Psalms 33:15

Only [God] can cure our hearts, he who alone created our hearts and perceives all our deeds. He alone has the power to enter into our conscience, touch our thoughts and comfort our soul. And if he does not console our hearts, all that people may do is superfluous and unprofitable. Just as when God comforts and pacifies us again, even if people greatly disturb us with myriad troubles, they will be unable to injure us in anything, for when he strengthens our heart, no one is able to shake it.

Some commentators thought that here blessed David means that he individually formed people's souls apart from their body, as though "hearts" meant "souls." Whether this is so or not (it is a topic requiring fuller treatment), here it does not have that sense. Rather, "their …

Then when he says, "He who has formed," he proves the certainty of divine knowledge from its causality. And concerning this he does two things. First, he sets forth its causality. Second, he concludes the certainty of its knowledge, at "He who understands." It would …

Fashioneth - Having said that God sees and observes all men, he now adds, that he rules and governs them; yea, even the hearts which are most unmanageable, he disposes and inclines according to the counsel of his will. Alike - Or, equally, one as well as another: whether they be Jews or Gentiles, princes or peasants; all are alike subject to his jurisdiction.

He fashioneth their hearts alike,....

He fashioneth their hearts alike. By which is meant that all hearts are equally fashioned by the Lord, kings' hearts as well as the hearts of beggars. The text does not mean that all hearts are created originally alike by God, such a statement would scarcely be true, since there is the utmost variety in the constitutions and dispositions of men. All men equally owe the possession of life to the Creator, and have therefore no reason to boast themselves. What reason has the vessel to glorify itself in presence of the potter? He considereth all their words.

fashioneth--or, "forms," and hence knows and controls (Pr 21:1). alike--without exception. considereth--or, "understands"; Men's usual reliances in their greatest exigencies are, in themselves, useless.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

He fashioneth their hearts alike. By which is meant that all hearts are equally fashioned by the Lord, kings' hearts as well as the hearts of beggars. The text does not mean that all hearts are created originally alike by God, such a statement would scarcely be true, since there is the utmost variety in the constitutions and dispositions of men. All men equally owe the possession of life to the Creator, and have therefore no reason to boast themselves. What reason has the vessel to glorify itself in presence of the potter? He considereth all their words. Not in vain doth God see men's acts: he ponders and judges them. He reads the secret design in the outward behaviour, and resolves the apparent good into its real elements. This consideration foretokens a judgment when the results of the divine thoughts will be meted out in measures of happiness or woe. Consider thy ways, O man, for God considereth them!

He fashioneth their hearts alike - He forms their hearts in unity; he has formed them alike; they are all the works of his hands: and he has formed them with the same powers, faculties, passions, etc.; body and spirit having the same essential properties in every human being.

He fashioneth their hearts alike - That is, one as well as another; or, one as really as another. No one is exempt from his control, or from all that is implied in the word “fashioneth.” The meaning is not that their hearts are made to “resemble” each other, or to be “like” each other, whether in goodness or in wickedness - but that all alike “are” made by him. The idea in the word “fashioneth” here is not that of “creating,” in the sense that He “makes” the heart by his own power what it is, whether good or bad; but that, as he has “formed” the hearts of all people, he must see what is in the heart, or must behold all the purposes and thoughts of people. The Maker of the human heart must understand what is in it; and, therefore, He must have a clear understanding of the purposes and designs of human beings. This idea is carried out in the latter member of the sentence, “he considereth all their works,” and is substantially the same as in the expression Psa 94:9, “He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? He that formed the eye, shall he not see?” He considereth all their works - He understands all that they do; he marks, or attends to, all that is done by them. The purpose here is to state the universal sovereignty of God. He made all things; He presides over all things; He sees all things; He is the source of safety and protection to all.