Why read Psalm 33?
Read Psalm 33 for thanksgiving, comfort and reflection on peaceful living. Its invitation to taste the Lord's goodness is linked to keeping harmful words in check and actively seeking peace.
You can read this psalm when its themes speak to your circumstances, or as part of your regular reading of the Psalter. This explanation draws on the text itself; the psalm is not reserved for one particular need.
Psalm 33 opens the heart with the cry "I will bless the Lord at all times...". It is one of the 21-verse psalms of the Fifth Kathisma, and it is said both at the services and in prayer at home — the Psalter being the constant companion of the Orthodox Christian.
The Orthodox Septuagint numbering is retained here. This Psalm 33 corresponds to Psalm 34 in Hebrew-text numbering.
The text of Psalm 33
1. I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2. In the Lord shall my soul boast; let the meek hear and be glad.
3. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.
4. I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my tribulations.
5. Come unto Him, and be enlightened; and your faces shall not be ashamed.
6. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his tribulations.
7. The angel of the Lord shall encamp round about them that fear Him, and shall deliver them.
8. O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that hopeth in Him.
9. O fear the Lord, all ye His saints; for them that fear Him there is no want.
10. The rich have become poor and hungry; but they that seek the Lord shall not be deprived of any good thing.
11. Come, ye children, hearken unto me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord;
12. What man is he that desireth life, who loveth to see good days? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.
13. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
14. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are opened unto their prayer.
15. But the face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
16. The righteous cried, and the Lord heard them, and delivered them out of all their afflictions.
17. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a contrite heart, and the humble in spirit shall He save.
18. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, and out of them all will the Lord deliver them.
19. The Lord keepeth all their bones; not one of them shall be broken.
20. The death of sinners is terrible, and they that hate the righteous shall go astray.
21. The Lord shall redeem the souls of His servants, and none of them that hope in Him shall go astray.
When Psalm 33 is read
- after Holy Communion and in thanksgiving.
- At the end of each psalm, the tradition adds: "Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen."
Neighbouring psalms
The numbering follows the Orthodox Psalter (Septuagint). The same psalm may have a different number in other Bible editions.
