Praise Befits The Upright

Please take your Bibles and let's open them up this morning to the book of Psalms and we have made our way to Psalm chapter 33 this morning.

Psalms 33 · chapter mention

Now we're continuing our summer series through the book of Psalms and we are again in Psalm 33 this morning. And so when you found that let's stand in honor of the reading of God's word if you're able physically to stand, stand together.

Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous. Praise befits the upright. Give thanks to the Lord with a lyre. Make melody to Him with a harp of ten strings. Sing to Him a new song. Play skillfully on the strings with loud shouts.

For the word of the Lord is upright and all His work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice. The earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made and by the breath of His mouth all their host. He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap. He puts the deeps in storehouses.

Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke and it came to be. He commanded and it stood firm.

The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever. The plans of His heart to all generations.

Blessed is the nations. Blessed is the nations whose God is the Lord. The people whom He has chosen as His heritage.

The Lord looks down from heaven. He sees all the children of man. From where He sits enthroned He looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth.

He who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds. The king is not saved by His great army. A warrior is not delivered by His great strength.

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

Behold the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him. On those who hope in His steadfast love.

That He may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine.

Our soul waits for the Lord. For He is our help and our shield.

For our heart is glad in Him because we trust in His holy name.

Let Your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us.

Even as we hope in You.

The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord endures forever.

Would you pray with me one more time as we prepare to hear the preaching of God's word?

Father, there are so many reasons here in this psalm that ought to compel our hearts to give You praise.

And so we pray, Lord, would You take those reasons and put them into our ears and through our minds and into our hearts.

And then out through our mouths.

And out into our steps and our hands and our feet as we go out of this place.

Living for Your glory and singing Your praises.

We pray that You would do that for Your honor and Your name's sake.

We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

You may be seated.

Amen.

Amen.

I have to confess to you that every now and then a strange phenomenon happens in my life.

And I hear that it gets even worse with age, which is bad news for me.

But a strange phenomenon happens where I will go to a store.

I will park the car.

I will get out.

I will walk right in.

And then I will go to get what I need.

And I will realize I have no idea why I am there.

I know that in general.

I'm at a grocery store, so probably I need to buy groceries, right?

That much is clear.

But exactly what I need, exactly why I've come, sometimes I've got to confess that part is a little bit fuzzy.

And if I didn't have my wife to remind me or even sometimes my boys to remind me or even just my smartphone to remind me,

I confess to you that I would be helpless.

It's a strange phenomenon, isn't it?

But I think that it's not just me, right?

In fact, I think that's fairly common.

In fact, I would be willing to bet that at this very moment in grocery stores all across the world,

there are people wondering why they are where they are.

But, you know, it's interesting.

I would also be willing to bet that that same phenomenon is also happening in churches all across the world at this very moment.

It may be happening right here, right now.

It may be happening to you right now.

And for whatever reason, maybe you're so busy with the events of your week,

maybe distracted by what seems like more pressing matters in your mind or preoccupied with other things,

that you have forgotten why you are here in the first place.

So you should know that you're not alone.

This is very common.

And this is one of the many reasons why I'm so thankful for the book of Psalms.

You know, the book of Psalms.

It functions, it often acts as a reminder for forgetful people like us.

And it gives voice and expression to what we ought to feel and what we ought to say

if we really remembered who God is and what God has done.

Psalm 33 this morning, the psalmist, likely King David,

he calls all of God's people to give praise to our great God.

But he knows how forgetful we are, and so he gives us four reminders.

This will be our outline this morning, if you're taking note.

Four reasons why God is worthy of our praise.

Reason number one, first, he says,

Praise this great God because he is the forgiver of sinners.

We praise God because he forgives sins.

We see this in verses 1 through 3.

The psalmist commands God's people,

Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous.

Praise befits the upright.

Now, I want to see who's been paying attention

because if you are really on top of it,

you might have noticed that that sounds very familiar

to where we left off last week.

If you look at the end of Psalm 32, right?

Psalm 32 was this glorious psalm

all about the great blessing of having your sins forgiven.

