According to the Malbim, Chapter 33 of Tehillim serves as a direct continuation of the previous psalm. In the previous psalm, we saw a famine that occurred, and those who prayed were answered; the Holy One, blessed be He, delivered them from the famine through rain. That rain came as a torrential downpour, thereby also rescuing them from the enemies advancing against them. Here, in our psalm, King David comes to teach us how the Holy One, blessed be He, governs His world through two distinct modes of governance: natural governance, which operates according to fixed, unchanging laws, and providential governance, which is an expression of His personal Divine Providence (hashgachah) and depends on the deeds of human beings - if they do good, He conducts them with goodness; if, Heaven forbid, they do evil, the reverse ensues. In particular, he will explain here Hashem's knowledge and providence over His creations, and how His providence watches over those who fear Hashem and contemplate His Name.
רַנְּנוּ צַדִּיקִים בַּה', לַיְשָׁרִים נָאוָה תְהִלָּה׃ - Sing joyfully to Hashem, O righteous; for the upright, praise is fitting.
At the conclusion of the previous psalm, it was stated: "Rejoice in Hashem and be glad, O righteous, and sing joyfully, all you upright of heart" - joy (simchah) was addressed to the tzaddikim (the righteous), while vocal song (rinah) was addressed to the yesharim (the upright). The Malbim explains that the upright stand at a higher level than the righteous. A tzaddik serves Hashem and performs righteous deeds in practice, but he still faces an internal struggle; he has not yet completely won the battle, neither in terms of beliefs and outlooks nor in the struggle against his yetzer (evil inclination) and base desires. The yashar, by contrast, no longer possesses any conflicting inclination - he is completely cleaved to Hashem, "my heart is slain within me"; he has no struggles in faith and no conflict with desires, for he already walks in an upright path. Therefore, the righteous are associated with simchah, which is an internal joy in the heart, whereas the upright are associated with rinah, which is a higher level - not merely in the heart, but expressed in actual, vocal song.
Now David comes and says: look at what Hashem's providence accomplishes for decent people and servants of Hashem. Hashem watches over the righteous, and they will ascend and reach the level of the upright - hence, "Sing joyfully to Hashem, O righteous." Earlier we said that singing joyfully belongs to the upright of heart, yet here he tells you that the righteous themselves will be elevated to a higher level and will also be among those who sing joyfully, not merely those who rejoice internally.
"For the upright, praise is fitting" - the upright have likewise ascended to an even higher level, and they shall glory in Hashem. The Malbim interprets this phrase in two ways: First, since they have attained constant cleaving to Him, blessed be He, along with truth, and are far removed from physical desires, it is fitting and appropriate for them to recount Hashem's praises, as they have truly attained and grasped this reality. Second, that praise and acclaim are fitting for the upright themselves - they deserve praise for having achieved the path of truth and uprightness.
הוֹדוּ לַה' בְּכִנּוֹר, בְּנֵבֶל עָשׂוֹר זַמְּרוּ לוֹ׃ - Give thanks to Hashem with the harp; with a ten-stringed lyre sing praises to Him.
The Malbim explains that the clauses of the text are parallel - meaning there are four clauses, where the continuation of the first clause is found in the third clause (in the following verse), and the continuation of the second clause is found in the fourth. The thanksgiving to Hashem here is for His natural governance - an orderly system established from the six days of Creation in which no change occurs, a permanent governance throughout all generations, "He commanded, and it stood fast," and so it will remain forever. For this, King David says one must give thanks to Hashem with a kinnor (harp); and for the mighty acts of the Holy One, blessed be He - with a nevel asor (ten-stringed lyre).
And what is the difference between them? The kinnor reflects the relationship of the worlds to one another. (Incidentally, the printed text of the Malbim reads "z-l-l", which is a printer's error; it should read "z-l-z" - an abbreviation for zeh la-zeh, "to one another." High-resolution scans of the Malbim's original manuscripts are available today, and often, when the wording is unclear or appears to be a misprint, one can consult the original manuscript and see exactly what the Malbim wrote and where the printers erred in deciphering it.) The kinnor depicts the interconnection of the worlds with one another, arranged according to musical ratios, in the spirit of "When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." The Malbim explains that the worlds are like celestial spheres, and these spheres are connected, as it were, by cords to the center - to this world; and these cords are like the musical strings of a kinnor - all operating in complete harmony to fulfill the will of the Creator, blessed be He.
