“The LORD looks from heaven; he beholds all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation he looks upon all the inhabitants of the earth. He fashions their hearts alike; he considers all their works.”
(Psalm 33:13-15)
God has ultimate dominion and power over all his creation – from the grandest scale of world governments and weather patterns and meteor showers to the secret depths of men’s hearts. For this reason, it is the sole prerogative of the Creator to choose where and when he may bring terror and destruction, and the collective world cannot stop him. It is also his prerogative to award miraculous peace and comfort where and when he chooses, and all the devils cannot take it away. As his disciples cried out, “What manner of person is this, whom the winds and seas obey?” we may also cry out, “What is that God, how great and wonderful, who works in the hearts of men what he pleases?”
In our text above (Psalm 33:13-15), the psalmist offers several arguments as proof for the providence of God. He affirms that world affairs are not determined nor carried out based on the desires and counsels of men but rather as God orders and ordains them. When we observe events occurring in the world that are contrary to the law of God, and yet no judgment from God immediately follows, we may find ourselves wavering a bit in our faith. But this response only demonstrates an ignorance of who God is and how he works. The truths and mysteries of God and his Word cannot fail, so we can trust that in God’s time all these seeming imbalances and injustices will be made right.
Just as the artificer who makes a clock knows everything about the clock and therefore has the power to make it strike when and where he pleases, in our text the psalmist indicates that God fashions their hearts alike. His argument here is that he who makes the heart knows everything in the heart, and he can thus cause it to think, will, love, and behave as he pleases.
Further, the words in this text are emphatic, He fashions. This same Hebrew word for “fashions” is also used when describing how God fashioned man’s body out of the dust of the ground at the moment of creation. And, of course, God can as easily form and fashion the souls of men as he can their bodies; he can as easily strike them with fear or comfort them with peace as he can strike the body with disease or sustain it with health.
The text also indicates that he fashions them alike. Again, the original Hebrew references all men’s hearts; none are excepted. Which is to say that not even the least thought or notion or behavior can originate in anyone’s heart – no matter who they are – apart from God’s directing providence. As Proverbs 21:1 explains, even the king’s heart is said to be in the hand of the Lord. In the heart of a king, one of the greatest and most powerful of men, his counsels and purposes may seem hidden. And yet, even here God knows and directs as he wills.
And to show just how easily he governs and turns as he pleases, the writer uses a familiar similitude – He turns the king’s heart as the rivers of water. As a stream of water can easily be diverted to flow in another direction by the farmer, the Lord turns the hearts of those that rule in the world, either for mercy or judgment, as he pleases. Anthony Burgess rightly comments, “He does this as in the way of his general providence, as in the way of his justice, and as in the way of his grace. And in all these three particulars God is admirable.”[1]
Contemplations:
- Lord, I know your dominion is universal; you rule over all things. By your providence your power over men’s hearts is manifested. This is sometimes seen when you especially equip certain individuals to do your will, where they have no ability of their own.
- In considering your dominion over kings, this reminds me of the story of Saul being appointed king over Israel. Saul was from the smallest and most insignificant tribe, the smallest family in the tribe, an ordinary man. And yet the Scripture says you gave him the heart of a king, so with courage and boldness he was able to fulfill the responsibility of king. This was not a spirit of grace and godliness, but of government and political abilities.
- In your universal dominion, you need only touch the heart, as the musician touches the strings of his instrument, and they sound whatever you would have them sound.
- Lord, I see your power over men’s hearts in commanding them to be still like the waves and winds. Like Laban, who goes out in a great fury against Jacob, but then you say to him, “See thou do not speak any word to Jacob,” (Gen. 31:24), and this softened his heart. Many times you softened Saul’s heart against David so he would not kill him, and you moved the heart of Pharaoh to favor Joseph.
- Lord, even in turning hearts, you do everything you do to honor and glorify yourself. And it seems that in nothing here on earth is your sovereignty so much seen as here. You employ the hearts of men as instruments by which you accomplish your plans in the world. Scripture says that you ponder and weigh men’s hearts, that you lay men’s hearts in a balance, and that you incline their hearts this way and then that way. In truth, the whole world is your host, and you are the Emperor or Commander. You bid this one go, and he goes; that one come, and he comes, just as the Centurion did his men under him. How you are to be feared, to be obeyed, who does in heaven and earth what he wills! It is not as great men, as mighty men, as wise men will; but rather it is the counsel of the Lord that shall stand.
Further References for Psalm 33:13-15:
Jer. 32:19; Job 10:8; Psalm 119:73; Prov. 5:21
[1] Anthony Burgess, Spiritual Refining, (London A. Miller, 1652), 507.