You remember it started,

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,

whose sin is covered,

against whom the Lord does not count his iniquity.

And the response of the forgiven,

the proper response of the forgiven,

you see it there at the end of Psalm 32, verse 11.

Psalms 32:11

It says,

Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous.

Shout for joy, O you upright in heart.

And then we keep reading,

and now Psalm 33 begins,

Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous.

Praise befits the upright.

Now, I think that we would be right

to see that these two psalms,

they flow together.

Psalm 33 is a continuation of Psalm 32.

We ought to read it that way.

So the psalmist says,

Have you been forgiven of your sin?

Have you been counted righteous in the sight of God,

justified by His grace?

Has God been so gracious to you

as to not count your sins against you,

and to remove your sin from you

as far as the east is from the west?

If He has declared you righteous,

what response could we give a God like this?

Psalm 33 says,

Praise!

Shout for joy

if you've been forgiven of your sins.

Praise befits the upright.

Give thanks to this great God.

Praise Him for forgiving you of your sins.

And He tells us, you know,

one way that we can express this praise

is in song.

He says in verse 2,

Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre.

That's an instrument.

Make melody to Him with the harp of ten strings.

Sing to Him a new song.

Play skillfully on the strings

with loud shouts.

Forgiven people sing.

And we do this every Sunday,

don't we?

And we come in,

we gather together,

we have songs prepared

and planned out for you to sing.

We come in and we sing these songs to the Lord.

But have you ever wondered why we do this?

You know, this is one place,

out of anything that we do,

where it's pretty easy to just go on autopilot

and you just sing the words

and your heart really isn't engaged.

It's easy to do that.

There's a quote from a medieval writer

who said that some in the church

are bodily in the choir,

but mentally in the market.

Right?

I've been there.

It's easy to do.

That's not how it ought to be.

Church, we sing because

we are both commanded

and compelled to sing.

We are both commanded

and compelled to sing.

We should know that the righteous

are commanded,

clearly in Scripture,

to sing praises to the one

who has made them righteous.

Why do we sing when we gather together?

It's because God has commanded us to sing.

We don't come up with this on our own.

We worship God according to how God wants to be worshipped.

And He wants to be worshipped through singing.

The Apostle Paul says in Colossians 3, verse 16,

Colossians 3:16

it's a command.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,

teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom.

How, Paul?

How are we to teach and admonish one another?

Singing songs and hymns

and spiritual songs

with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Now, the book of Psalms itself is a song book.

This is the song book of Israel.

And if we ever wonder

whether we ought to sing

or even what sort of songs we ought to sing,

well, we have a pretty good starting point right here,

don't we?

God's people would sing these songs

together in the temple

and at times of worship

and as they journeyed to and from.

These songs are God-centered,

robust in their theology.

I mean, we spend about 40 minutes

unpacking these psalms every week.

These are songs that teach truth

about God and His works in the world.

They teach us about God

and His faithfulness to His people.

These are songs that express emotion

but where emotion rightly follows the truth.

These are songs that ultimately point us to Christ.

These are songs that God desires us to sing.

We sing because God commands us to sing.

But it's much more than that, isn't it?

We also sing because we are compelled to sing.

Church, when you stop

and consider

the glorious good news of the gospel

that God forgives sinners,

and not just sinners out there,

but sinners like me.

God forgives my sin.

That God has made me righteous in His sight.

That God has declared me to be upright

and holy.

Me with all of my baggage

and all of my sin.

That God has removed my sin from me.

The only proper response

is to sing His praises.

This is the response

of the heart made new.

Martin Luther, in fact,

he said,

only a new man can sing a new song.

A man of grace,

a spiritual

and an inner man before God.

If God has made you new,

forgiven you of your sins,

the church,

sing His praises.

He says,

praises.

That's reason number one.

Not only this,

he gives a second reason here

in verses 4 through 9.

The psalmist says,

second,

praise Him because

this great God

is the creator

of all the world.

Praise Him

because He is the creator

of all the world.

We see this in verses 4 through 9.

