What does Psalm 33:19 mean?

This is one of many promises that God will protect His people. These are often misunderstood as absolute guarantees of worldly health, success, and prosperity. This is not the case; earthly suffering and hardship can happen to anyone, even the most faithful believers (John 16:33; Psalm 119:157). Yet God promises to keep His people through those experiences (Romans 8:37–39) and to use them for their eternal benefit (Romans 8:18, 28–30). Those who properly fear God (Psalm 33:18; Proverbs 1:7) enter a saving relationship with Christ (John 3:16–18) and are given eternal life for their soul (John 3:36).

Of course, every person will die physically, but often the Lord intervenes to keep a believer alive. He did so in the case of Noah and his family. When everyone else drowned in the flood, Noah and his family survived aboard the ark (Genesis 8:13–19). When Daniel's three friends were tossed into a white-hot furnace, they did not die. The fire simply burned off their ropes (Daniel 3:20, 27). When Daniel was consigned to a den of hungry lions, he survived because the Lord shut the lions' mouths (Daniel 6:22). The Bible also reports that the Lord kept His people alive during disasters. He raised Joseph to prominence in Egypt to supply God's chosen people with food in a devastating worldwide famine (Genesis 45:6–11).