And the nevel asor corresponds to the celestial spheres (galgalim), which the ancients counted as ten. Let us clarify the concept of galgalim: the planets rotate in their orbits and do not drift away, even though inertia seemingly should cause them to fly outward - like a marble spun inside a round pot that naturally tends to fly outward due to inertia. What keeps these spheres from flying off course? The force of gravity keeps them bound in their orbits. The ancients conceptualized this through the mechanism of "spheres" (galgalim): they did not imagine free-floating bodies orbiting on their own, but rather envisioned an entire physical sphere in which the celestial bodies were embedded and revolved, since they could not explain how a body could maintain its orbit unaided. Thus, when ancient texts speak of galgalim, they refer to what we identify today as the planets - Venus, Saturn, and the like. The ancients held that there were ten such spheres, and therefore, "with a ten-stringed lyre sing praises to Him." Through the entirety of the natural order - symbolized by the spheres, the cords linked to each sphere, and the ten celestial orbs - all offer praise and acclaim to the Creator, blessed be He.
The Ibn Ezra quotes in the name of Rabbi Moshe that a nevel asor is a harp with ten sound holes, which is why it is called this; however, he rejects this view and remarks that he did not speak correctly. In the Ibn Ezra's view, "nevel asor" is not a single instrument - as all the other commentators maintain - but two instruments: a nevel and an asor, as though it were written, "with a nevel and an asor sing praise to Him." Proof for this comes from the verse that states, "Upon the asor and upon the nevel," showing that the asor is one instrument and the nevel a second. The Malbim finds no difficulty with this verse at all: there is a nevel asor and there is a standard nevel. Therefore it says "upon the asor" - referring to the ten-stringed harp - "and upon the nevel" - referring to the standard harp. The difference between them is that a standard harp had fewer strings, whereas a nevel asor had ten strings.
שִׁירוּ לוֹ שִׁיר חָדָשׁ, הֵיטִיבוּ נַגֵּן בִּתְרוּעָה׃ - Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully with a joyous blast.
The Ibn Ezra explains: With those instruments, the nevel and the asor, sing to Him a new song. It is as if the verse reads, "Play skillfully to Him with a joyous blast" - with the word "to Him" applying both backward and forward: sing to Him, to Hashem, a new song, and play skillfully to Him, blessed be He, with a joyous blast using the nevel and the asor.
Why is a new song needed in the first place? It is told in the name of the Rebbe of Gur as a witty insight: The verse states, "Sing to Hashem a new song, His praise in the congregation of the pious (chasidim)." What is wrong with the old songs? The reality is that chasidim sing songs to their Rebbe, and often these are songs based on verses - "Who is this King of Glory?", "May You add days unto the king's days," and the like - words of song and praise that are already sung to the Holy One, blessed be He, and yet they sing them to their Rebbe. Thus: "Sing to Hashem a new song" - why? Because "His praise in the congregation of chasidim" - the chasidim are already singing that praise to their Rebbe, so a new song must be composed for Hashem! That is said in jest; now let us turn to the deeper explanation.
The Malbim explains: Until now we have spoken about the natural order of the world, and nature's order is fixed. By contrast, the providential order is not constant, but changes according to the reality: if human deeds are good, Hashem watches over them for good; and if their deeds are evil, Heaven forbid, the land will not yield its produce and the tree of the field will not yield its fruit, even leading to exile from the land, as foretold in the Torah's prophecies concerning what happens when the Jewish people stray from the path. The providential order judges according to human conduct and is not bound by nature. Therefore it says, "Play skillfully with a joyous blast (teruah)" - for a teruah always heralds something new, hinting at renewal, at Hashem's revelation to judge the earth, which is something new each time in accordance with the circumstances and the moment. The heavenly order is fixed, but the earthly order is entirely dependent on man's deeds, and in accordance with man's actions the divine directions are renewed; therefore, for events that never existed before, a new praise is required.
