Psalms 147

1 Praise the Lord! It is good to sing praise to our God; it is pleasant and right to praise him.

2 The Lord is restoring Jerusalem; he is bringing back the exiles.

3 He heals the broken-hearted and bandages their wounds.

4 He has decided the number of the stars and calls each one by name.

5 Great and mighty is our Lord; his wisdom cannot be measured.

6 He raises the humble, but crushes the wicked to the ground.

7 Sing hymns of praise to the Lord; play music on the harp to our God.

8 He spreads clouds over the sky; he provides rain for the earth and makes grass grow on the hills.

9 He gives animals their food and feeds the young ravens when they call.

10 His pleasure is not in strong horses, nor his delight in brave soldiers;

11 but he takes pleasure in those who honor him, in those who trust in his constant love.

12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion!

13 He keeps your gates strong; he blesses your people.

14 He keeps your borders safe and satisfies you with the finest wheat.

15 He gives a command to the earth, and what he says is quickly done.

16 He spreads snow like a blanket and scatters frost like dust.

17 He sends hail like gravel; no one can endure the cold he sends!

18 Then he gives a command, and the ice melts; he sends the wind, and the water flows.

19 He gives his message to his people, his instructions and laws to Israel.

20 He has not done this for other nations; they do not know his laws. Praise the Lord!

Psalms 147 Commentary

Chapter 147

The people of God are exhorted to praise him for his mercies and care. (1-11) For the salvation and prosperity of the church. (12-20)

Verses 1-11 Praising God is work that is its own wages. It is comely; it becomes us as reasonable creatures, much more as people in covenant with God. He gathers outcast sinners by his grace, and will bring them into his holy habitation. To those whom God heals with the consolations of his Spirit, he speaks peace, assures them their sins are pardoned. And for this, let others praise him also. Man's knowledge is soon ended; but God's knowledge is a dept that can never be fathomed. And while he telleth the number of the stars, he condescends to hear the broken-hearted sinner. While he feeds the young ravens, he will not leave his praying people destitute. Clouds look dull and melancholy, yet without them we could have no rain, therefore no fruit. Thus afflictions look black and unpleasant; but from clouds of affliction come showers that make the soul to yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness. The psalmist delights not in things wherein sinners trust and glory; but a serious and suitable regard to God is, in his sight, of very great price. We are not to be in doubt between hope and fear, but to act under the gracious influences of hope and fear united.

Verses 12-20 The church, like Jerusalem of old, built up and preserved by the wisdom, power, and goodness of God, is exhorted to praise him for all the benefits and blessings vouchsafed to her; and these are represented by his favours in the course of nature. The thawing word may represent the gospel of Christ, and the thawing wind the Spirit of Christ; for the Spirit is compared to the wind, ( John 3:8 ) . Converting grace softens the heart that was hard frozen, and melts it into tears of repentance, and makes good reflections to flow, which before were chilled and stopped up. The change which the thaw makes is very evident, yet how it is done no one can say. Such is the change wrought in the conversion of a soul, when God's word and Spirit are sent to melt it and restore it to itself.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 147

This psalm is thought to be written by David, and according to Theodoret predicts the return of the Jews from Babylon, and the rebuilding of Jerusalem by Zerubbabel, which seems to be grounded on Ps 147:2; though the words there agree well enough with the times of David; hence the title in the Septuagint, Ethiopic, Arabic, and Syriac versions, and Apollinarius, is as the preceding; the Syriac adds,

``concerning Zerubbabel and Joshua the priest, and Ezra, who were solicitous and diligent in building Jerusalem.''

Aben Ezra and other Jewish writers think it foretells the future rebuilding of Jerusalem, and the restoration of the Jews from their present captivity, and refer it to the times of the Messiah; and so far it may be right, that it respects Christ and the praise of him, on account of his nature and works; and may take in the conversion of the Jews. It seems to be written by the same person, and on the same account, as the preceding psalm.