This is one of the Hallelujah Psalms; it begins and ends with «Praise ye the LORD.» May our hearts be in tune, that we may praise the Lord while we read these words of praise!
Psalms 147:1. Praise ye the LORD:
It is not enough for the Psalmist to do it himself. He wants help in it, so he says, «Praise ye the LORD.» Wake up, my brethren; bestir yourselves, my sisters; come, all of you, and unite in this holy exercise! «Praise ye the LORD.»
Psalms 147:1. For it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely.
When a thing is good, pleasant, and comely, you have certainly three excellent reasons for attending to it. It is not everything that is good; but here you have a happy combination of goodness, pleasantness, and comeliness. It will do you good to praise God. God counts it good, and you will find it a pleasant exercise. That which is the occupation of heaven must be happy employment. «It is good to sing praises unto our God,» «it is pleasant,» and certainly nothing is more «comely» and beautiful, and more in accordance with the right order of things, than for creatures to praise their Creator, and the children of God to praise their Father in heaven.
Psalms 147:2. The LORD doth build up Jerusalem:
Praise his name for that. You love his church; be glad that he builds it up. Praise him who quarries every stone, and puts it upon the one foundation that is laid, even Jesus.
Psalms 147:2. He gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.
Praise him for that. If you were once an outcast, and he has gathered you, give him your special personal song of thanksgiving.
Psalms 147:3. He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.
Praise him for that, ye who have had broken hearts! If he has healed you, surely you should give him great praise.
Psalms 147:4. He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.
He who heals broken hearts counts the stars, and calls them by their names, as men call their servants, and send them on their way. Praise his name. Can you look up at the starry sky at night without praising him who made the stars, and leads out their host?
Psalms 147:5. Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.
Praise him, then; praise his greatness, his almightiness, his infinite wisdom. Can you do otherwise? Oh, may God reveal himself so much to your heart that you shall be constrained to pay him willing adoration!
Psalms 147:6. The LORD lifteth up the meek:
What a lifting up it is for them, out of the very dust where they have been trodden down by the proud and the powerful! The Lord lifts them up. Praise him for that.
Psalms 147:6. He casteth the wicked down to the ground.
Thus he puts an end to their tyranny, and delivers those who were ground beneath their cruel power. Praise ye his name for this also. Excuse me that I continue to say to you, «Praise ye the Lord,» for, often as I say it, you will not praise him too much; and we need to have our hearts stirred up to this duty of praising God, which is so much neglected. After all, it is the praise of God that is the ultimatum of our religion. Prayer does but sow; praise is the harvest. Praying is the end of preaching, and praising is the end of praying. May we bring to God much of the very essence of true religion, and that will be the inward praise of the heart!
Psalms 147:7. Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God:
«Unto our God.» How that possessive pronoun puts a world of endearment into the majestic word «God»! «This God is our God.» Come, my hearer, can you call God your God? Is he indeed yours? If so, «Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God.»
Psalms 147:8. Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.
They did not talk about the «law of nature» in those days. They ascribed everything to God; let us do the same. It is a poor science that pushes God farther away from us, instead of bringing him nearer to us. HE covers the heaven with clouds, HE prepares the rain for earth, HE makes the grass to grow upon the mountains.
Psalms 147:9. He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.
Our God cares for the birds and the beasts. He is as great in little things as in great things. Praise ye his name. The gods of the heathen could not have these things said of them; but our God takes pleasure in providing for the beasts of field and the birds of the air. The commissariat of the universe is in his hand: «Thou openest thine hand, and satisfieth the desire of every living thing.»
Psalms 147:10-11. He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man. The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.
Kings of the olden times rejoiced in the thews and sinews of their soldiers and their horses; but God has no delight in mere physical strength. He takes pleasure in spiritual things, even in the weakness which makes us fear him, even that weakness which has not grown into the strength of faith, and yet hopes in his mercy. «The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.»
Psalms 147:12. Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion.
Let whole cities join together to praise God. Shall we live to see the day when all London shall praise him? Shall we, ever, as we go down these streets, with their multitudes of inhabitants, see the people standing in the doorways, and asking, «What must we do to be saved?» Shall we ever see every house with anxious enquirers in it, saying, «Tell us, tell us, how can we be reconciled to God?» Pray that it may be so. In Cromwell's day, if you went down Cheapside at a certain hour of the morning, you would find every blind drawn down; for the inmates were all at family prayer. There is no street like that in London now. In those glorious Puritan times, there was domestic worship everywhere, and the people seemed brought to Christ's feet. Alas, it was but an appearance in many cases; and they soon turned back to their own devices! Imitating the Psalmist, let us say, «Praise the Lord, O London; praise thy God, O England!»
Psalms 147:13. For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee.
As a nation, we have been greatly prospered, defended, and supplied; and the church of God has been made to stand fast against her enemies, and her children have been blessed.
Psalms 147:14-15. He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat. He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly.
Oriental monarchs were very earnest to have good post arrangements. They sent their decrees upon swift dromedaries. They can never be compared with the swiftness of the purpose of God's decree. «His word runneth very swiftly.» Oh, that the day would come when, over all the earth, God's writ should run, and God's written Word should come to be reverenced, believed, and obeyed!
Psalms 147:16. He giveth snow like wool:
Men say, «it» snows; but what «it» is it that snows? The Psalmist rightly says of the Lord, «HE giveth snow.» They say that according to the condition of the atmosphere, snow is produced; but the believer says, «He giveth snow like wool.» It is not only like wool for whiteness; but it is like it for the warmth which it gives.
Psalms 147:16. He scattereth the hoar frost like ashes.
The simile is not to be easily explained; but it will often have suggested itself to you who, in the early morning, have seen the hoar frost scattered abroad.
Psalms 147:17. He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold?
None can stand before his heat; but when he withdraws the fire, and takes away the heat, the cold is equally destructive. It burns up as fast as fire would. «Who can stand before his cold?» If God be gone, if the Spirit of God be taken away from his church, or from any of you, who can stand before his cold? The deprivation is as terrible as if it were a positive infliction. «Who can stand before his cold?»
Psalms 147:18. He sendeth out his word, and melteth them; he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow.
The frozen waters were hard as iron; the south wind toucheth them, and they flow again. What can God not do? The great God of nature is our God. Let us praise him. Oh, may our hearts be in a right key tonight to make music before him!
Psalms 147:19. He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel.
This is something greater than all his wonders in nature. The God of nature is the God of revelation. He hath not hidden his truth away from men. He hath come out of the eternal secrecies, and he hath showed his word, especially his Incarnate Word, unto his people. Let his name be praised.
Psalms 147:20. He hath not dealt so with any nation:
Or, with any other nation. He revealed his statutes and his judgments to Israel; and since their day, the spiritual Israel has been privileged in like manner: «He hath not dealt so with any nation.»
Psalms 147:20. And as for his judgments, they have not known them.
Even today there are large tracts of country where God is not known. If we know him, let us praise him.
Psalms 147:20. Praise ye the LORD.
Hallelujah! The Psalm ends upon its key-note: «Praise ye the LORD.» So may all our lives end! Amen.