- Read Psalm 147 from the ESV.
- Read my Psalm 147 poem from A New Song.
Psalm 147 directs us to praise God because praise pleases God. God seems to enjoy a good melody like everyone else. Or maybe we enjoy a good melody because God enjoys one and we are created in his image!
Nearly all of us know what happens when we encounter a good melody: we can’t stop singing it! I promise to not name any songs, but we all know of a song or two that if we hear them we can’t get them out of our head. Most are pleasing to us, but there are some that are not. For instance, there was this one commercial I remember that…well, on second thought, never mind.
I’m not a songwriter, in fact, my musical abilities extend only to turning on and off the radio or i-pod. And even then, I confused the fast-forward and reverse buttons! But, if I were a musician, I would want to write a song based on Psalm 147 because it has two amazing themes that, although distinct and unique, if sung together would make perfect harmony. Any Psalm 147 song would be one of those melodies we couldn’t stop singing because it is true and it is good and it is pleasing to God.
The first theme in Psalm 147 is the work God does for his people (vv, 2-3, 6, 10-11, 13-14, and 19-20). God builds up Jerusalem. He gathers the outcast. He heals the brokenhearted. He binds up wounds. God cares deeply for humanity and wants everyone, not just the 1%, to find their home in him. This theme, recurring throughout scripture, is the second part of the great commandment: love your neighbor as yourself. When we sing this theme – when we live it – we not only praise God’s work among his people, we actively participate in carrying on God’s work. God does not want us to sit and watch him work, he wants us all to go into the world and make disciples. A big part of making disciples – perhaps the main part of making disciples – is to love others as Christ loves them.
The second theme in Psalm 147 is God’s vast and amazing power and wisdom (vv, 4-5, 8-9, and 15-18). The psalmist writes of God’s power in the universe. He created, maintains, and names all the stars of the universe. On a normal night we can look up in the sky and probably reason that such ability to name them isn’t that great, but let’s not forget that according to many scientists there are estimated to be more than 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars. (I don’t even know how to name that number, let alone all the stars it represents!) Imagine the ability to not only create such a vast number of stars but to also name them individually. Not only does he create and name the stars, but he also brings clouds and rain to earth so that plants and animals are fed. God cares about the stars. God cares about the sparrow. God cares about giving life to his creation. This theme is also found throughout scripture. In fact, it seems to be much like the first part of the great commandment which is to love the LORD our God. And a big part of loving God is to sing praises of his greatness.
Not only are these themes connected in scripture, I think they are connected in nature. Although, there are many people who believe as Carl Sagan does who wrote “The universe is a pretty big place. If it’s just us, it seems like an awful waste of space.” Scientists estimate that space is roughly 14 to 17 billion light-years in its width. (That is about 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 miles wide, if I did my math correctly.) Given this size it is difficult, they say, to imagine that this universe is employed solely to support human life.
But I think there is another way to look at the vastness of space. Imagine for a minute that God’s purpose in creating this universe was so that he could place his image-bearing humanity into it. And, given the way Genesis 1 and 2 are written, this seems to be exactly what God did. Does this preclude life elsewhere? I don’t know. But I do know that it’s not difficult to believe that God created the entirety of space so as to support life on this one planet. Besides being absolutely beautiful, the universe is absolutely functional as well. Maybe this is why the second theme in Psalm 147 begins by praising God for the stars (v. 4), then moves to the earth, then the mountains, the animals, the weather, and finally flowing waters which provide life (v. 18). Maybe the complexity and vastness of the universe has been created solely to sustain the life of God’s only image-bearers – mankind.
When I step back and look at how the psalmist constructed Psalm 147 I see that he has woven both themes together in such a way so that they both conclude with God’s word giving life. The first theme – God’s love for his people – concludes in verse 19 with the revelation of God’s word – his statutes and his rules – to Israel. The second theme – God’s power and wisdom – concludes with God’s word melting ice and providing waters to flow on the face of the earth. God’s work in creation mimics his work with humanity. God’s word brings life to a dead planet; it also brings life to a dead soul.
The psalmist, along with the prophet Isaiah, calls for us to join the mountains, the hills, and the trees as they clap their hands and burst forth in song. Nature knows that God’s word brings life, and it praises him for it. Should we not then join nature’s song as we know that God’s word brings life to a dead and dying world. Such a song would be a pleasing melody to the LORD. I don’t think anyone would mind if they couldn’t get that song out of their head!
