or harps (compare 33:2-3).”

Regarding v. 3, Ryken asks, “Why does the psalmist command us to 'sing a new song' to the Lord? Don't the old songs express the truth adequately? They do, but they also gradually lose their power through sheer repetition and familiarity.”

However, Anderson says, “The reference to the 'new song' (verse 3) is occasionally taken to mean that it was intended for the ritual of the renewal of creation at the turn of the year, but it could also be linked with the renewal of the Covenant.”

Section B

“'He loves righteousness and justice'; i.e. loves to perform righteous and just deeds (cf. 99:4; Jer. 9:24). This may also imply that God is concerned both to do and to uphold righteousness and justice. 'Righteousness' (sedakah) is a term of relationships denoting that kind of conduct which serves to maintain the established ties.” (Anderson)

Section C

In regard to verse 6, “The psalm's emphasis on creation is unique, as Diane Jacobson notes, because 'it alone among all the psalms, speaks of God's creation by word.'” (R. Jacobson)

Baigent explains that verse 7 “could refer to the waters above the sky-vault (Gen. 1:7) poetically viewed as an ocean, or to the separation of waters from dry land (Gen. 1:9f; 7:11; Ps. 78:15). Some see the reference to Yahweh's mastery over the primordial sea...”

Section D

The Greek Septuagint adds to the conclusion of v. 10, “and he rejects the plots of princes.”

In verse 12, “the relationship between God and the people is stressed rather than any particular quality of the people. The nation is not even named! It is not called Israel, merely the nation whose God is the LORD. The point scored, again, is that it is the relationship with God that defines the people – the people do not author their own identity. They are those who have been chosen (bahar).” (Jacobson)

Section C'

Anderson states, “Yahweh is not an 'absentee landlord', but he is acquainted with everything that goes on in his world. Being the creator of all, he rules over all, and sees all...God, being the creator of men's minds, is the only one who knows what is in the heart of man (i.e. what determines his actions), and therefore he is able to judge between appearance and reality (cf. I Kg. 3:9).”

Section D'

Jacobson notes that in this section, “the theme changes to 'what saves,' or perhaps better, 'in whom can one trust?'...The theme of what saves is introduced with the stark declaration: 'There is no king who is saved by the greatness of his army.' The force here is dual – both that armies and military might cannot save, so trust not in their empty promises, and that kings themselves, mortal men, cannot save....the king is cast as the leader who in turn needs a leader, the king who in turn needs a lord – the Lord. The term saved (yasa) does not refer to spiritual, eschatological salvation, but to deliverance from earthly threats. That term, along with two synonyms, occurs a total of five times in...vv. 16-7.”

Section B'

Towner notes the similarity between I Timothy 3:11 ('what persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from them all') and Ps. 33:18b,20. He adds, “The theme of 'deliverance' begins in Ps 33:5, but Paul seems to have made his entrance at the point where it is applied specifically to the Lord's intervention on behalf of 'the righteous' in 33:18-20. Thus he makes explicit his interest in a theology of suffering built on the OT theme of the righteous sufferer.”

Section A'

The word nepes “refers to the total human being in both physical and psychological manifestations ...The word may be used not only of the will of an individual but of the will of the whole community: in Ps. 33:20 we read, 'Our nepes waits for Yahweh; he is our help and shield.” (Holladay)