You know,

the early church fathers

talked about

two books

of revelation.

Meaning two books

that reveal

who God is.

They said that

God's word

reveals who God is

and God's world

reveals

who God is.

The psalmist here,

he opens up

both of these books

for us.

And he starts here

with God's word

in verses 4 and 5.

And this is

the better book,

isn't it?

This is the only

divinely inspired

supernatural revelation

of who God is

and what God's done.

This is where God

speaks without fault

and without error

and tells us

in words

that can be

opened up

and read to a child

who He is.

I mean,

it's just an astounding

blessing that we have

this book

in our language.

The psalmist

opens up this book

and he reads it

and he says,

praise God.

Why?

For the word

of the Lord

is upright.

Verse 4.

The law of the Lord

is perfect,

Psalm 19 tells us.

Reviving the soul.

What other book

does that?

The testimony

of the Lord

is sure,

making wise

the simple.

The precepts

of the Lord

are right,

rejoicing the heart.

The commandment

of the Lord

is pure,

enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the Lord

is clean,

enduring forever.

The rules of the Lord

are true

and righteous,

all together.

What other book

can you say this about?

There is no other book

in the world

like this book.

There's no other

greater source of wisdom.

There's nothing so pure

and desirable

as the word of God.

I mean,

how embarrassing

is it

that so often

we treat this book

with such indifference

and that we would rather

draw our attention

to a television show

or a game

or social media

or a segment

on the news.

When anytime we want,

what a privilege it is.

Anytime we want,

we can open up this book

and read

and hear the voice of God.

Declare who He is

and what He's like

and what He has planned

for us in His world.

This is a great blessing.

It's the greatest treasure

that you own, church.

The psalmist

reads this book

and declares

the Lord is good.

But church,

we should know

not everyone

owns this book.

Not everyone

has access

to this book

and even

many who own

a physical copy of it

don't truly grasp

what it says

about God

because these things

are spiritually discerned

and to rightly

understand this book

you must have

the illuminating help

of the Holy Spirit

otherwise it is

worthless to you.

But the psalmist

gets it here.

He reads this word

and he sees

just look at what

God has done.

Look how

He's shepherded

His people.

Look how He's

made promises to them

and kept

every single one.

All His work

is done

in faithfulness

he says.

He says

this word

is upright

because this

God is upright.

He reads it

and he sees

God is righteous

and He loves

righteousness.

God is just

and He loves

justice.

You simply

can't know

those attributes

of God

apart from

this book.

Creation

will not teach

you this.

You need

this book

empowered by

God's Spirit

in order to

truly understand

the full

revelation

of who

God is.

But again

not everyone

has this book

so what do

they have?

They have

the second

book.

The book

of creation.

And with

a Spirit

inspired lens

the psalmist

is able

to look

around him

and see

that all

the earth

is full

of the

steadfast

love

of the

Lord.

Now

this second

book

the book

of creation

I do

want to be

clear.

This book

is not

enough

to save

anyone.

This book

of creation

does not

reveal God

as Savior.

This is why

we go to

the ends

of the earth

and proclaim

the good news

of the gospel.

Creation

does not

reveal God's

grace towards

sinners in

Christ.

Creation

does not

reveal how

our sins

can be

forgiven.

But it

does reveal

the undeniable

fact that

there is a

God and

that this

God is

worthy

of our

praise.

And this

book is

opened up

to everyone

everywhere

every single

day.

It is

universal

and it

is

undeniable.

St.

Augustine

says

some

people

in order

to discover

God

read books

but there

is a

great book

the very

appearance

of created

things.

Look above

you.

Look below

you.

Note it.

Read it.

God

whom you

want to

discover

never wrote

that book

with ink.

Instead

he set

before your

eyes

the things

that he

had made.

Can you

ask for

a louder

voice than

that?

Why heaven

and earth

shout to

you

God

has made

me.

The

psalmist

says

look above

you.

By the

word of

the Lord

the heavens

were made

and by the

breath of

his mouth

all their

host.

