Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 147:12
Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion.
12. Praise the Lord ] Laud Jehovah.
thy God, O Zion ] As Psa 146:10.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
12 20. Zion is summoned to praise Jehovah for the blessings of peace and prosperity. The Lord of Nature is He Who has endowed Israel with unique privileges.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem … – In addition to this general praise in which all may unite, there are special reasons why Jerusalem and its inhabitants should praise God: just as now, in addition to the general reasons pertaining to all people why they should praise God, there are special reasons why Christians – why his redeemed people – should do it. What those reasons, as pertaining to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, were, is specified in the following verses.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 147:12
Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem.
Crowning Christ in city life
Some time ago, in one of the reviews, a writer gave a picture of the London of the future, when all sanitary and political improvements shall have been perfected. No dust in the streets, no smoke in the air, no noise, no fog, spaces everywhere for flowers and sunlight, the sky above always pure, the Thames running below a tide of silver; but think of the city of the future in whose life, laws, institutions, trade, politics, pleasure, the righteousness of Christ shall find full and final manifestation. Where is the poet, the painter, who shall paint for us that golden city, so holy and clean? It is painted for us in the Book of Revelation, in the Holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, etc. (W. L. Watkinson.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem,…. The inhabitants of it, as Kimchi; not Jerusalem in a literal sense, for this respects future time, as Aben Ezra; the world to come, the times of the Messiah: and intends the spiritual Jerusalem, as Arama; that which is free, the mother of us all; the Gospel church, and the members of it; which have great reason to praise the Lord, for their special blessings and peculiar privileges; see Ga 4:26;
praise thy God, O Zion; not the house and family of David, as R. Obadiah; nor the priests and Levites in the temple, as others; but the same as before, the church and people of God; the Mount Zion God has loved and chose for his habitation; the city of our solemnities in Gospel times; the perfection of beauty and joy of the whole earth; whose God and King is Christ; and whom Zion and all her children should praise, being her incarnate God, Immanuel, God manifest in the flesh. With this verse, the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, begin the psalm.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
In the lxx this strophe is a Psalm ( Lauda Jerusalem) of itself. The call goes forth to the church again on the soil of the land of promise assembled round about Jerusalem. The holy city has again risen out of its ruins; it now once more has gates which can stand open in the broad daylight, and can be closed and bolted when the darkness comes on for the security of the municipality that is only just growing into power (Neh 7:1-4). The blessing of God again rests upon the children of the sacred metropolis. Its territory, which has experienced all the sufferings of war, and formerly resounded with the tumult of arms and cries of woe and destruction, God has now, from being an arena of conflict, made into peace (the accusative of the effect, and therefore different from Isa 60:17); and since the land can now again be cultivated in peace, the ancient promise (Ps 81:17) is fulfilled, that God would feed His people, if they would only obey Him, with the fat of wheat. The God of Israel is the almighty Governor of nature. It is He who sends His fiat ( after the manner of the of the history of creation, cf. Psa 33:9) earthwards ( , the accusative of the direction). The word is His messenger (vid., on Psa 107:20), , i.e., it runs as swiftly as possible, viz., in order to execute the errand on which it is sent. He it is who sends down snow-flakes like flocks of wool, so that the fields are covered with snow as with a white-woollen warming covering.
(Note: Bochart in his Hierozoicon on this passage compares an observation of Eustathius on Dionysius Periegetes: .)
He scatters hoar-frost ( from , to cover over with the fine frozen dew or mist as though they were powdered with ashes that the wind had blown about. Another time He casts His ice
(Note: lxx (Italic, Vulgate) , i.e., ice, from the root , to freeze, to congeal (Jerome glaciem ). Quid est crystallum? asks Augustine, and replies: Nix est glacie durata per multos annos ita ut a sole vel igne acile dissolvi non possit .)
( from ; or according to another reading, from ) down like morsels, fragments, , viz., as hail-stones, or as sleet. The question: before His cold – who can stand? is formed as in Nah 1:6, cf. Psa 130:3. It further comes to pass that God sends forth His word and causes them (snow, hoar-frost, and ice) to melt away: He makes His thawing wind blow, waters flow; i.e., as soon as the one comes about, the other also takes place forthwith. This God now, who rules all things by His word and moulds all things according to His will, is the God of the revelation pertaining to the history of salvation, which is come to Israel, and as the bearer of which Israel takes the place of honour among the nations, Deu 4:7., 32-34. Since the poet says and not , he is thinking not only of the Tra, but also of prophecy as the continuous self-attestation of God, the Lawgiver. The Ker , occasioned by the plurals of the parallel member of the verse, gives an unlimited indistinct idea. We must keep to , with the lxx, Aquila, Theodotion, the Quinta, Sexta, and Jerome. The word, which is the medium of God’s cosmical rule, is gone forth as a word of salvation to Israel, and, unfolding itself in statutes and judgments, has raised Israel to a legal state founded upon a positive divine law or judgment such as no Gentile nation possesses. The Hallelujah does not exult over the fact that these other nations are not acquainted with any such positive divine law, but (cf. Deu 4:7., Baruch 4:4) over the fact that Israel is put into possession of such a law. It is frequently attested elsewhere that this possession of Israel is only meant to be a means of making salvation a common property of the world at large.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Jerusalem and Zion Called to Praise to God; God’s Favour to Israel. | |
12 Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion. 13 For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee. 14 He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat. 15 He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly. 16 He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes. 17 He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold? 18 He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow. 19 He showeth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. 20 He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD.
