Psalm 147
1Praise ye the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely.
2The LORD doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.
3He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.
4He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.
5Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.
6The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground.
7Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God:
8Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.
9He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.
10He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man.
11The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.
12Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion.
13For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee.
14He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat.
15He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly.
16He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes.
17He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold?
18He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow.
19He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel.
20He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD.
Chapter 147
It is good to sing praises to Him (v. 1). I'd say that praise is comely, to me, because when I'm engaged in worshipping and praising Him, I am humbling myself before Him, which can be an amazing thing. What verse 2 means to me is that before a person becomes a Christian, they're an outcast and it is God's grace that brings them to Him. I thank Him for transforming everyone He has so far and I'm glad to be a part of the kingdom and that I can serve in it. I can't say I've thought too much that I was an outcast before I became a Christian, but it's true because I've seen examples of it -- people who were addicted to drugs before coming to Christ just to name one. He even healed those who were addicted (v. 3), which I'm thankful for because it's a great thing to see that miracles still happen. I wasn't addicted to drugs before becoming a Christian, but I guess God healed me by saving me at an early age so I wouldn't have to live as a drug addict before coming to Christ. I don't have much to say about verse 4 as a stand alone verse, but if I were to connect it to verse 5, I'd say that since He knows the number of stars and their names, His power and understanding is beyond any man's. I am praise for knowing even the minute details, which is what I get out of those verses. Since He knows the minute details, I am reminded that I can trust Him with things that I don't know the outcomes of and/or the details of. Sometimes I have to trust Him with those things and I know, from experience, that doing so will result in something better than I expected, which was the case with my darkest moment. I didn't know how it was all gonna work out, but I trusted in God and it did. "Meek" in verse 6 can also mean "humble." In my darkest moment, I humbled myself by coming to the Lord and He ended up taking care of the enemy for me, as I've talked about before. I can't say I do much singing to the Lord for actions He performs which are described in verse, but perhaps I should start thanking Him for those things. I'm not sure how I'd relate to verse 9, but it's a good thing He feeds the animals. If He delighted in the flesh aspects of His creation (v. 10), He wouldn't be a God I could rely on for spiritual needs. I do fear Him (v. 11) and I know that as a result of that, He takes pleasure in me because when I read His Word, that makes His day and I am blessed from what I get out of it, like when I was reading Joshua when I took algebra. I figure He used that book to take pleasure in me because He knew I needed encouragement for math and He used it to speak to my heart so I could absorb it and apply it to passing algebra. I did hope in Him and He delivered.
Yes, I do praise Him (v. 12) and I guess verse would relate to my dakest moment, where it says "For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates." He gave me strength by protecting me from the enemy's influence. I'm not sure how I'd relate to verse 14, but in verse 15, I am reminded of the power of His voice. What I have to say about that is that He wills things how He wants them to be -- concerning the weather and the environment and what have you -- and I know that man has that ability, so I thank God for His uniqueness. I don't have a lot to say about verse 16, but I like the imagery. It also reminds that God controls the weather and He recognizes the need for snow, which kind of makes me wonder what it is. If I were to know every thought that God has, my head would probably explode. I don't have much to say about verse 17, but the part that says "He casteth forth his ice like morsels" is talking about God sending hail down, which He also has a purpose for and I have no idea what the purpose is. I don't experience snow where I live so verse 18 doesn't apply to me in that aspect because there's no snow around here that melts. However, I do praise God for melting the snow in areas where it snows so that way life is easier for people that experience snow for a season. It's as if God watches over them even if they don't honor Him, which is example to me in case I end up demonstrating that kind of grace to someone. I'm not sure what the last two verses mean, but if they're suppposed to have a spiritual meaning, what they mean to me is that God has illustrated what the judgment will be like in His Word (v. 19), which is something His people will have read and understood. However, non-believers don't expect the judgment or they may have read about and not have it influence them (v. 20). Either way, that's what I get out of the "He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them" part. And I am not saying that people are scared into Christianity because they find out Christ is gonna judge Him if they don't follow Him because I hope that isn't the case. I'm saying that maybe there's some people (non-believers)that read about the judgment and God uses that to touch them and lead them towards repentance.
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