Now this

is far

above my

pay grade

but I

am told

by people

much smarter

than me

that the

observable

universe

is something

like 93

billion

light years

in diameter.

I don't

even know

what that

means.

That is

beyond my

comprehension.

It is so

large and

massive and

seemingly

endless and

that is just

the observable

universe.

astronomers

estimate that

the observable

universe contains

2 trillion

galaxies and

200 billion

trillion stars.

That is like

monopoly money.

Of course

it is all a

guess.

Who knows

what all is

there.

No one has

explored all

of that space.

No one can.

It is far too

much but we are

told God

made all of

it.

And simply

by the word

of his

power.

He simply

spoke and

made it all.

The very word

of his mouth

brought everything

into existence.

And so now

when we look

up and we

see the stars

and we look

up and we

see the heavens

they speak

to us.

Psalm 19

says the

heavens declare

the glory

of God.

The skies

above proclaim

his handiwork.

Day after day

after day

pours out

speech.

Night after

night after

night pours

out knowledge

and guess

what?

Everyone

hears it.

Or if you

prefer the

psalmist says

look below

you.

Go down

as far

down and

as deep

as you can

into the

deepest ocean.

Again by

Google research

it tells me

that explorers

have only

seen less

than .0001%

of the ocean

sea floor.

That is like

nothing.

Do you

realize how

small that

is?

They say

that is

approximately

the size

of Rhode

Island.

Scientists

estimate that

we have only

seen maybe

a third

of the

animal

species

that live

in the

ocean.

Every

single

year

they

discover

about

2,000

more

new

animal

species.

It is

just

astounding

to think

about

how little

we know

about this

world.

The

psalmist

says

yeah

God

made

that.

in fact

the Lord

simply

gathers up

the waters

of the sea

as a heap.

Have you ever

tried to hold

water in your

hands?

He gathers

them as a heap

and he puts

the deep

into the

storehouses.

Here is the

point church.

You could

spend a

lifetime

trying to

explore

every corner

all the

nook and

cranny

all the

glories

of the

heavens

and the

earth

and not

even

scratch

the

surface

but if

that's

true

how much

more so

the God

who made

it?

You could

spend an

eternity

exploring the

glory of

this creator

God and we

will if we

are in

Christ.

Again

the right

response

to a

God like

this

is praise.

In fact

he tells us

in verse

8 let

all the

earth

fear the

Lord.

Let all

the inhabitants

of the

world

stand

in awe

of him

for he

spoke

and it

came to

be.

He

commanded

and it

stood

firm.

Praise

him

because he

forgives.

Praise

him

because he

has created

all things.

Third

praise him

because he

rules over

all things.

We praise

him.

Third

reason

because he

is the

sovereign

ruler

of all

things.

The

incredible

truth is

that God

did not

just

create his

world and

then sit

back and

let it

go as

it wanted

to go.

This is

what the

deists

thought.

The 18th

century they

compared him

to a great

watchmaker who

creates this

watch and

then lets it

tick on

its own.

The Bible

says no,

no,

no,

no,

no.

This great

praiseworthy

God who

created all

things,

he now

very actively,

constantly

upholds all

things and

rules over

all things

and in

fact controls

all things

according to

his providence.

How do we

know?

Look there

to verse 10.

He says,

for one

thing,

his plans

always prevail.

That's what it

means practically

to be sovereign.

His plans

always prevail.

You always

get your way

every single

time.

Now,

we have to

learn the

hard way

that that's

not us.

We have to

learn the

hard way

that we

are not

God.

Some of

us are

still

learning

this

lesson.

God gets

his way

every single

time.

Look there

to verse

10.

He says,

the Lord

brings the

counsel of

the nations

to nothing.

He frustrates

the plans

of the

peoples.

The counsel

of the Lord

stands forever.

The plans

of his

heart

to all

generations.

His plans

never fail.

God

always

gets

his way.

When all

the nations,

all the

earth

gathers

together

to build

the

tower

of

Babel

and

rebel

against

the

Lord,

what

happens?

He says,

God looks

down on

their big

old tower

and he

scatters

them to

the ends

of the

earth.