Jerusalem, and Zion, the holy city, the holy hill, are here called upon to praise God, v. 12. For where should praise be offered up to God but where his altar is? Where may we expect that glory should be given to him but in the beauty of holiness? Let the inhabitants of Jerusalem praise the Lord in their own houses; let the priests and Levites, who attend in Zion, the city of their solemnities, in a special manner praise the Lord. They have more cause to do it than others, and they lie under greater obligations to do it than others; for it is their business, it is their profession. “Praise thy God, O Zion! he is thine, and therefore thou art bound to praise him; his being thine includes all happiness, so that thou canst never want matter for praise.” Jerusalem and Zion must praise God,
I. For the prosperity and flourishing state of their civil interests, Psa 147:13; Psa 147:14. 1. For their common safety. They had gates, and kept their gates barred in times of danger; but that would not have been an effectual security to them if God had not strengthened the bars of their gates and fortified their fortifications. The most probable means we can devise for our own preservation will not answer the end, unless God give his blessing with them; we must therefore in the careful and diligent use of those means, depend upon him for that blessing, and attribute the undisturbed repose of our land more to the wall of fire than to the wall of water round about us, Zech. ii. 5. 2. For the increase of their people. This strengthens the bars of the gates as much as any thing: He hath blessed thy children within thee, with that first and great blessing, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the land. It is a comfort to parents to see their children blessed of the Lord (Isa. lxi. 9), and a comfort to the generation that is going off to see the rising generation numerous and hopeful, for which blessing God must be blessed. 3. For the public tranquillity, that they were delivered from the terrors and desolations of war: He makes peace in thy borders, by putting an end to the wars that were, and preventing the wars that were threatened and feared. He makes peace within thy borders, that is, in all parts of the country, by composing differences among neighbours, that there may be no intestine broils and animosities, and upon thy borders, that they may not be attacked by invasions from abroad. If there be trouble any where, it is in the borders, the marches of a country; the frontier-towns lie most exposed, so that, if there be peace in the borders, there is a universal peace, a mercy we can never be sufficiently thankful for. 4. For great plenty, the common effect of peace: He filleth thee with the finest of the wheat–wheat, the most valuable grain, the fat, the finest of that, and a fulness thereof. What would they more? Canaan abounded with the best wheat (Deut. xxxii. 14) and exported it to the countries abroad, as appears, Ezek. xxvii. 17. The land of Israel was not enriched with precious stones nor spices, but with the finest of the wheat, with bread, which strengthens man’s heart. This made it the glory of all lands, and for this God was praised in Zion.
II. For the wonderful instances of his power in the weather, particularly the winter-weather. He that protects Zion and Jerusalem is that God of power from whom all the powers of nature are derived and on whom they depend, and who produces all the changes of the seasons, which, if they were not common, would astonish us.
1. In general, whatever alterations there are in this lower world (and it is that world that is subject to continual changes) they are produced by the will, and power, and providence of God (v. 15): He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth, as one that has an incontestable authority to give orders, and innumerable attendants ready to carry his orders and put them in execution. As the world was at first made, so it is still upheld and governed, by a word of almighty power. God speaks and it is done, for all are his servants. That word takes effect, not only surely, but speedily. His word runneth very swiftly, for nothing can oppose or retard it. As the lightning, which passes through the air in an instant, such is the word of God’s providence, and such the word of his grace, when it is sent forth with commission, Luke xvii. 24. Angels, who carry his word and fulfil it, fly swiftly, Dan. ix. 21.
2. In particular, frosts and thaws are both of them wonderful changes, and in both we must acknowledge the word of his power.