Another reason for a "new song" is cited in the name of the Me'am Lo'ez: human nature is such that a person is excited by novel things. Something old no longer excites, whereas something new evokes wonder. Therefore: "Sing to Hashem a new song" - so that through this we may revitalize our divine service and feel a renewed excitement in serving Him.
The holy Or HaChaim explains: Every prayer is a song - a person sings to Hashem, praising and extolling Him, and one must experience every prayer as a brand-new prayer, not as an old, routine act recited by rote. After all, there are angels who recite song only once in their existence and then cease to be; and it is entirely possible that the prayer a person is reciting right now is the final prayer of his life. Therefore, one should relate to it as something new that may never be followed by another. Moreover, as is well known, everything the holy Arizal revealed regarding the kavanot of prayer pertains to a single prayer; and the Arizal notes that just as times change, so too do the kavanot change, for at every moment the spiritual configurations of the worlds shift, and at each and every moment the intentions and unifications (yichudim) are different. Thus, every time requires renewal, a new song, so that a person feels that this moment is entirely unique, and perhaps no further prayer will follow it.
כִּי יָשָׁר דְּבַר ה', וְכָל מַעֲשֵׂהוּ בֶּאֱמוּנָה׃ - For the word of Hashem is upright, and all His work is done in faithfulness.
Here David speaks about the natural order. "The word of Hashem" refers to divine speech, for the Holy One, blessed be He, created the world through speech - He spoke and it came into being, as the psalm says later, "By the word of Hashem the heavens were made." The verse tells us: Know that the word of Hashem is upright - whatever was brought into being through the word of Hashem is fixed, straight, and unvarying. And what was made through the word of Hashem? The heavens. The celestial systems are fixed and do not change at all.
"And all His work is done in faithfulness (emunah)" - the natural order is referred to as emunah: an order established from the six days of Creation, whose laws are fixed, enduring, and unchanging. Emunah denotes truth (emet), something true and steadfast that does not change, where the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, committed that it would not alter: the laws of heaven and earth, day and night, summer and winter shall not cease, and will never pass away. By contrast, the providential order, which changes according to human conduct and depends on the actions of those below - when they do good, He bestows goodness upon them, and the opposite brings the opposite - is termed chesed (lovingkindness), for the Holy One, blessed be He, acts benevolently with us according to our deeds and performs acts of kindness with us according to His will at all times.
The holy Alshich explains that the verse comes to teach you: if at times Hashem's governance seems difficult and bewildering - why, Heaven forbid, do babies pass away in their infancy, why are there sick people, why does the righteous suffer (tzaddik vera lo), and all manner of questions that arouse perplexity - know that "all His work is done in faithfulness," and one must not question His ways, blessed be He. And what is meant by "in faithfulness" (be'emunah)? Kept in trust - as if the Holy One, blessed be He, is saying to you: I am keeping this for you in trust.
Why is everyone a customer of the yetzer hara? Because it pays in cash. The yetzer tov, by contrast, walks around with a checkbook: do what I tell you and you will receive a million dollars. And when? Net plus sixty years. The yetzer hara comes along and says: I pay you immediately, on the spot, in cash. How much? Ten, fifteen dollars. And a person takes it. But isn't the yetzer hara dealing in pennies? What did it actually give him? A fleeting desire, gone and finished, and what remains of it? Nothing, but it was immediate. In contrast, "the word of Hashem is in faithfulness" - kept in trust; Hashem preserves it for you, and that is forever and for all eternity.
