Psalms 147

This psalm praises the God who is both Lord of the stars and healer of the broken. He rebuilds Jerusalem, feeds the ravens, sends snow and rain, and gives His word to Israel. The same word that moves the weather also comforts the humble and holds His people together.

Psalms 147:1

The psalm opens with a call to praise and gives the reason: it is good. Praising God is not a duty that weighs us down. It fits who He is and who we are, and it brings sweetness to the heart that offers it.

BSA: pleasant (“sweet, lovely”): Praise is pictured as sweet to the taste, something the soul enjoys and not merely something owed.

Hebrew: הַלְלוּ יָהּ (halelu yah, H1984) — “praise the LORD.” This is a command to a whole group: all of you, praise Yah. It is where we get the word Hallelujah.

See also: Psalm 33:1.

Psalms 147:2

God is the builder of Jerusalem and the gatherer of those scattered. The psalm likely recalls the return from exile, when the city and its people were being restored. What He does for a people, He does with a purpose, bringing them home.

BSA: exiles (“outcasts, scattered ones”): These are people driven away and cut off, whom God personally collects and brings back.

See also: Isaiah 56:8; Nehemiah 12:27.

Psalms 147:3

Here is one of the tenderest pictures of God in Scripture. He does not only rebuild walls. He kneels, like a physician, to bandage the hurting heart. He cares about inward pain as well as outward ruin.

BSA: heals (“makes whole, restores”): His healing aims at making a person whole again, not just at easing the pain. binds up (“ties, wraps, or bandages”): It paints God as a gentle caregiver wrapping a wound with His own hands.

See also: Psalm 34:18; Isaiah 61:1.

Psalms 147:4

The God who mends one broken heart also counts the stars. Nothing is too small or too vast for Him. Naming the stars suggests He knows each one personally, and so He can surely know you.

BSA: calls (“telleth, summons”): He not only knows the stars but summons them, and they answer to Him.

See also: Isaiah 40:26.

Psalms 147:5

The psalmist sums up what he has seen: God is great, strong, and wise beyond measure. Our minds run out of numbers and answers. His never do. This is the reason we can trust Him when we cannot understand.

BSA: limit (“infinite, without”): His understanding cannot be counted or measured, just as the stars were counted only by Him.

See also: Romans 11:33.

Psalms 147:6

God’s strength is not neutral. He lifts and holds up the humble, those who know their need. He brings down the wicked who exalt themselves. The two halves show His justice and His mercy working together.

BSA: humble (“meek, poor in spirit”): These are people who have no pride to lean on and so depend on God.

See also: James 4:6; Psalm 146:8-9.

Psalms 147:7

A second call to praise begins. Here the singing is joined with thanksgiving and with an instrument. Gratitude gives praise its content, and the music gives it a voice. The harp was a common instrument in Israel’s worship.

BSA: Sing (“with joyful praise, answer”): Singing here is a response, as though God has spoken first and we answer Him.

See also: Psalm 95:2.

Psalms 147:8

God cares for the whole creation. He fills the sky with clouds, prepares the rain, and brings up grass even on hills where no farmer plants. Rain is not an accident. It is His preparation, made ahead for the earth.

BSA: prepares (“establishes, sets up”): Rain is arranged and set in place by God in advance, not left to chance.

See also: Matthew 5:45.

Psalms 147:9

God feeds even the wild animals. The young ravens were unclean birds, not valued by people, yet He hears their hungry cry. If He cares for them, His people can trust Him with their daily needs.

BSA: call (“cry out, shout, or cry”): The hungry cry of the young birds is treated as a kind of prayer that He hears and answers.

See also: Luke 12:24; Psalm 104:27-28.

Psalms 147:10

In the ancient world, horses meant war and the swift runner meant power. God is not impressed by human strength. He does not need armies or athletes to do His work, and our trust should not rest on them.

BSA: legpower (“legs, lower limbs”): The picture is a runner or soldier, whose speed was a source of pride in battle.

See also: Psalm 20:7; Psalm 33:16-17.

Psalms 147:11

What does please Him is the opposite of self-reliance: reverence and hope. To fear Him is to take Him seriously. To hope in His loving devotion is to rest on His faithful, covenant kindness, not on our own strength.

BSA: loving devotion (“kindness, mercy, lovingkindness”): This is God’s faithful love, which He keeps because of His promise and not because we earn it.

Hebrew: חֶסֶד (chesed, H2617) — “faithful, loyal love.” The Hebrew word carries kindness joined to loyalty. It describes a love that keeps its promises.

See also: Psalm 33:18.

Psalms 147:12

The psalm turns to Jerusalem itself. The city that was rebuilt is called to praise the One who rebuilt it. Zion is the hill of the temple, so this is a call to the people gathered at the center of Israel’s worship.

BSA: Exalt (“praise, glorify”): To exalt Him is to lift Him high, giving Him the place of honor over the city.

Psalms 147:13

God is the reason the city is secure. Gates and bars protect a town, but their strength comes from Him. He also blesses the children inside, so the future of the people is held in His hands.

BSA: strengthens (“makes strong, secures”): Even the iron bolts hold firm only because He makes them strong.

See also: Psalm 127:1.

Psalms 147:14

Peace and plenty are God’s gifts. Quiet borders mean no enemy at the door. Fine wheat means a full table. Both are pictured as blessings from His hand to a people who trust Him.

BSA: peace (“shalom, completeness and wellness”): Shalom means more than no war. It means wholeness, with nothing lacking.

Hebrew: שָׁלוֹם (shalom, H7965) — “peace, wholeness.” The Hebrew word covers safety, health, and well-being together. It is not only the absence of conflict.

See also: Psalm 81:16.

Psalms 147:15

Now the psalm speaks of God’s word as a messenger sent out. When He speaks, the earth obeys at once. The word is pictured as a runner who does not delay. What He says, happens.

BSA: runs (“moves swiftly, rushes”): The word is pictured like a courier racing to carry out its task.

See also: Isaiah 55:10-11.

Psalms 147:16-17

Winter is described in vivid pictures. Snow falls soft like wool, frost is scattered like ashes, and hail comes like stones. God directs even the cold. No one can stand against His freezing blast, which reminds us how small we are before Him.

BSA: icy blast (“cold, frost, extreme chill”): The cold is presented as His power, which no one can endure.

See also: Job 38:22-23.

Psalms 147:18

The same word that sends the ice also melts it. He speaks, the winds blow, and the frozen waters run again. The God who sends winter also brings spring. Both come at His command, and so He is trustworthy in hard seasons.

BSA: melts (“dissolves, liquefies”): What was hard and frozen is made to flow by a single word from Him.

Psalms 147:19

The word that rules the weather has also been given to Israel. God told His people His will through the law. This is the greater gift: not only that He rules nature, but that He speaks to people and shows them how to live.

BSA: statutes (“decrees, laws”): These are the settled instructions God gave His people at Sinai.

See also: Deuteronomy 4:7-8; Romans 3:1-2.

Psalms 147:20

God had not given the law to the other nations as He had to Israel. The privilege was real, and it called for thanks. The psalm closes where it began, with Hallelujah, because knowing His word is a gift worth praising Him for.

BSA: know (“are unaware of, have not learned”): The nations lacked the knowledge of His ways that Israel had been given.

See also: Psalm 148:14.