(1.) Frosts are from God. With him are the treasures of the snow and the hail (Job 38:22; Job 38:23), and out of these treasures he draws as he pleases. [1.] He giveth snow like wool. It is compared to wool for its whiteness (Isa. i. 18), and its softness; it falls silently, and makes no more noise than the fall of a lock of wool; it covers the earth, and keeps it warm like a fleece of wool, and so promotes its fruitfulness. See how God can work by contraries, and bring meat out of the eater, can warm the earth with cold snow. [2.] He scatters the hoar-frost, which is dew congealed, as the snow and hail are rain congealed. This looks like ashes scattered upon the grass, and is sometimes prejudicial to the products of the earth and blasts them as if it were hot ashes, Ps. lxxviii. 47. [3.] He casts forth his ice like morsels, which may be understood either of large hail-stones, which are as ice in the air, or of the ice which covers the face of the waters, and when it is broken, though naturally it was as drops of drink, it is as morsels of meat, or crusts of bread. [4.] When we see the frost, and snow, and ice, we feel it in the air: Who can stand before his cold? The beasts cannot; they retire into dens (Job xxxvii. 8); they are easily conquered then, 2 Sam. xxiii. 20. Men cannot, but are forced to protect themselves by fires, or furs, or both, and all little enough where and when the cold is in extremity. We see not the causes when we feel the effects; and therefore we must call it his cold; it is of his sending, and therefore we must bear it patiently, and be thankful for warm houses, and clothes, and beds, to relieve us against the rigour of the season, and must give him the glory of his wisdom and sovereignty, his power and faithfulness, which shall not cease any more than summer, Gen. viii. 22. And let us also infer from it, If we cannot stand before the cold of his frosts, how can we stand before the heat of his wrath?
(2.) Thaws are from God. When he pleases (v. 18) he sends out his word and melts them; the frost, the snow, the ice, are all dissolved quickly, in order to which he causes the wind, the south wind, to blow, and the waters, which were frozen, flow again as they did before. We are soon sensible of the change, but we see not the causes of it, but must resolve it into the will of the First Cause. And in it we must take notice not only of the power of God, that he can so suddenly, so insensibly, make such a great and universal alteration in the temper of the air and the face of the earth (what cannot he do that does this every winter, perhaps often every winter?) but also of the goodness of God. Hard weather does not always continue; it would be sad if it should. He does not contend for ever, but renews the face of the earth. As he remembered Noah, and released him (Gen. viii. 1), so he remembers the earth, and his covenant with the earth, Son 2:11; Son 2:12. This thawing word may represent the gospel of Christ, and this thawing wind the Spirit of Christ (for the Spirit is compared to the wind, John iii. 8); both are sent for the melting of frozen souls. Converting grace, like the thaw, softens the heart that was hard, moistens it, and melts it into tears of repentance; it warms good affections, and makes them to flow, which, before, were chilled and stopped up. The change which the thaw makes is universal and yet gradual; it is very evident, and yet how it is done is unaccountable: such is the change wrought in the conversion of a soul, when God’s word and Spirit are sent to melt it and restore it to itself.
III. For his distinguishing favour to Israel, in giving them his word and ordinances, a much more valuable blessing than their peace and plenty (v. 14), as much as the soul is more excellent than the body. Jacob and Israel had God’s statutes and judgments among them. They were under his peculiar government; the municipal laws of their nation were of his framing and enacting, and their constitution was a theocracy. They had the benefit of divine revelation; the great things of God’s law were written to them. They had a priesthood of divine institution for all things pertaining to God, and prophets for all extraordinary occasions. No people besides went upon sure grounds in their religion. Now this was, 1. A preventing mercy. They did not find out God’s statutes and judgments of themselves, but God showed his word unto Jacob, and by that word he made known to them his statutes and judgments. It is a great mercy to any people to have the word of God among them; for faith comes by hearing and reading that word, that faith without which it is impossible to please God. 2. A distinguishing mercy, and upon that account the more obliging: “He hath not dealt so with every nation, not with any nation; and, as for his judgments, they have not known them, nor are likely to know them till the Messiah shall come and take down the partition-wall between Jew and Gentile, that the gospel may be preached to every creature.” Other nations had plenty of outward good things; some nations were very rich, others had pompous powerful princes and polite literature, but none were blessed with God’s statutes and judgments as Israel were. Let Israel therefore praise the Lord in the observance of these statutes. Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself to us, and not to the world! Even so, Father, because it seemed good in thy eyes.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
12. Celebrate Jehovah, O Jerusalem! Having spoken in general of the mercies of God, he again addresses his discourse to the Lord’s people, who alone, as we have remarked already, can appreciate them, calling upon them to recognize with thanksgiving the blessings which others riot upon without acknowledgment. Under the name of Jerusalem, he comprises the whole Church, for in that place the faithful then held their religious assemblies, and flowed together as it were to the standard of the Lord. Although he will take occasion afterwards again to speak of the government of the world at large, he here commemorates the goodness of God as manifested to his own people, in protecting his own Church, bountifully cherishing it, enriching it abundantly with all blessings, and preserving it in peace and safety from all harm. When he says that the bars of the gates are strengthened by God, he means that the holy city was perfectly guarded by him from all fear of hostile attack. To the same