Psalms 147:1. Praise ye the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant;
Ye that know him, ye that love him, «praise ye the Lord.» «It is good: «it is right, it is acceptable; it is good for you, the Lord counts it good. «It is good to sing praises unto our God;» and to God alone. There is no better argument for anything than that it is good, for good men delight in that which is good because it is good. «For it is pleasant.» That is a very happy conjunction, for it is not everything that is good that is pleasant, medicine to wit. It is not everything that is pleasant that is good, for there are some things that are pleasant in the mouth, but they are poison in the bowels. But to sing praises unto our God is both good and pleasant.
Psalms 147:1. And praise is comely.
Or, beautiful, delightful, it is the right thing. Men never look so like angels as when they are praising God, and angels are never more heavenly than when they are engaged in the worship of heaven; and that worship is praise. Here are the psalmist's reasons for praising God,-
Psalms 147:2. The LORD doth build up Jerusalem:
Praise him for that. He is the great Builder, the Builder of the Church. He laid the foundations in the everlasting covenant, he carries on the building with infinite skill by his Divine Spirit: «The Lord doth build up Jerusalem.»
Psalms 147:2. He gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.
These are the stones with which he builds, men who were like outcasts. What wonderful living stones these outcasts make! They love the Lord best who once were most his enemies. None sing of «free grace and dying love» with sweeter accents than the men who have had much forgiven. «The Lord doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.» Mark the connection between the two; it is when great sinners are saved that the Church is built up. There was more done when Paul was converted, I wot, than at almost any other time, for he became the great apostle to the Gentiles through whom myriads were saved.
Psalms 147:3. He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.
To be a builder and a physician, too, are strange offices to be combined in one, yet so it is with God. Is there a broken heart here? The Lord is ready to heal you. See how he does it. «He bindeth up their wounds,»-puts on the strapping, wraps round the linen cloth, and secures the flesh until it heals. A wonderful surgeon is the Lord God Almighty, there is none like to him. «He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.» What a singular thing it is that the next verse should be what it is!
Psalms 147:4. He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.
In his condescension, stooping over a broken heart; in his omniscience, telling the number of the stars. The word signifies as when a merchant counts his money into a bag. So does God, as it were, count the stars over, like so many golden coins. «He calleth them all by their names.» as when the muster-roll is read, and the soldier answers, «Here!» so does the Lord speak to the stars, and they answer to their names.
Psalms 147:5-19. Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite. The LORD lifteth up the meek:
They are down very low in their own estimation, but the Lord lifts them up.
Psalms 147:6. He casteth the wicked down to the ground.
The Lord is the great changer of men's positions; those that are up he throws down, and those that are down he lifts up. Thus the blessed virgin sang, «He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.»
Psalms 147:7-19. Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God: who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.
This is the true science, this is the real philosophy; not merely the laws of nature, but God everywhere; God cloud-making, God rain-preparing, God clothing even the hill-tops and out of the way places with grass which no man has planted, and which no man will ever mow. Perhaps there is somebody here who, when at home, is like grass on the mountains, away from all means of grace, with nobody to help you, nobody to guide you. Listen to this Psalm, and praise the name of the Lord, «who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.»
Psalms 147:9. He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.
The very best illustration of that verse is to be found, I think, in crows going to bed at night. You may have heard their caws. White says, in his Natural History of Selborne, that a little child said in his hearing, «Hark, father, the rooks are saying their prayers.» It does seem something like it; and I believe David had heard it, and that is why he put it here: «the young ravens which cry,» for those strange birds, rooks, crows, ravens, and the like, even with their wild cries, do speak to God. Who can listen to the birds in the early morning without feeling ashamed of himself for not singing more to the praise of God? Some of the feathered songsters lift up their voices even in the night; the nightingale charms the hours of darkness, and should not we sing unto God when all nature rings with his praise? «He giveth to the beast his food.» Any of you who are in great distress may pray to God, «Lord, feed me, for thou givest even to the beast his food.» Do any of you need spiritual food? Cry to him to feed you, for he giveth even to the beast his food. Are you not much better than many animals? I remember «Father Taylor» once saying to himself, and then writing it, «I am in distress just now, and full of doubts: but what am I at? When the great whale goes through the deep, the Almighty Father gives him a ton of herrings for his breakfast, and never misses them; surely he can feed me.» Assuredly he can; he can give to all of us all that we need.
Psalms 147:10. He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man.
As the kings did in those days; their infantry and their cavalry were their glory. The Lord does not care for that sort of thing; what gives him pleasure, then? Listen
Psalms 147:11. The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.
As kings have gloried in their troops, so does God glory in tender hearts that fear him, and that hope in his mercy. I love that double description-« them that fear him,» «those that hope in his mercy.» There is a mixture there,-fearing and hoping,-but the mixture makes a sweet amalgam of grace. It is like a fisherman's net; there is the lead to sink it, and here are the corks to float it. If you only hope in his mercy, you shall not come back empty from the great banquet of everlasting love: «Jehovah taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.»
Psalms 147:12-13. Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion. For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee.
Happy Zion, which God secures so well that even bars and posts are finished; not merely walls and gates, but the bars of the gates. There is nothing wanting in the covenant of grace. If the gates need bars, God thinks of the little as well as of the great: «He hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee.»
Psalms 147:14. He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat.
An old commentator says, «Generally, if you get quantity, you do not get quality; but when you deal with God, ‘he filleth thee,' there is quantity, ‘with the finest of the wheat,' there is quality.» You get both in God, an abundance of the best.
Psalms 147:15. He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly.
Great kings have tried to make their postal arrangements act with rapidity; in the olden time, they employed swift dromedaries for this purpose, but «his word runneth very swiftly.» When God has a message to send, he can flash it by lightning, or dispatch it in an instant by one of his angels: «His word runneth very swiftly.» I wish it would run to some of you who are rushing fast into sin, and that it would overtake you, and arrest you, and bring you to repentance and to faith in God. Here is a verse that may help to cool you on this summer's evening
Psalms 147:16. He giveth snow like wool:
It is as soft as wool, and, like wool, it is a covering, and keeps the earth warm in the bitter frosts, and saves the plants from death: «He giveth snow like wool.»
Psalms 147:16-17. He scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes. He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold?
I want you to notice how, in the olden days, good men felt God to be very near. They thought that all this was caused by God: «he giveth snow; he scattereth hoarfrost;» and they speak of «his ice, his cold.» It is a poor progress that philosophers have made, to try to get us farther off from God than we used to be; but I bless his name that he is as near as ever he was to those who believe in him. They can see his working, and feel the touch of his hand. But what a wonder-working God this is who uses snow to warm the earth, and makes the frost to act like ashes,-yea, who makes bread out of ice, for when there is no frosty weather, the harvests are not half so good; but the very frosts break up the clods, and help to create bread for men! The Lord works by contraries. Perhaps, at the time that he means to save you, you will think that he is destroying you. If he means to heal you, he will wound you. If he means to lift you up, he will throw you down. Learn to understand his method, then, for this is the mode of his working.
Psalms 147:18-19. He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow. He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel.
That is the best news of all, that God reveals himself to his children. All he works in nature is eclipsed by what he does in grace.
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.