And from here we also find an answer to the question: why don't I see Hashem immediately giving reward to those who do good and punishment to the wicked? "All His work is done in faithfulness" - everything is kept in trust. For if we were to receive immediate reward here for every good deed, and the reverse for sin - where would a person deserve reward for doing good? A person would be nothing more than a merchant: I did good, I received payment immediately; I did bad, I suffered immediately. The world would not be divided into righteous and wicked, but into the clever and the foolish, for only an utter fool would do evil. If someone who turned on a light on Shabbat had his hand instantly wither and dry up - who would ever turn on a light on Shabbat? But then the Holy One, blessed be He, would not have servants of Hashem, only robots; and robots - He could have programmed you from the start, and if He wants robots He has plenty, He has angels. What does He want from you? "All His work is done in faithfulness": that even when I do good and it is entirely possible that I receive something opposite to what I did, as if I received a slap in the face - I believe with complete faith that everything is for the good. For this a person will receive a complete reward, for reality seemingly points to the contrary, and one might otherwise say there is no judgment and no Judge. Therefore, "upright is the word of Hashem" - do not doubt Hashem's deeds; everything is upright. But Hashem demands faith from you: to wait until the end of the movie and not walk out in the middle.
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov relates a well-known parable: A poor Jew met a poor German and said to him, "Come with me; tonight is the Seder night among the Jews, there is a great feast and plenty of meat." He told him, "Disguise yourself as a Jew and go." The man disguised himself and arrived at the synagogue. The gabbai distributed the poor guests - this one to so-and-so, that one to such-and-such, "let all who are hungry come and eat." The German sits there, not understanding a word, but waiting for the main thing: the feast. They begin with karpas - a piece of potato, and on top of that it must be dipped in salt water. He thinks: "Strange Jews, may they be healthy, but where is the food? Where is the meat?" Then they read long stories, "Bivhilu yatzanu mi-Mitzrayim" - and what about the food? But he smells the aromas from the kitchen and realizes it must arrive eventually. Then they are told to wash their hands, and he knows that after washing hands comes the meal. They turn to the meal, and they bring him some kind of dry, inedible plywood - don't they have fresh bread? Then maror, and among Ashkenazim the maror is horseradish (chrain), which after eating, a person needs a fire extinguisher to put him out; sparks of fire shoot from his mouth. And he was already starving, not having eaten all day, so he took a generous portion of the maror; suddenly he feels himself burning up inside. His patience gave out, he began cursing in German, overturned the table, and stormed out in a rage. The next day, he grabbed the Jew to choke him: "You tricked me!" The Jew asked what happened, and he explained. The Jew said to him, "You complete fool, one minute later they would have served the meat! Right after the maror comes the meat. You waited an hour and a half - why did you run away at the very last moment?"
This, Rebbe Nachman says, is often a person's situation: he reaches a point of difficulty, feels torn and broken, and says, "I cannot go on." But in truth - just a little more, and you have made it through, you have overcome it. Everything depends on faith: believe that everything is for the good, and once you are past it, you will understand how Hashem did everything for abundance, goodness, and benefit. "For upright is the word of Hashem, and all His work is done in faithfulness" - Hashem does not pay in cash, and all that is needed is patience.
The Sfat Emet offers an innovative explanation here. "Vechol ma'asehu be'emunah" - the word vechol can be understood like "vechal bashalish afar ha'aretz" ("and measured the dust of the earth in a measure"), which is an expression of measuring. That is to say: know that the Holy One, blessed be He, measures His actions according to faith - in proportion to the measure of faith found in His creations. The more faith a person has in Hashem, the more Hashem bestows upon him; and the lesser his faith, the less He watches over him, and the less attached and bound He is to him.
The psalm opens with the elevation of the righteous to the level of the upright - from joy in the heart to tangible song, and from the upright who are fitting to praise and worthy of being praised. Thanksgiving with the lyre and the ten-stringed harp corresponds to the fixed natural order of governance, the order of the worlds and celestial spheres arranged like a single symphony; and "Sing to Him a new song" corresponds to the providential governance that is renewed at every moment according to the deeds of human beings - and hence the demand that every prayer be fresh and renewed for us. And finally, "For upright is the word of Hashem, and all His work is done in faithfulness": nature is founded upon faithfulness and truth and does not change, while divine providence is loving-kindness in accordance with our deeds. Whoever does not understand the ways of this governance should remember that everything is kept faithfully and for eternity, for the yetzer hara pays a pittance in cash while the Holy One, blessed be He, preserves the complete reward - and one needs only patience and faith not to run away right before the meat is served.