effect is the other expression which comes after — that all its bounds were made peace Enemies were under divine restraint so as to cause no disturbance or confusions. Not that the Church is always in a state of peace throughout its whole extent, and exempt from attack, but that God in a visible manner stretches forth his hand to repel these assaults, and it can securely survey the whole array of its enemies. A more extensive meaning indeed may be given to the term peace, which is often taken to signify a happy and prosperous condition. But as mention is made of bounds, the former sense seems most appropriate. The blessing of God enjoyed within is next spoken of, consisting in this, that the citizens dwell prosperously and happily in it, and are fed bountifully, even to satiety; which does not mean that the children of God always wallow in abundance. This might be the means of corrupting them, prone as our nature is to wantonness; but it suggests that they recognize the liberality of God in their daily food more clearly than others who want faith, and whom either abundance renders blind, or poverty vexes with deplorable anxiety, or covetousness inflames with a desire that never can be satisfied. God’s paternal favor was shown more particularly to our fathers under the law in the abundance of temporal provision, it being necessary to lead them forward to something higher by what was elementary.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(12) Praise.For this verb, properly stroke, or soothe, see Psa. 63:5.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. Praise the Lord The psalm bursts out afresh with joy at the condition of Jerusalem and the prospects of the nation. Israel returned from the captivity with the profound conviction, never again to be shaken, that the gods of other nations were vanity, and that Jehovah was God almighty, eternal, and alone.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
DISCOURSE: 748
TEMPORAL MERCIES A GROUND OF PRAISE [Note: Thanksgiving Sermon for Peace, written January 18, 1816. It is not to be supposed that the same circumstances will ever occur again; and therefore the first intention of the author was to omit them altogether. But he conceives that the statement of them may serve to shew, how any other existing circumstances may be, not unprofitably, stated, when the occasion shall call for it.]
Psa 147:12-14. 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.
THE common habit of mankind is, to rest in the gift, and forget the Giver. But we should make the gifts of God a ladder, as it were, whereby to ascend to him; and take occasion from every blessing he communicates, to magnify and adore that bounty from which it proceeds. Nor should we be so engrossed with our personal mercies, as to overlook those which are national. The pious Jews thought they could never sufficiently praise their God for his mercies vouchsafed to Israel. The theme that beyond all delighted them was, to recount the wonders of love and mercy which their nation had experienced from their first coming out of Egypt even to the day wherein they lived. Who was the author of this psalm we do not know: but it seems evidently to have been written after the return of the Jews from the Babylonish Captivity, and most probably in the times of Nehemiah, who rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem, and dedicated it to God with sacrifices and songs of praise [Note: Neh 12:27; Neh 12:43.]. Certainly Gods interpositions for that people exceeded all that ever he did for any other nation: but next to Israel, methinks, we of this country may adopt the language at the close of this psalm, He hath not dealt so with any nation [Note: ver. 20.]. Let us consider,
I.
The grounds here stated for praise to God
We forbear to enter on the Jewish history for the elucidation of our text: intending rather to confine ourselves to the mercies which we are at this time called to commemorate.
Behold then what the Lord hath done for us! Behold,
1.
The protection he hath afforded us from without
[Not a country in Europe, except our own, but has suffered from the ravages of war: yet we, with our vast extent of coast, assailable from every port in Europe, and with every power in Europe at one time leagued against us, have been preserved from invasion; notwithstanding we were, far beyond any other nation, the objects of envy and hatred to our most powerful foe; and notwithstanding the immense preparations that were made by him for our destruction. But God has truly strengthened the bars of our gates, so that they could not be forced; or rather he himself has been a wall of fire round about us, so that not even any serious attempt has been made to invade our land. Other nations far less accessible than ours have been made scenes of most dreadful devastation [Note: Russia, in 1812.]; but with respect to us, such a restraint has been imposed on our enemies, that they could never carry into execution their cruel projects [Note: Psa 124:1-8.].]
2.
The blessings with which he has loaded us within
[He hath blessed us with increase, so that, notwithstanding the ravages of war, our population has greatly increased. With union of sentiment he hath blessed us to an extent almost unprecedented in our history. The whole nation have been fully convinced, that the war was both just and necessary, and that it was carried on, not for the gratifying of ambition, but for security and independence. With a patient endurance of all the burthens occasioned by the war, all ranks and orders amongst us have also been greatly blessed. It could never have been conceived that such contributions could have been raised without exciting the most grievous complaints: but they have been paid with liberality and cheerfulness from one end of the land even to the other. With a respect for religion also we have been blessed beyond any former period of our existence as a nation. The societies that have sprung up, in the very midst of war, for the diffusion of the Holy Scriptures throughout the world, for the conversion of both Jews and Gentiles to the faith of Christ, for the instruction of the rising generation, and for the promotion of piety in every possible way, have far exceeded all that had arisen during whole centuries before. Truly these things abundantly shew how greatly God has blessed us; insomuch that we may say, like Israel of old, He hath not dealt so with any nation [Note: ver. 20.].]
