PSALMS LESSON 147
We will begin this lesson by giving the 147th Psalm in metre.
THE PSALMS OF DAVID IN METRE
Chapter 147
Verse 1. "Praise God! 'tis good and pleasant, And comely to adore:
Jehovah builds up Salem; Her outcasts doth restore."
Verse 2. "He heals the broken-hearted, He makes the wounded live: The
starry host he numbers, And names to all doth give."
Verse 3. "Our Lord is great and mighty, All things his Spirit knows;
The Lord lifts up the lowly, But sinners overthrows."
Verse 4. "O thank and praise Jehovah, With harp, O praise his name,
Who clouds the hev'n with vapors, And sends on earth the
rain."
Verse 5. "He clothes with grass the mountains, And gives the beasts
their food; He hears the crying ravens, And feeds their
tender brood."
Verse 6. "In horses' strength delights not, Nor speed of man loves
he, The Lord loves all who fear him, And to his mercy flee."
Verse 7. "O Salem, praise Jehovah, Thy God, O Zion, praise; For he
thy gates hath strengthened, And blest thy sons with grace."
Verse 8. "With peace he'll bless thy borders, The finest wheat
afford; He sends forth his commandment, And swiftly speeds
his word."
Verse 9. "Like wool the snow he giveth, Spreads hail o'er all the
land, Hoar frost like ashes scatters; Who can his cold
withstand?"
Verse 10. "Then forth his word he sendeth; He makes the wind to blow,
The snow and ice are melted, Again the waters flow."
Verse 11. "He shows his word to Jacob, To Isr'el's seed alone; His
statutes and his judgments, The heathen have not known:
Praise ye the Lord! "
We will now begin the verse by verse study of the 147th Psalm.
Psalms 147:1 "Praise ye the LORD: for [it is] good to sing praises
unto our God; for [it is] pleasant; [and] praise is comely."
Comely, in the verse above, means suitable. Praise ye the LORD
could be said in one word Hallelujah. This word is universal. It has
the same meaning in all languages. There is nothing more beautiful
than a praise service unto the Lord. There is such a beautiful spirit
that sweeps over the church and the people. It is as if you could
reach out and touch God with your hand. God inhabits the praises of
His people. This is a quick way to experience His presence.
Psalms 147:2 "The LORD doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth
together the outcasts of Israel."
This could be a prophetic pronouncement by David of the return of
the Israelites to their homeland. Jerusalem has always been thought of
as their holy city. They feel as if they are not home, until they can
worship in Jerusalem.
Psalms 147:3 "He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up
their wounds."
God is not going to discard the people of earth and start all
over with a new group. He is going to change the group he already has
and make them new. Revelation 21:5 "And he that sat upon the throne
said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for
these words are true and faithful." God will mend the broken-hearted
and heal their spirits, as well as their bodies.
Psalms 147:4 "He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them
all by [their] names."
With man it would be impossible to count the stars, for they are
as numerous as the sand of the sea. Notice, that He calls them each by
name. We are not a number with God. He has a special name for each of
us, that only God and we know. This name reveals our true character.
Whether the stars here or people are physical stars does not matter.
Psalms 147:5 "Great [is] our Lord, and of great power: his
understanding [is] infinite."
Infinite, in the verse above means impossible to number. There is
no way to measure His greatness. There is nothing so great that you
could compare it to. Great, in this instance, just does not seem to be
descriptive enough of Him. All things are possible to Him. Have you
ever noticed that a miracle comes from Him, when it is impossible to
man? Our intelligence is not great enough to even describe the
greatness of the Lord. Lord is Adonia in this particular instance.
Psalms 147:6 "The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked
down to the ground."
Matthew 5:5 "Blessed [are] the meek: for they shall inherit the
earth." The meek may seem to be down trodden now, but God has plans
for them to inherit the earth. Those who seem to be in control now,
will be cast down and ruled over by the meek.
Psalms 147:7 "Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise
upon the harp unto our God:"
In the last few verses, we have been seeing the greatness of God
and what He does for His own. Now, we see what our response to all of
His goodness should be. We have said before in these lessons, that
praising Him in prayer is not always enough to do. Our heart is so
full of praise at times that it burst forth in singing. David is
saying, in this verse, to not only sing, but play the harp, as well.
This is the highest form of praise and thanksgiving. We must show our
thanks to God who has done all of this for us.
Psalms 147:8 "Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth
rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains."
There are some modern ministers who would have you believe that
the devil is in control of the elements of this earth. Over and over
in these studies, we have seen that it is God who causes it to rain,
or not to rain. It is God who set the heavens in place, it is God who
causes the mountain to grow grass. God is in control of everything.
Psalms 147:9 "He giveth to the beast his food, [and] to the young
ravens which cry."
God built this earth, and the heavens, and the animals, and the
grass to furnish the needs of the animals, who in turn take care of
the needs of man. Everything was made for the habitation of man upon
this earth. God is concerned about all the animals and birds and fish.
