PRAISE YE THE LORD. (Part 3)
Psalm 147. Verses 1-4 read .
“Praise the Lord . How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him! The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the exiles of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.”
Psalm 147 is yet another call to praise the Lord. As long as the call persists, praise must keep flowing from the living. Today’s call is based on three qualities of praise; praise is good, pleasant, and befitting of the Lord. Praise is good because it ascribes to God his worth. It is pleasant because, in praise, God is exalted, and man is refreshed. Praise is befitting of God because his acts attest to his unlimited ability. Beloved, God can not praise himself, so we, the beneficiaries of his goodness, must do so.
Today’s text specifically calls on the children of Israel unto praise. The call points to the fact that God is the builder of Jerusalem, the city of peace. The word “peace” used here is generic, and it encompasses rest, prosperity, and fruitfulness. If we have enjoyed this dimension of peace in our lives, let us know that God is the source of this peace. He therefore deserves our praise.
The psalmist gives credit to God for the build-up of Jerusalem and the gathering of the exiles of Israel. He mentions that the Lord heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. A summary of the aforementioned is that God bestows on his people his goodness and positions them in a wholesome environment to prevail. Going down memory lane, you will surely identify how you, a family member, or friend have been freed from an unpleasant situation that could be compared to an exile. God turns lives around such that the pain and agony suffered falls out of memory, and even where it is recalled, it serves as a reference to celebrate God’s goodness.
The psalmist also refers to God as the one who determines the number of the stars and calls each of them by name. Astrologers estimate millions of stars in the Milky Way alone. As for God, the Creator, He can give the exact number and specific names of each star. He accounts for all the stars. This is an expression of just a minute aspect of God’s omniscience.
Beloved, this is the God to whom we owe our lives and existence. He is simply awesome in all his acts and ways. Praise must therefore be the natural outflow of our hearts unto God. He is great and worthy of all praise. Praise ye the Lord.
SHALOM 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