3.
The restoration of peace in our borders
[With only two short intervals, the war has continued five and twenty years: and now at last we are favoured with a peace, which, we hope and trust, will be of long continuance. It is not such a peace as has been often made, a peace no better than an armed truce; but one which our enemy will scarcely venture to violate, seeing that all Europe is leagued together for its preservation. To say that it is a favourable peace, is to disparage it altogether: for it infinitely surpasses all that our most sanguine or ambitious statesmen of former days ever ventured to desire. It has left us too in a state of elevation, prosperity, and power, which our country never before attained. And we have the happiness to say, it is universal, in India, no less than in America and Europe. Now is the happy time come, when we may beat our swords into ploughshares, and our spears into pruning-hooks, and sit every one of us under our own vine and fig-tree, none making us afraid [Note: Mic 4:3-4.].]
4.
The abundant provision he has made for our wants
[When an extraordinary plenty was predicted by the prophet Elisha in Samaria, the answer given him by the chief courtier was, Behold, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be [Note: 1Ki 7:1-2.]? or, in other words, The thing is impossible. In the same strain would any one have replied, if the existing state of things had been predicted as to be accomplished amongst us. But behold, we are, contrary to all reasonable expectation, so filled with the finest of the wheat, that the very cheapness of it creates a general embarrassment: and this singular phenomenon exists, that the only subject of complaint heard in the nation at this time is, that God has been too good to us, and has overwhelmed us, as it were, with his superabundant kindness and bounty. The promise made to Israel has been almost literally fulfilled to us: he has given us such abundance, that we have scarcely room to receive it [Note: Mal 3:10.].]
Such being the circumstances of our country at this day, let us consider,
II.
Our duty arising from them
Every blessing which God bestows, whether on nations or individuals, calls for a suitable tribute of praise and thanksgiving. Such a tribute are we at this time called to pay: Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion.
In order that we may discharge this debt for so many mercies,
1.
Let us view the hand of God in them
[As war and pestilence and famine are judgments sent of God, so peace and all other national blessings are the gifts of his gracious providence. There is neither good nor evil in a city, but it proceeds from God. Especially must he be viewed in all those? great mercies which have been vouchsafed to us. Israel of old had not more abundant reason for the acknowledgments made by them, than we ourselves to adopt their strains [Note: See Psa 124:1-8.] We are but too apt to be looking to second causes, and to be giving to the creature the honour that is due to God only. But let us be on our guard against this, lest we turn into a curse every blessing that has been bestowed upon us.]
2.
Let us duly appreciate their value
[It is not easy for us, who have seen so little the calamities of war, to estimate in any measure aright, either the protection we have experienced, or the peace which has terminated all our dangers. But, if we could go over a field of battle where myriads of the dead and dying are strewed upon the ground; if we could traverse whole provinces which have been desolated by fire and sword, where countless multitudes are reduced to the utmost possible distress and misery by their pitiless enemies; if we could see with what rapid strides pestilence and famine are following in the train of war; methinks we should need no exhortation to gratitude for the blessings we now enjoy.
True it is that spiritual blessings are of incalculably greater importance: and if we could say, that we had been protected from the incursions of sin and Satanthat we had been blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ Jesus;that we had been brought to a state of peace with God and in our own consciencesand that we enjoyed in rich profusion the bread of lifewe should then have more abundant cause for praise. But we must not forget that our temporal blessings, especially when compared with the troubles which we might have been at this time enduring, have a most favourable aspect on our spiritual welfare; and that the more spiritual we are, the more disposed we shall be to acknowledge Gods kindness towards us, whereinsoever it has been displayed.
We must remember, too, that, as members of the great body of the nation, we are called to bless God for our national mercies. Now national mercies are of a temporal nature: no nation, as a nation, participates spiritual bleissings, any further than the mere external enjoyment of them: individuals alone have the grace of God in their hearts: and therefore, as members of the national body, we are bound, in whatever capacity we have received Gods mercies, in that capacity, as far as possible, gratefully to requite them.]
3.