He even told Noah to take the animals and birds on the ark with him to
preserve them.
Psalms 147:10 "He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he
taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man."
A horse, to God, was a work animal. His strength was for the
purpose of helping man. God is not interested in how far the horse can
run, neither is He interested in the athletic ability of the man. God
is interested in man's soul, not his body.
Psalms 147:11 "The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in
those that hope in his mercy."
As we said in the verse above, God is interested in our spirit
and soul. This is speaking of those who have put their faith and hope
in the mercies of God. The wise hearted who fear Him are the
Christians.
Psalms 147:12 "Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O
Zion."
Jerusalem is the city of our Great God. Zion is speaking of the
church. This is really speaking of physical and spiritual Israel. The
church of believers should be praising God continually.
Psalms 147:13 "For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he
hath blessed thy children within thee."
There is a wall that surrounds the physical Jerusalem. He has
built a hedge around those spoken of in the verse above. He is the
fortress for the Christians. His blood covers us, and surrounds us and
keeps us safe. The children within are the children of God. We are the
ones who have been transformed from sons of men into sons of God.
Romans 8:15 "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to
fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry,
Abba, Father."
Psalms 147:14 "He maketh peace [in] thy borders, [and] filleth
thee with the finest of the wheat."
The only real peace is the peace that the Lord Jesus Christ
brings, for He is the King of peace. The choice wheat is speaking of
the believers in Christ. Matthew 13:30 "Let both grow together until
the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers,
Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn
them: but gather the wheat into my barn."
Psalms 147:15 "He sendeth forth his commandment [upon] earth: his
word runneth very swiftly."
It was by the Word of God that the world, and in fact, the
universe was created. The Word of God is the great power in the earth.
The spoken and the written Word are the two greatest powers, and they
are one. His Word is law. His Word will make a quick work of this
earth.
Psalms 147:16 "He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the
hoarfrost like ashes."
This is just saying that it snows at His command. The snow is
white and fluffy like wool. One very amazing thing to me is that no
two snowflakes are alike. You wake up in the morning and frost is
everywhere. Just as soon as the sun arises, it is gone.
Psalms 147:17 "He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can
stand before his cold?"
The answer is no one. The body cannot live, if the temperature of
the blood changes more than ten degrees. Notice, in all of this, God's
control over nature.
Psalms 147:18 "He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he
causeth his wind to blow, [and] the waters flow."
We know that this is true because of the overwhelming rain that
came in Noah's day. Not only did it rain on His command, but the water
came up from the deep, as well. It had never rained on the earth,
until God commanded it to rain then. All of nature is subject to the
commands of God.
Psalms 147:19 "He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and
his judgments unto Israel."
The family of Jacob, who became the nation of Israel, were
blessed to have God judgements spoken to them from the mountain and
carved into stone by the finger of God for them. All of the rest of
the world looked on with awe.
Psalms 147:20 "He hath not dealt so with any nation: and [as for
his] judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD."
Why He chose this little nation of Israel, no one except God
knows. The knowledge of God was given to them in written word. They
had the writings of Moses. God set up His tabernacle with them and
guided them with His presence for 40 years across the wilderness. He
spoke the Word to Moses, and Moses in turn spoke to them the way of
God. The spiritual house of Israel is even more blessed. The Word of
God took on the form of flesh, and walked upon the earth, and taught
all who would listen. This very Word of God gave His body on the
cross, so that all who would believe might be saved. Jesus is the
spoken Word and He is the written Word. The Bible is the Word of God
in written form. Let it speak to you today.
This lesson has been about praise of God, who is so far above
human understanding that this is our only way to show Him our love for
Him. Do not neglect to praise Him.
Questions 147
1. What does comely in verse 1 mean?
2. What is one word that says, praise ye the Lord?
3. God _______ the praises of His people.
4. What does the author think that verse 2 could be?
5. Quote Revelation chapter 21 verse 5.
6. Besides numbering the stars , what does He do?
7. The secret name that God gives each of us, tells what about us?
8. What does the word {infinite} in verse 5 mean?
9. When does God do a miracle?
10. The Lord lifteth up the ______.
11. He casteth down the ________.
12. What kind of singing is to be done in verse 7?
13. Is the devil in control of the elements of the earth?
14. The earth, and everything in it, was made for the _________- of
man.
15. He is not interested in the athletic ability of man, He is
interested in his ______.
16. The Lord taketh pleasure in them that ______ Him.
17. Who are they?
18. Jerusalem is the ______ of our great God.
19. Who is Zion symbolic of?
20. What covers the Christian and protects him?
21. Quote Romans chapter 8 verse 15.
22. Who are the wheat in verse 14?
23. What are the 2 great powers in the universe?
24. He giveth snow like _____.
25. Who can stand before His cold?
26. All of nature is subject to whose command?
27. Who did God give His law to?
28. In what did the children of Israel receive the written Word?
29. What has been the subject of this lesson?
Home