He

frustrates

the plans

of the

peoples.

When

Joseph's

brothers

want to

sell him

off for

dead,

sell him

into

slavery,

they plan

his

destruction,

what does

he say

in Genesis

50?

You

meant that

for evil,

but God

meant it

for good.

When the

Jews and

the Romans

together send

Jesus to

the cross

and the

devil himself

plans to

destroy the

Son of

God,

what happens?

God's

eternal

sovereign plan

of redemption

prevails.

This is what it

means to be

sovereign.

God always

gets his

way.

He's totally

in control.

not only

this,

the psalmist

also shows

us he's

sovereign over

the choosing

of his

people from

among the

nations.

Look at

verse 12.

Blessed is

the nation

whose God

is the

Lord.

Who's he

talking about?

The people

whom he has

chosen as

his heritage.

The psalmist

just marvels

at this.

This big,

glorious,

sovereign,

creator God

who is

powerful enough

just to speak

and create

all things,

who actively

upholds all

things,

who rules

over all

things.

This great

God,

out of his

own volition,

has chosen

to bless a

particular

people out

of all the

nations of

the earth

and to make

them his

chosen heritage.

What a

blessing.

I just

marvel at

this.

This is an

expression of

God's

sovereignty.

God did

not choose

Lot.

He chose

Abraham.

Why?

I don't

know.

Do you?

Tell me

after church,

please.

God did

not make

his promises

to Esau.

He made

his promises

to Jacob.

Why?

I don't

know.

He didn't

make the

Philistines his

chosen people.

He made

Israel his

chosen people.

The psalmist

reflects on

this and he's

overwhelmed with

a sense of

why me?

What a

blessing to

be counted

amongst God's

chosen people.

What a

blessing that

God would

choose me,

all of his

sovereign grace.

Moses says

in Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7,

the Lord

your God

has chosen

you to

be a

people for

his treasured

possession

out of all

the peoples

who are on

the face of

the earth.

Why me?

And this

is God's

sovereign grace.

He is

free to

choose.

But even

so, the

psalmist says,

even so,

this great

God still

sees all

that happens

in all

the nations.

Yes, his

eye is

especially on

those who

fear him.

We see that

in verse

18.

But even

so, this

sovereign God

sees all

that happens

in all

the world.

I can't

even fathom

this.

I went

to see my

grandmother

this week

and we

had all

five kids

there.

And my

sister was

there trying

to tell

me something.

I have no

idea what

she was

trying to

tell me

because my

attention

was on

trying to

keep my

five kids

from breaking

grandmother's

house.

I can't

focus on

everything at

once as

much as

I try,

but not

so with

God.

His

eye is

especially

on His

own people,

but even

so,

verse 13,

says,

the Lord

looks down

from heaven,

He sees

all the

children of

man.

From where

He sits

enthroned,

He looks

out on

some,

no,

all the

inhabitants

of the

earth.

He who

fashions the

hearts of

them all

and observes

all their

deeds.

Do you hear

that repetition

of all,

all,

all,

all,

all?

This great

God is not

caught off

guard or

surprised by

anything that

happens in

His creation.

This sovereign

God is never

responding or

reacting.

He's never

behind the

eight ball like

you and I

are often

behind the

eight ball.

He is

sovereign and

omniscient.

He sees

all.

What's the

right response

to a God

like this?

The psalmist

gives us one

simple response

here in

verse 16.

He says,

trust Him.

Trust Him.

This

powerful,

sovereign,

almighty

God is

worthy of

all of

our trust.

Look there

to verse 16.

He says,

the king is

not saved by

his great

army and

a warrior is

not delivered

by his great

strength.

The war horse

is a false

hope for

salvation.

By its

great might

it cannot

rescue.

When we

get a side

of this

great God

who rules

and reigns

over all

things,

why would

we ever

place our

trust anywhere

else?

David knew

this firsthand,

didn't he?

Do you

remember his

battle with

Goliath?

This

Philistine

giant,

this

experienced

warrior,

a grown

man,

more grown

than most

grown men,

in full

armor,

matched up

against this

little shepherd

boy with

a few

stones and

a slingshot?