Let us render unto God the tribute they demand
[Praise is surely the least that we can render for such accumulated blessings: and this, as is observed in the psalm before us, is both comely and pleasant [Note: ver. 1.]. Behold how Moses adored God for the deliverance of Israel from the Egyptian hosts [Note: Exodus 15.]! See how David makes every distinct blessing a subject of distinct acknowledgment, and no less than twenty-six times in as many short verses ascribes every thing to the free and everlasting mercy of his God [Note: Psalms 136. See particularly ver. 1, 2, 3, 26.]! And as David elsewhere calls on every rank and order of society to discharge that debt to God [Note: Psa 135:19-21; Psa 150:1-6.], so in our text both Jerusalem and Zion, both priests and people, are called upon to praise the Lord: yea, the psalm both begins and ends with this just requirement, Praise ye the Lord; praise ye the Lord. Let every one amongst us then stir up his soul to this blessed work; and let all that is within us bless his holy name.
Let us not however rest in acknowledgments, however devout. There is a more substantial way in which we are bound to praise him, that is, in our lives, by giving up ourselves to his service, and by walking before him in holiness and righteousness all our days. This is the union which God himself prescribes; Whoso offereth me praise, honoureth me; and to him that ordereth his conversation aright, will I shew the salvation of God [Note: Psa 50:23.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
New and increasing claims are upon Zion, for renewed instances of divine favor. And, Reader! this is your case, and mine. Every day, nay every moment, Jesus visits his people, Isa 27:3 . And how are we secured like the bars of Zion’s gates, in the arms of Jehovah! Deu 33:27 ; Joh 10:28-29 . How are they blessed within, with the fine wheat of the bread of life, and the peace of God in Christ! Joh 6:51 ; Eph 1:7 . How doth the Lord send forth his word to melt the soul; and cause the north wind, and the south wind to blow upon his garden! Luk 24:32 ; Son 4:16 ; Tit 3:5-6 . Surely every child of God can bear testimony to these things; and every child of God in the contemplation of discriminating grace will say, He hath not dealt so with any nation. Lord, how is it that thou hast manifested thyself to me and not unto the world? Joh 14:22 . And, under a deep sense of these things, shall we not say, Hallelujah?
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 147:12 Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion.
Ver. 12. Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem ] Whatever the world doth, let not the Church defraud God of his due praises; “though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend,” Hos 4:15 . God’s blessings go round about graceless and ungrateful people; and they are no more moved than the earth that hath the circumference carried about it, and itself standeth still; but the saints must be of another alloy, Col 3:15 , and there is good reason for it.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 147:12-20
12Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
13For He has strengthened the bars of your gates;
He has blessed your sons within you.
14He makes peace in your borders;
He satisfies you with the finest of the wheat.
15He sends forth His command to the earth;
His word runs very swiftly.
16He gives snow like wool;
He scatters the frost like ashes.
17He casts forth His ice as fragments;
Who can stand before His cold?
18He sends forth His word and melts them;
He causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow.
19He declares His words to Jacob,
His statutes and His ordinances to Israel.
20He has not dealt thus with any nation;
And as for His ordinances, they have not known them.
Praise the Lord!
Psa 147:12-20 This third strophe (Psa 147:12-20) also starts off with imperatives of praise.
1. praise – BDB 986, KB 1387, Piel imperative
2. praise – BDB 237, KB 248, Piel imperative
He is worthy of praise because of His covenant fidelity (esp. Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 27-30) towards Israel (i.e., Jerusalem. . .Zion).
1. strengthens the fortifications of Jerusalem (i.e., gate bars)
2. blesses
a. the children of the city (i.e., health, their number)
b. the people inside the city (TEV)
3. brings peace to the land
4. provides a good crop
5. controls the weather (Psa 147:16-18) so as to sustain agricultural abundance (i.e., covenant promises, cf. Psa 147:19)
6. His special relationship (i.e., revelation) to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob
Psa 147:14 b the finest of wheat This is a metaphor of agricultural abundance (cf. Psa 81:16) because grain was such a staple of the ANE diet.
Psa 147:15 God’s word is personified as running rapidly (i.e., going into all creation). In Hebrew thought God’s word was a creative power (cf. Genesis 1). Once given, it would accomplish its purpose (cf. Isa 45:23; Isa 55:11).
Psa 147:19 words. . .statutes. . .ordinances See SPECIAL TOPIC: TERMS FOR GOD’S REVELATION .
Psa 147:20 b they have not known them God’s revelation was a special gift. It was meant to be lived out as a witness to the nations. Israel failed in this! See Special Topic: YHWH Eternal Redemptive Plan .
The UBS Text Project rates this phrase as C (considerable doubt). It recommends it as over against the NEB, he does not let them know. This difference is
1. MT, NASB – –
2. NEB, REB – –
Psa 147:20 c The Psalm closes as it beganHallelujah!
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk n the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought provoking, not definitive.
1. How do you explain Psa 145:6; Psa 145:8-13 focusing on all men and Psalms 147 focusing on Israel (esp. Psa 147:19-20)?
