Psalm 147:1, Fitting to sing
Praise the LORD.
How good it is to sing praises to our God,
how pleasant and fitting to praise him!
It is fitting to sing praises to God. And also, pleasant and good, says the psalmist. (The Hebrew word zamar, זָמַר, means "to sing praises.")
Psalm 147:2-3, Building Israel
The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the exiles of Israel.
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
YHWH intervenes in the life of Jerusalem and Israel, taking care of the wounded and broken. The rebuilding of Jerusalem and the gathering of exiles would place this psalm in the Second Temple period of Ezra and Nehemiah.
Kidner sees a lot in common between this psalm and the promises of Isaiah 40.
Psalm 147:4-5, Names the stars
He determines the number of the stars
and calls them each by name.
Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
his understanding has no limit.
With his gaze moving from earth into the heavens, the psalmist says that God names the stars and His knowledge and understanding is infinite. (We now estimate that there are 100,000,000,000 galaxies averaging 100,000,000,000 stars each, giving us roughly 10^22 stars in the visible universe. Abram is, of course, unable to count the stars in Genesis 15:5 but God knows each of them.)
Psalm 147:6, Humble righteous
The LORD sustains the humble
but casts the wicked to the ground.
YHWH supports the humble and is opposed to the wicked.
Psalm 147:7, Sing with harp!
Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;
make music to our God on the harp.
It is right to make music and sing worship songs to God.
Psalm 147:8-11, Lord of all Creation
He covers the sky with clouds;
he supplies the earth with rain
and makes grass grow on the hills.
He provides food for the cattle
and for the young ravens when they call.
His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his delight in the legs of a man;
the LORD delights in those who fear him,
who put their hope in his unfailing love.
The gaze of the psalmist moves down from the stars, to the clouds and rain and then the earth and its inhabitants. Ultimately, one's power is trust in YHWH, not in the physical strength of men or horses.
Psalm 147:12-14, Peace to our borders
Extol the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion,
for he strengthens the bars of your gates
and blesses your people within you.
He grants peace to your borders
and satisfies you with the finest of wheat.
God protects Jerusalem, barring the gates to invaders, providing peace within its borders and giving abundant crops of wheat. The Septuagint (says Kidner) breaks this psalm in two, placing verses 1-11 in one psalm and 12-20 in the next.
Psalm 147:15-18, Snow like wool
He sends his command to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
He spreads the snow like wool
and scatters the frost like ashes.
He hurls down his hail like pebbles.
Who can withstand his icy blast?
He sends his word and melts them;
he stirs up his breezes,
and the waters flow.
God's "word" in verse 15 is His command; what He commands will happen. (See also Isaiah 55:11.)
Verse 16, "He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes" is, in Hebrew, the alliterative
kaṣ·ṣā·mer kə·p̄ō·wr, kā·’ê·p̄er yə·p̄az·zêr.
(literally "like wool the frost like ashes He scatters.")
Psalm 147:19-20, Only Israel
He has revealed his word to Jacob,
his laws and decrees to Israel.
He has done this for no other nation;
they do not know his laws.
Praise the LORD.
The final words of the song bring us back to the descendants of Jacob, God's special people.
First published December 3, 2025; updated December 3, 2025
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