A betting

man would

never put

his money

on David

in a million

years.

It is

humanly

impossible.

Goliath

ought to

win a hundred

times out of

a hundred,

right?

But do you

remember what

David said

as he

marched into

battle to

face Goliath?

Do you

remember what

he said?

This day

the Lord

will deliver

you into

my hand

and I

will strike

you down

and cut

off your

head.

Why?

That all

this assembly

may know

that the

Lord saves

not with

sword or

spear,

for the

battle is

the Lord's

and he

will give

you into

our hand.

Do you

trust God

like that?

How easy

is it

to put

our trust

in any

number of

other things

in our

own strength

in our

own intellect

in our

own ability

to scheme

our way

out of

whatever

problem

we're

facing

this week

in our

401k

in our

money

in our

retirement

plan?

The

psalmist

says

if this

God is

who

he says

he is

he's

worthy

of all

your

trust

all

your

trust

you

trust

him

like

that

behold

verse 18

he says

the eye

of the

Lord

is on

those

who

fear

him

on

those

who

hope

in

his

steadfast

love

that

he

may

deliver

their

soul

from

death

and

keep

them

alive

in

famine

the

psalmist

says

praise

this

God

because

he

rules

over

all

but not

only

this

fourth

and

finally

ultimately

church

fourth

we

praise

him

because

this

great

God

is

our

God

in

Christ

and

what I

want you

to

understand

here

as we

bring

this

to a

close

is

that

whatever

reason

the

psalmist

had

to

praise

God

and

he

had

many

reasons

church

we

have

it

amplified

and

enlarged

and

enhanced

in

Jesus

Christ

as

great

and as

loud

and as

joyful

and as

exuberant

as his

praise

was

our

praise

ought

to be

even

greater

why

because

we

have

even

greater

clarity

on

who

God

is

and

what

he's

done

it's

like

as

we

take

this

psalm

and

filter

it

through

Christ

the

camera

lens

gets

focused

and

the

image

gets

enhanced

and

we

get

to see

with

greater

clarity

who

this

God

is

on

his

side

of

the

cross

the

psalmist

knew

the

forgiveness

of

his

sins

but

we

know

how

all

this

works

don't

we

he

knew

that

a

sinner

could

be

counted

righteous

in

the

sight

of

God

but

we

know

this

is

only

possible

because

of

the

finished

work

of

Christ

received

by

faith

church

this

is

why

we're

here

we

gather

this

morning

and

every

Sunday

morning

on

the

Lord's

day

resurrection

Sunday

to sing

and to

rejoice

and to

worship

because

our

God

has

worked

salvation

in

Christ

for us

our

Savior

has

come

and

purchased

our

forgiveness

he's

died

in

our

place

he's

risen

to

new

life

and

by

faith

in

Christ

by

faith

in

Christ

we

are

counted

righteous

in

the

sight

of

God

this

is

why

we're

here

church

that's

why

we

gather

for

worship

the

psalmist

read

God's

books

he

knew

God's

word

he

lived

in

God's

world

just

like

we

do

he

knew

that

God

spoke

and

created

all

things

he

knew

Genesis

1

1

in

the

beginning

God

created

the

heavens

and

the

earth

but

church

we

know

the

name

of

that

life

giving

word

we

know

with

even

greater

clarity

in

the

beginning

was

the

word

and

the

word

was

with

God

and

the

word

was

God

he

was

in

the

beginning

with

God

all

things

were

made

!

through

him

anything

made

that

was

made

and

we

know

praise

God

the

word

became

flesh

and

dwelt

among

us

we

look

to

Jesus

and

we

see

the

greatest

revelation

of

the

person

of

God

he

is

the

image

of

the

invisible

God

Colossians

tells

us

the

psalmist

knew

that

this

great

God

who

created

all

things

also

rules

over

all

things

he

upholds

the

universe

but

here

on

our

side

of

the

cross

us

Christ

Jesus

is

the

radiance

of

the

glory

of

God

and

the

exact