2. Why is Psa 147:4 so theologically significant in an ANE setting?
3. How is Psa 147:7-9 related to Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 27-30?
4. God’s sustaining providence described in Psa 147:16-18 provides nature with consistent patterns. How did this affect the development of the scientific method in western culture?
5. Does Psa 147:20 imply that God does not share Himself or His revelation with Gentiles?
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Praise the LORD. Not the same word as in Psa 147:1. Used only by David and Solomon. Zion. See App-68. Zion then still standing.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 147:12-20
Psa 147:12-20
DIVISION III
Briggs’ summary: Jerusalem is summoned to laud Yahweh, who hath restored her prosperity (Psa 147:12-14), whose word governs snow and frost and hail (Psa 147:15-17). His word at the same time directs winds and waters, and gives to Israel a Law, thereby distinguishing them from other nations (Psa 147:18-20).
“Praise Jehovah, 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;
He filleth thee with the finest of wheat.
He Sendeth out his commandment upon earth;
His word runneth very swiftly.
He giveth snow like wool;
He scattereth the hoar-frost like ashes.
He casteth forth his ice like morsels:
Who can stand before his cold?
He sendeth out his word and melteth them:
He causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow.
He showeth his word unto Jacob,
His statutes and his ordinances unto Israel.
He hath not dealt so with any nation;
And as for his ordinances, they have not known them.
Praise ye Jehovah.”
“Praise Jehovah, O Jerusalem; Praise thy God, O Zion” (Psa 147:12). “Once more the call goes forth to the church on the soil of the land of promise assembled round about Jerusalem.” Again, this call to praise God marks the beginning of the third and final division.
“He hath strengthened the bars of thy gates” (Psa 147:13 a). As Miller noted, we have the past tense here, indicating that the gates of the holy city are in place and that the bars have been strengthened. Note the progress evident in the psalm. In Psa 147:2 the building was in progress; here the walls are completed, the gates erected, and the bars strengthened. The security of ancient cities was sealed by the heavy bars of wood, reinforced with metal strips, locked into metal brackets embedded within the masonry of the walls. The “strengthening” mentioned here probably refers to the fastening of the long strips of heavy metal to the wooden bars. A number of men were required to lift these “bars” into position when the city was secured at nightfall.
“He hath blessed thy children within thee” (Psa 147:13 b). The placement of these mighty “bars” brought an added security to Jerusalem. During the these mighty “bars” brought an added security to Jerusalem. During the near-century long work of rebuilding Jerusalem, there was a feeling of insecurity on the part of the chosen people, surrounded as they were by many enemies. “Praise God! He had allowed the achievement of a new measure of their peace and security.”
“He maketh peace in thy borders; he fiileth thee with the finest of wheat” (Psa 147:14). McCaw pointed out that God had granted Israel a fourfold blessing, “Security (Psa 147:13 a), numbers (Psa 147:13 b), peace (Psa 147:14 a), and provision (Psa 147:14 b).” But over and above such material blessings, the chosen people were covered and protected by the loving favor of God Himself, who contrary to every worldly expectation, and despite the long bitter record of the human race that denied even the possibility of such a thing, God had indeed returned a whole nation from captivity, re-established them in Zion, rebuilt their city, erected new walls around it, and strengthened the bars of the gates!
“He maketh peace in thy borders” (Psa 147:14 a). This is an historical illustration of one of the oldest principles of national security, that of `peace through strength.’ “The completion of the walls and gates of Jerusalem brought an end to the troubles caused by Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem, and established peace and tranquility in Israel.”
What an incredible tragedy is it that when God came to visit Israel in the Person of the Dayspring from on High, that Israel not only hated him, but achieved his execution on a Roman cross by the pagan Gentiles!
Psa 147:15-18 emphasize THE CAUSE of all the wonders that have encompassed Israel. What is that? It is the Word of God!
“He sendeth out his commandment” (Psa 147:15 a) … “His word runneth very swiftly” (Psa 147:15 b) … “He sendeth out his word” (Psa 147:18) … “He showeth his word unto Jacob” (Psa 147:19 a) … “His statutes and ordinances (he showeth) unto Israel” (Psa 147:19 b).
“The word dominates this entire section. The word here spoken of (Psa 147:19) is the written word, that is, the Pentateuch.” In the previous reference (Psa 147:15) `the word’ sent out upon the earth is that which, hurled the suns in space, said, “Let there be light,” and gathered the seas into one place.’
“Snow like wool … hoar-frost like ashes … ice like morsels … cold” (Psa 147:16-17). “These various forms of cold are compared respectively to wool for whiteness, to ashes (or dust) for quantity, and to morsels for comparatively large hailstones. These things are mentioned here not merely as specimens of the divine sovereignty over nature; but because they were unusual in Palestine.”
