Do you praise God every day? Do you thank Him for anything and everything? We are supposed to be worshipers first, then workers. This psalm was written about the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, when God brought the Jews back from 70 years of exile in Babylon. It shows God’s unfailing love by what He’s done. It assures us that what He did for Israel back then, He can do for those who fear Him and put their HOPE in Him and Him only. Let’s dig in…
Psalm 147
Praise the Lord!
How good to sing praises to our God!
How delightful and how fitting!
2 The Lord is rebuilding Jerusalem
and bringing the exiles back to Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted
and bandages their wounds.
4 He counts the stars
and calls them all by name.
5 How great is our Lord! His power is absolute!
His understanding is beyond comprehension!
6 The Lord supports the humble,
but he brings the wicked down into the dust.7 Sing out your thanks to the Lord;
sing praises to our God with a harp.
8 He covers the heavens with clouds,
provides rain for the earth,
and makes the grass grow in mountain pastures.
9 He gives food to the wild animals
and feeds the young ravens when they cry.
10 He takes no pleasure in the strength of a horse
or in human might.
11 No, the Lord’s delight is in those who fear him,
those who put their hope in his unfailing love.12 Glorify the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For he has strengthened the bars of your gates
and blessed your children within your walls.
14 He sends peace across your nation
and satisfies your hunger with the finest wheat.
15 He sends his orders to the world—
how swiftly his word flies!
16 He sends the snow like white wool;
he scatters frost upon the ground like ashes.
17 He hurls the hail like stones [in Hebrew: bread crumbs].
Who can stand against his freezing cold?
18 Then, at his command, it all melts.
He sends his winds, and the ice thaws.
19 He has revealed his words to Jacob,
his decrees and regulations to Israel.
20 He has not done this for any other nation;
they do not know his regulations.Praise the Lord!
Psalm 147 NLT
God Builds the Cities
First and foremost, understand that God is in control of everything — the whole world. Subsequently, He cares for us. Pastor Sandy Adams explains…
Ultimately, it wasn’t Nehemiah who built walls of Jerusalem, it was his God. The Lord was the superintendent. Nehemiah rebuilt the walls, but God had lives to rebuild. After 70 years of captivity, the Jews who returned to Jerusalem were brokenhearted and shattered. God re-gathered them to Jerusalem to mend their wounds. “Jerusalem” means “city of peace.” God wanted His troubled people to be at peace…
The fulfillment of this psalm is obviously still future. Not until Jesus returns, will there be peace in the streets of Jerusalem. Today, children fear war. The police drive through East Jerusalem in vans with medal grates over their windows – to fend off rocks thrown by young Palestinians. The Jerusalem city limits are not the borders of peace.
…Today it’s a law, when Israeli school children go on a field trip they have to be accompanied by an armed chaperone – with an automatic rifle. Only when Jesus returns will the city of peace truly be at peace…
…The Scriptures, the true knowledge of God, made Israel special among the nations…
…It grieves the heart of God that the Jews reject Jesus as their Messiah, and opposed the spread of the Gospel within their borders.
Yet, despite her rebellion, Israel has and always will hold favored nation status with God. The Jewish state is the only country on earth that’s signed covenants with God, and that He’s agreed to bless forever.
Sandy Adams
God’s Plan is Our Hope
From Genesis to Revelation, God outlines His plan for humankind. As He told Abram…
“Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”
Genesis 12:1-3 NLT
God keeps His promises! We know that by all the fulfilled prophecies. The Book of Revelation is not just a prophecy book, but a book of promises that God will keep. Through God’s unfailing love, He sent His Son, Jesus, to carry our sins away on the cross. He defeated sin and death when He rose from the grave 3 days later. Because of His victory, we have His HOPE that this world is not all there is.
Paul wrote…
23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.
Romans 3:23-26 NLT
Thus, we as born-again believers have the Hope of the Rapture, which is imminent. We have the Hope of the Wedding Feast — who doesn’t like a party? God promises that we won’t be on earth during the Great Tribulation. We have the assurance of a one-way, non-stop ticket to Heaven if we die before the Rapture.
Finally, we have Confident Hope in the New Heaven and the New Earth, living with Jesus for eternity.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
8 “But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
Revelation 21:1-4, 8 NLT
You have a choice to make while you’re still alive and of sound mind. We all will spend eternity somewhere — Heaven or Hell. The choice is yours.
Isn’t it about time you let Him in?
