Psalm 147:1-20 NIV
Praise the Lord.
How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!
The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the exiles of Israel.
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.
Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.
The Lord sustains the humble but casts the wicked to the ground.
Sing to the Lord with grateful praise; make music to our God on the harp.
He covers the sky with clouds;
he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills.
He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call.
His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his delight in the legs of the warrior;
the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.
Extol the Lord, Jerusalem; praise your God, Zion.
He strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses your people within you.
He grants peace to your borders and satisfies you with the finest of wheat.
He sends his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.
He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes.
He hurls down his hail like pebbles. Who can withstand his icy blast?
He sends his word and melts them; he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow.
He has revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel.
He has done this for no other nation; they do not know his laws.
Praise the Lord.
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Psalm 147 is a litany of praise and a call to sing with praise to the Lord. This is clearly a post-exilic work since the exiles are mentioned in verse 2. The exiles gather in Jerusalem to worship. The temple and the great city of God had been destroyed, but now God has brought the Hebrews exiles back and they are rebuilding.
Psalm 147 has a real focus on God as provider and sustainer. God provides healing for the brokenhearted. God provides starlight. God provides clouds, rain, snow and hail, all of which provide water to the ground and growing grass to feed the cattle and wheat to feed the people. God provides peace to Jerusalem. And most of all the Lord's blessed provisions, He reveals His law to Israel as His chosen nation, His treasured possession.
The same word that set the stars in place and named each one, that sends forth the wind and rain, that establishes peace for His people and heals their wounds, is the same word that is creating a holy community. Israel is God's holy project. As Israel becomes holy through faithfulness to God's covenant law, God blesses Israel, and through this blessed holy community, the world receives a chance to be blessed by coming to trust in the unfailing love of God.
Psalm 147:10-11 NIV
His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of the warrior; the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.
Verses 10 and 11 contrast two responses to God's provision. One is to build armies to secure as much property for yourself as possible, enslaving those you conquer. You can even do this in the name of God! The other is to trust in the unfailing love of God and know that He will provide. The first invites greed, war and arrogance.The second invites generosity, peace, and humility.
Psalm 147 calls me to trust in the unfailing love of God, my provider. I can lay down my anxious craving to gain more and more, out of fear there won't be enough. I can join in singing prays to the Lord for His faithful provision.
Genesis 22:14b NIV
“On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
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