Allen criticized Psa 147:17. “The size of the hailstones is exuberantly extolled with some hyperbole.” Hyperbole, of course, means exaggeration for the sake of emphasis; but there is no exaggeration here. Even if a morsel should be understood as a very large biscuit, there is no exaggeration. This writer has measured and photographed hailstones over three and one half inches in diameter. Furthermore, Delitzsch here took the word morsels to mean crumbs or fragments and suggested the meaning as “sleet.”
“He showeth his word unto Jacob” (Psa 147:19). Great indeed was the Word of God revealed to Jacob and recorded for all men in the Old Testament. However, that law was altogether a temporary device, “Because of transgressions, it was added until the seed should come (Christ) to whom the promise hath been made” (Gal 3:19). In the present dispensation of God’s grace, the word of Christ (the New Testament) takes precedence over everything in the Law of Moses. It is not Moses’ law that shall judge men and angels at the last day. Jesus said, “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my word, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I spake, the same shall judge him in the last day” (Joh 12:48). “Praise ye Jehovah” (Psa 147:20 b). This, of course, is the terminal `Hallelujah.’ Delitzsch assures us that, “This Hallelujah does not exult over the fact that other nations are not acquainted with any such divine law, but over the fact that Israel is put into the possession of such a law.” However, what if some Israelites still had the spirit of Jonah? Then the comment would not be correct.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 147:12. All praise and other service offered to God must be done through the proper channel. The headquarters of God’s system at that time were in Zion, and that was a particular part of the city of Jerusalem.
Psa 147:13. Jerusalem is the antecedent of thy. It refers to the support the Lord had given to the capital city of his beloved nation.
Psa 147:14. The same city is meant and the peace has special reference to the successful rule of Jerusalem over the enemy. Finest of the wheat denotes the temporal blessings which God assured to the citizens of the holy city.
Psa 147:15. This is still on the control of God over the works of creation. The word of the Lord is sufficient to bring to pass any result that is divinely desired.
Psa 147:16. This is a comparative description of the work of God in the elements of the weather or seasons.
Psa 147:17. God controls the rainfall for the crops, and he likewise has complete charge of the winter season with its products.
Psa 147:18. When the cold temperature of winter has served the Lord’s purposes, he brings the thawing forces of the springtime, filling the streams and rills. All of this agrees with the promise made in Gen 8:22.
Psa 147:19. The special covenant that God made was with his own people. Jacob was the father of the 12 sons who composed the nation. That nation was called Israel, one of the names of their common ancestor (Gen 32:28).
Psa 147:20. God has bestowed the blessings of nature on all nations alike, but his statutes of government were given only to Israel. The chapter closes with the familiar words that are sometimes rendered “Hallelujah.”
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Peace and Prosperity
Psa 147:12-20
From Psa 147:12 on there is a more personal address to Jerusalem and Zion. The thee and thou justify the application of the psalm to the spiritual condition of the Church and the individual. Gods work in nature illustrates His dealings with His children. Are we strengthened against temptation, as a city with bars and bolts, blessed with peace, and filled with the fine flour of gospel truth? It is because He hath so appointed it by His commandment and swiftly-running word. Is it winter, the air full of blinding snowflakes; rime everywhere, as if the frost-king had powdered the earth and bound the waters with His chain? Be of good cheer; God is in it all. Winter is needed to pulverize the soil; but as soon as it has done its necessary work, the warm breath of His manifested love will breathe over desolations, and all the frost and snow will hasten to be gone. Will God give so much thought to garnishing the home in which His children live and neglect them? Besides, He has shown us so many wonderful judgments and such discoveries of His character, that He is pledged to us. Hallelujah!
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
praise thy God: Psa 135:19-21, Psa 146:10, Psa 149:2, Isa 12:6, Isa 52:7, Joe 2:23
Reciprocal: Psa 69:35 – God Isa 33:13 – ye that are near Isa 41:10 – for I am thy God
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 147:12. Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem, O Zion O holy city, O holy hill. For where should praise be offered to God, if not there where his altar is? And where should glory be given to him, if not in his house, the beauty of holiness? Let the inhabitants of Jerusalem praise God in their own houses; let the priests and Levites that attend in Zion, the city of their solemnities, in a special manner praise him. They have more cause to do it than others. and they lie under greater obligations; for it is their business, it is their profession. Praise thy God, O Zion He is thine, and therefore thou art bound to praise him; his being thine includes all happiness, and therefore thou canst never want matter for praise.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
3. God’s instrument of blessing 147:12-20
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 147:12 introduces a third round of praise (cf. Psa 147:1; Psa 147:7). The psalmist called on the Israelites to praise God because He had brought security, stability, peace, and prosperity to Jerusalem again.