Psalms
Chapter 147
Praise To God for the Care of His Own
Alleluia!How good it is to sing to our God,how sweet and befitting, to praise him!
The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem;he gathers the exiles of Israel;
he heals their broken hearts and binds up their wounds.
He determines the number of stars;he calls each of them by name.
The Lord is great, and mighty in power;his wisdom is beyond measure.
The Lord lifts up the humble,but casts the wicked to the ground.
Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving,make music on the harp for our God.
With clouds he covers the sky,and provides the earth with rain;he covers the hills with grassand with plants, for man to cultivate.
He provides food for the cattle,even for the young ravens when they call.
He is not concerned with the strength of a horse; nor is he pleased in the speed of a runner;
The Lord delights in those who fear him and expect him to care for them.
Exalt the Lord, O Jerusalem;praise your God, O Zion!
For he strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses your children within you.
He grants peace on your borders and feeds you with the finest grain.
He sends his command to the earth and swiftly runs his word.
He spreads snow like wool;he scatters frost like ashes.
He hurls down hail like pebbles;who will stand before his icy blasts?
But he sends his word and melts the snow;he makes his breeze blow,and again the waters flow.
It is he, who tells Jacob his words;his laws and decrees, to Israel.
This, he has not done for other nations,so his laws remain unknown to them.Alleluia!
Commentaries
147
God knows each of the countless stars; not a sparrow falls without his knowledge, and the hairs of our head are numbered. He does not want us to try to compete with him in power but simply to trust in his love for us. The second part of this psalm praises God’s care for Israel. In the beginning was the Word, creating all things, including even disruptive elements—like transforming flowing water into solid ice or causing snowfall in the hot land of Palestine! And He can change us too: the Word of God, Jesus Christ, reveals God’s will; He is the Way, guiding us from misery to peace and happiness.
Our God bridges the gap between the order of the universe and each of our lives. He calls the stars by name and lifts up the humble. He is close to each of his children, but He comes to them through the reality—often misleadingly human—of his Church.
The Jews marveled at water turning to ice: how could God transform the elements so? Similarly, we marvel when God melts situations in our world that once seemed permanently frozen.
From this psalm, we can turn to the Johannine hymn (Jn 1:1-14) and then return to the psalm. We are God’s people on a journey on this earth, gathered in the Church. We pray this psalm of thanksgiving because it is proper and essential to give unceasing thanks to God through Jesus.