Psalms 33:12-22

12 ¹Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has ²chosen as his heritage!

13 The LORD ³looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man;

14 from ⁴where he sits enthroned he ⁵looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth,

15 he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds.

16 ⁶The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.

17 ⁷The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue.

18 Behold, ⁸the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, ⁹on those who hope in his steadfast love,

19 that he may ¹⁰deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in ¹¹famine.

20 Our soul ¹²waits for the LORD; he is our ¹³help and ¹⁴our shield.

21 For our heart is ¹⁵glad in him, because we ¹⁶trust in his holy name.

22 Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you.

Psalms 33:12-22 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 33

Though this psalm has no title to it, it seems to be a psalm of David, from the style and matter of it; and indeed begins with the same words with which the preceding psalm is ended. Theodoret is of opinion it was written by David as a prophecy concerning Hezekiah, as a song to be sung by the people after the destruction of the Assyrian army.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 144:15; Deuteronomy 33:29
• 2. Psalms 65:4; Deuteronomy 7:6; [Exodus 19:5]
• 3. Job 28:24; See Psalms 11:4
• 4. 1 Kgs. 8:39, 43, 49
• 5. [Proverbs 15:3; Jeremiah 32:19]
• 6. [Psalms 44:6]
• 7. Psalms 20:7; Psalms 147:10; Proverbs 21:31; Hosea 1:7
• 8. Psalms 34:15; Job 36:7; 1 Peter 3:12
• 9. Psalms 147:11
• 10. [Acts 12:11]
• 11. Psalms 37:19; Job 5:20
• 12. Psalms 62:1, 5; Psalms 130:6; Isaiah 8:17
• 13. Psalms 115:9-11
• 14. See Psalms 3:3
• 15. Zechariah 10:7; See Psalms 9:14
• 16. See Psalms 11:1