Psalms 33:20

“Our soul waiteth for the Lord, etc.] This, and what follows, are the words of the church, expressing her expectation, faith, and joy, by reason of what is suggested in the preceding verses. She signifies her expectation of good by waiting for the Lord; either for his coming in the flesh, and salvation by him; for which the patriarchs, prophets, and all the Old Testament saints, waited, (<014918>Genesis 49:18 <232509>Isaiah 25:9); and so the Targum paraphrases it, “our soul waiteth for the redemption of the Lord”; or for his spiritual coming, his appearance to them, and gracious presence with them, he having been for some time absent; and it is right and good so to do, and in the issue proves…”

“waiteth--in earnest expectation.”

“Our soul waiteth for the Lord - This and the subsequent verses to the end of the psalm refer to the people of God, expressing their faith in him in view of the considerations suggested in the former part of the psalm. The language is expressive of the general character of piety. True piety leads people to wait on the Lord; to depend on Him; to look to His interposition in danger, sickness, poverty, want; to rely upon Him for all that is hoped for in this life, and for salvation in the life to come. Compare Psalms 62:1; Psalms 25:3. He is our help - Our aid; our helper. Compare Psalms 10:14; Psalms 22:11; Psalms 30:10. And our shield - See the notes at Psalms 5:12. That is, He will defend us…”

“33:20-22 The godly respond to this magnificent vision of God’s power in creation and in the affairs of the world with an affirmation of trust, commitment, joy, and hope as they pray and wait for God’s rescue.”

“soul: Psa 27:14, Psa 62:1, Psa 62:2, Psa 62:5, Psa 62:6, Psa 130:5, Psa 130:6; Isa 40:31 he is: Psa 115:9-12, Psa 144:1, Psa 144:2; Ch1 5:20 Psalms 33:21”

“Accordingly, in this closing hexastich, the church acknowledges Him as its help, its shield, and its source of joy. Besides the passage before us, חכּה occurs in only one other instance in the Psalter, viz., Psa 106:13. This word, which belongs to the group of words signifying hoping and waiting, is perhaps from the root חך (Arab. ḥk', ḥkâ, firmiter constringere sc. nodum), to be firm, compact, like קוּה from קוה, to pull tight or fast, cf. the German harren (to wait) and hart (hard, compact). In Psa 33:20 we still hear the echo of the primary passage Deu 33:29 (cf. Deu 33:26). The emphasis, as in Psa 115:9-11, rests upon הוּא, into which בּו, in Psa 33:21, puts this thought, viz., He is…”