Psalms 33:12 - Meaning and Application

We are taught here to give God the glory for his common care over all people. Though he has given humans understanding and free will, he still keeps the rule over them, even over the powers that let them govern themselves. The children of men are all under his eye, and so are their hearts. He knows the thoughts and movements of the soul better than people know them themselves (Psalm 33:13-14).

God’s glory is in the highest heavens, but from there he sees all the earth. He does more than notice people, he watches them closely. Even the smallest thought cannot escape him. Atheists may think that, because God lives in heaven, he cannot or will not pay attention to this lower world. But from that high place he sees us all, and all people and things are open before him.

Their hearts, as well as their times, are in his hand. He formed their hearts when he first made them, and he formed the spirit of each person within them. That is why he is called the Father of spirits, and it also shows why he knows them perfectly. The maker of a clock can explain how every wheel moves. In the same way, God still shapes human hearts and turns them as he chooses, to carry out his own purposes. He can darken or brighten understanding, and he can harden or soften the will.

He who shapes hearts makes them alike in this sense. There is great variety among people, just as no two faces are exactly the same and no two hearts are exactly the same in temper. Yet there is also a likeness among them, as water reflects face back to face (Proverbs 27:19). Some readers take the phrase to mean that he shapes them together. Like the different parts of a watch, which are made in different shapes and sizes but work together for one purpose, so human hearts and temperaments, though they differ and seem to oppose one another, are still ruled to serve God’s one purpose.

People and all that they do are also open to his judgment. He does not merely know their works, he weighs them, so that he may give each person according to what he has done, in the day of judgment and forever.

All creaturely power depends on him and is worth nothing without him (Psalm 33:16-17). This greatly honors God, because no power can act apart from him, and no power can stand against him unless he allows it. The strength of a king is nothing without God. No king is made safe by royal privilege or office, because all rulers hold their authority from God, and he makes them what they are, and no more. David was a king and a man of war from his youth, yet he owned God as his only protector and Savior.

The strength of an army is nothing without God. A large host cannot keep its people safe unless God makes it a protection to them. A great army cannot be sure of victory, because when God wills it, one man can chase a thousand. The strength of a giant is nothing without God. A mighty man like Goliath is not rescued by his great strength when his time to fall has come. His strong body and bold mind will not help him unless God gives success. So let the strong man not boast in his strength. Let us all strengthen ourselves in the Lord our God, and go forward in his strength.

The strength of a horse is nothing without God (Psalm 33:17). In war, horses were then highly valued, and people depended on them so much that God forbade Israel’s kings to multiply horses (Deuteronomy 17:16), lest they trust in them and stop depending on him. David hamstrung the horses of the Syrians (2 Samuel 8:4); here he shows the emptiness of all horses by calling a horse a vain thing for safety in battle. If a war horse is wild and badly handled, he may rush his rider into danger instead of carrying him out of danger. If he is killed under him, he may bring death instead of saving life. So it is wise to make sure of God’s favor, and then we can be sure his power is for us, and we need not fear anything against us.

We are also to give God the glory for his special grace. In the middle of praising God’s rule over the world, the psalmist says that those are blessed who have the Lord as their God, because he rules the world and can help them in every need. But those were miserable who had this god or that Baal as their god, because such false gods were helpless and unable to hear or save (Psalm 33:12). Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, especially Israel, who knew the true God and were brought into covenant with him, and all others who own God as their God and are owned by him. They also, whatever nation they belong to, are part of Abraham’s spiritual family.

It is their wisdom to take the Lord as their God, giving honor and worship where it truly belongs and where it will not be wasted. It is their happiness that they are the people God has chosen for his own inheritance, the people he is pleased with and honored by, the people he protects and cares for, and the people he cultivates and improves as a man tends his own inheritance (Deuteronomy 32:9). To the honor of divine grace, we should notice God’s care for his people (Psalm 33:18-19). God watches all people with careful attention, but his favor rests on those who fear him. He looks on them with delight, like a father on his children or a bridegroom on his bride (Isaiah 62:5).

Those who trust in arms, armies, chariots, and horses may be disappointed and fail. But God’s people are safe under his protection, because he will deliver their soul from death when it seems close at hand. If he does not deliver the body from temporal death, he will deliver the soul from spiritual and eternal death. Their souls, whatever happens, will live and praise him, either in this world or in a better one. From his generosity they will receive all that they need.

He will keep them alive in famine. When others die for lack, they will live, and that will be a clear sign of God’s mercy. When outward means fail, God will still find some way to provide for them. The psalm does not say he will give them plenty, for they have no reason to expect or even desire that here. It says he will keep them alive, so they will not starve. When God’s judgments are sweeping through the earth, to have life preserved is a great favor, and a striking one. It gives us a special reason to thank him, because he has given us our lives as plunder taken from death.

Those who have the Lord as their God will find him to be their help and their shield (Psalms 33:20). In trouble, he will help them through it and carry them over it. In danger, he will protect them so that they suffer no real harm. This is a great comfort for God’s people, and it should shape our own view of him too.

We must wait for God. That means watching how his providence, his wise rule over our lives, is moving, and fitting ourselves to it with patience. Our souls must wait for him (Psalms 33:20). We should not only speak of trusting God with our lips, but also give him inward, quiet attention from the heart. True waiting is sincere and still.

We must also rely on God and hope in his mercy, in the goodness of his nature, even when we do not have a direct promise for a particular need. Those who fear God and fear his wrath must also hope in his mercy, because there is no escape from God except by running to him. These two graces belong together, holy fear and hopeful trust. That is what it means to trust in his holy name (Psalms 33:21), that is, to trust in all the ways he has made himself known for our good and for our encouragement to serve him.

We must rejoice in God (Psalms 33:21). Those who truly rest in him will rejoice in him at all times, because they know the great blessing they have in doing so. They are looking forward to an eternal fullness of joy in his presence. That hope should already fill their hearts with gladness now.

We must also seek from him the mercy we hope for (Psalms 33:22). Hoping in God should not make us less eager to pray, it should make us more eager. He will be sought for the things he has promised. So the psalm ends with a short but full prayer: “Let your mercy, O Lord, be on us, as we hope in you.” That means, let us always enjoy the comfort and help of your mercy, not according to what we deserve, but according to what we expect from your promise, and according to the faith your Spirit and grace have worked in us. If, while singing these verses, we really depend on God and set our desires toward him, we are making melody to the Lord with our hearts.