AI-generated featured image, narration, and rendition of the 33rd Psalm
There is only one reason why we exist. In the beginning, God created us. And the reason God created us is so that we might worship Him. Some people might find that off-putting—offensive. I have heard people accuse God of being egotistical for wanting to be worshipped. And just to be clear, Jesus once told a Samaritan woman that God was looking for people to worship Him. That is pretty amazing, don’t you think?
But really, who doesn’t want to be recognized and appreciated for their work? And when we talk about God, we are his work. Everything is. So, the opening stanza of the 33rd Psalm appropriately states: “Shout joyfully, you righteous ones, because of Jehovah. It is fitting for the upright to praise him.”
It is most fitting, especially since God has done so much for mankind since the fall of man in Eden. Not only has Jehovah made provisions for rescuing mankind out of death, out from the clutches of Satan, but he has gone further. Had Adam and Eve not disobeyed God, no one of humanity would have ever seen God. But because of His largeheartedness, God has arranged to bring some humans into His presence in heaven. That is where, as immortal spirits, the 144,000 will praise God as he has never before been honored. A new song is what they will sign—something never before heard in heaven or anywhere else.
David hinted at this when he wrote: “Give thanks to Jehovah with the harp; sing praises to him with a ten-stringed instrument. Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, along with shouts of joy. For the word of Jehovah is upright, and everything he does is trustworthy. He loves righteousness and justice. The earth is filled with Jehovah’s loyal love.” (2-4)
Of course, angels do not strum literal harps or instruments of string. Those are only things we are familiar with because humans cannot possibly comprehend the spirit world. But we can be sure that whatever form the new song takes, it will be wonderful.
When we think about it, humans cannot create anything. All we can do is build things and use what has already been made. Even when a new life comes into existence, it is a result of procreation—a process God set into motion. What that means is that there is only one true Creator. Thus, the Psalmist appropriately recognizes this fact: “By the word of Jehovah the heavens were made, and by the spirit of his mouth everything in them. He gathers the seawaters like a dam; He puts the surging waters in storehouses. Let the whole earth fear Jehovah. Let the inhabitants of the productive land be in awe of him. For he spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm.” (6-9)
Although people may imagine God is uninterested and uninvolved in what goes on down here, the inspired psalmist revealed otherwise: “Jehovah has frustrated the schemes of the nations; He has thwarted the plans of the peoples. But the decisions of Jehovah will stand forever; the thoughts of his heart are from generation to generation.”
The Bible record gives one instance when God frustrated the satanic scheme of Nimrod to build a tower. It was not just a building plan that God thwarted. God commanded the offspring of Noah to spread out and fill the earth. Satan had other plans. He devised a scheme to enslave mankind while they were all in one location under the tyranny of a strongman. No doubt that regime was intended to last even after Nimrod’s passing. Jehovah thwarted that scheme by performing an incredible miracle. He confused mankind’s languages.
We cannot know if and how God may have intervened in the modern world. I suspect, though, God had something to do with thwarting the Nazi plan to subjugate Europe. Perhaps even the demise of the communist USSR. Most Americans do not realize that the US was almost overthrown by a coup during the 30s. Like Trump, Roosevelt also survived an assassination attempt. He prosecuted the bankers, the “economic royalists,” FDR called them, who had orchestrated the Stock Market crash of 1929 and brought on the Great Depression. Ultimately, though, as the hour of judgment nears, God will thwart the plans of the patriots to save their nations from the tyrants. It is Jehovah’s decision to allow for a short-lived last king who will rule with an iron fist and seek foremost to coerce Jehovah’s worshippers into bowing before him.
The Psalm provides a good reminder for us, especially when the times of trouble come upon us: “No king is saved by a large army; a mighty man is not saved by his great power. The horse is a false hope for salvation; Its great strength does not ensure escape.” (16-17)
True Christians are waiting expectantly for the return of Christ. The coming of the Son of Man will set off a spasm of unprecedented violence and tribulation. Jesus warned there would be war, food shortages, pandemics, and great earthquakes. People will seek to kill us. It is coming.
Appropriately, David concludes his song, singing: “Look! The eye of Jehovah watches over those fearing him, those waiting for his loyal love, to rescue them from death and to keep them alive during famine. We are in expectation of Jehovah. He is our helper and our shield. Our hearts rejoice in him, for we trust in his holy name. May your loyal love rest upon us, O Jehovah, while we keep waiting for you.”