Psalms 147:1. Praise ye the LORD:
This Psalm begins and ends with Hallelujah. So may this service, and so may our lives, commence and conclude with Hallelujah!
Psalms 147:1-19. For it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely. The LORD doth build up Jerusalem:
Oh, that the Lord would do so here tonight!
Psalms 147:2. He gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.
We want that blessing, too. Oh, that some outcasts might be gathered together! It shall make our hearts cry «Hallelujah!» indeed, if there be a building up of the church and an ingathering of the outcasts.
Psalms 147:3. He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.
As we read that, we may well say again, «Hallelujah!»
Psalms 147:4. He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.
And the Hallelujah is not louder because of that fact than it is for the other truth. What a condescending God: «He healeth the broken in heart.» How infinite is his mind: «He telleth the number of the stars.»
Psalms 147:5-19. Great is our lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.
The LORD lifteth up the meek:
How wonderful it is that the Lord should use the greatness of his power and the infinity of his understanding for the lifting up of those whom men often despise, «the meek»!
Psalms 147:6-11. He casteth the wicked down to the ground. 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. He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry. 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.
Other kings tell of their cavalry and infantry, they boast of their regiments of horse and foot guards, but our great God finds his delight in them that fear him and even in the feebler sort of these: «those that hope in his mercy.» These are the courtiers of Jehovah. These are the forces of our God, through whom he will win great victories.
Psalms 147:12-16. 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. 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.
Our King's warrant runs everywhere, all over the world. He has universal power in nature, in providence, and in grace: «His word runneth very swiftly.»
Psalms 147:16. He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes.
The Hebrews saw God in all the phenomena of nature; let us do the same. Let us attribute every snow-flake to the divine hand, and every breath of frost to the divine mouth.
Psalms 147:17-18. He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold? He sendeth out his word, and melteth them:
It is just as easy for him to send warm weather as to give us the chill of winter.
Psalms 147:18. He causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow.
His own soft south wind comes, and the fetters of frost dissolve, and the waters flow. It is the Lord that doeth it all. He is not far from any of us; therefore let us not forget him.
Psalms 147:19. He showeth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel.
The rest of the world can only see him in nature, but his own people see him in revelation, in the movements of his Holy Spirit.
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.
Therefore, ye who are favored with his special manifestations of love, take you up the joyous song even if others do not. Hallelujah! «Praise ye the Lord.»
Now let us read in the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 26, beginning at the sixth verse.
This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 147:1, And Matthew 26:6-30.