Annotations Upon the Books of Poetry, Psalms · Psalm 147
PSALM CXLVII.
Verſ. 1. PRaiſe ye the Lord; for it is good to ſing praiſes to our God, &c.] To wit, becauſe it is a duty we owe to God, a ſervice wherewith God is much delighted, and which yields much benefit and advantage to us: for it is pleaſant; to wit, to thoſe that are truly the children of God, though to the wicked nothing is more weariſome, then are the duties of his worſhip & ſervice: & praiſe is comely; ſee Pſal 33.1. Now for the occaſion of compoſing this Pſalm, ſome paſſages make it moſt probable, that it was written, either to encourage Gods people that were captives in Babylon, to wait with hope for their deliverance; or rather when they were already returned, & were repairing their city & temple, as appears verſ. 13. He hath ſtrengthened the bars of thy gates, &c. but eſpecially by that which follows in the next verſe.
Verſ. 2. The Lord doth build up Ieruſalem, &c.] As this is meant of the Lords promoting the work of the Jews in repairing the city Jeruſalem after their return from Babylon; ſo it may be alſo meant of the ſpirituall building of the Church, which is not done by any power or wiſdome of man, but merely by the mighty power of God, who encreaſeth their number, & advanceth their proſperous eſtate, at his pleaſure, and reſtores them to a better condition, when their enemies have made any havock amongſt them. And ſo likewiſe the following clauſe, he gathereth together the outcaſts of Iſrael, may be underſtood both of Gods bringing home the ſcattered Iſraelites from the Babylonian captivity, & likewiſe of Gods gathering together all his elect for the building up of his Church, or of his reducing the ſtraying members of his Church, that have been as oft for a time.
Verſ. 3. He healeth the broken in heart, &c.] To wit, with ſorrow, either for their afflictions or ſins: & bindeth up their wounds; that is, cureth them both of their miſeries & ſorrows. For it is a metaphoricall expreſſion taken from ſurgeons, who by their skilfull binding up the wounds of their patients, do chiefly promote the healing of them.
Verſ. 4. He telleth the number of the ſtars, &c.] That is, He knoweth exactly how many ſtars there are. As for the next words, he calleth them all by their names, either the ſame thing is again there repeated in other tearms, to wit, that God knoweth them all as exactly & particularly, as we know thoſe men whom we can preſently upon ſight call by their names; or elſe the meaning is, that he gives them all their ſeverall names: whereby may be implyed 1. the perfect knowledge that he hath of them, in that he can give them names anſwerable to their ſeverall qualities and operations; & 2. the power and command that he hath over them, becauſe maſters were wont to give names to their ſervants, & parents to their children; and conſequently that he knoweth all, as a maſter knoweth thoſe of his houſhold that are at his diſpoſing, and that he aſſigns to each of them their ſeverall and diſtinct places & offices & motions & influences, ſo that though there be ſuch an innumorable multitude of them, yet there is no confuſion amongſt them. The place is much like that Iſa. 40.26. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created theſe things, that bringeth out their hoſt by number, he calleth them all by names, &c. where God is compared to a captain or commander, and is ſaid to muſter and keep a liſt of the ſtars, as they do of their companies; & to bring them forth, as they draw forth their ſouldiers into the fields on a training day, each one in his rank and order. But however the drift of the Pſalmiſt in theſe words is, to ſhew how praiſeworthy God is in regard of his infinite power & wiſedome. And many adde too, that hereby he would imply, that therefore it cannot be unlikely that this God ſhould diſtinctly know all his people, that ſhall one day ſhine as ſtars before him, though ſcattered abroad in ſeverall countries, & that he ſhould gather them and bring them home together to their own land, according to what was ſaid before verſ. 2. And indeed if this were intended, it might well be judged probable, that theſe expreſſions were here uſed in reference to that promiſe made to Abraham, that his ſeed ſhould be as the ſtars for number, Gen. 15.5.
Verſ. 6. The Lord lifteth up the meek, &c.] To wit, both by comforting them, and by raiſing them from an afflicted eſtate to live proſperouſly: he caſteth the wicked down to the ground; to wit, ſuch as were exalted with a high conceit of their own power, and deſpiſed and derided the judgements of God.
Verſ. 8. Who maketh graſſe to grow upon the mountains.] See the Notes Job 38.26. and Pſal. 104.13.
Verſ. 9. He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens that cry.] To wit, though they are of thoſe ſorts of fowls that are moſt deſpiſed by men, as being rather hurtfull, then any way profitable, and ſuch as they never uſe for meat. But ſee the Note Job 38.41.
Verſ. 10. He delighteth not in the ſtrength of the horſe; he taketh not pleaſure in the legs of a man.] That is, in mens nimbleneſſe, high ſtature or ſtrength. The meaning of the whole verſe is, that God cares not for companies of horſe or foot, or any ſuch outward helps, for the delivering of his people out of trouble; nor conſequently for any outward means that may be helpfull for their good.
Verſ. 13. For he hath ſtrengthened the bars of thy gates, &c.] Many conceive that this is ſpoken with reference to what was done in Nehemiahs time, when they repaired the ſeverall gates of Jeruſalem, and as it is ſaid Nehem. 3.3. ſet up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof: And ſo likewiſe that which follows, he hath bleſsed thy children within thee; that is, thy inhabitants, or their children.
Verſ. 14. He maketh peace in thy borders, &c.] That is, He preſerveth the borders of thy countrey round about from the invaſion of forreign enemies: and f…lleth thee with the finest of the wheat; which is in the Hebrew, the fat of the wheat, for which ſee the Note Deut. 32.14.
Verſ. 15. He ſendeth forth his commandement upon earth; his word runneth very ſwiftly.] That is, Whatever he commandeth, it is preſently done. And this he proves by the ſnows and froſts, mentioned in the following verſes, which come many times in ſudden changes of weather ſuddenly and unexpectedly. Whereby alſo is covertly hinted to us, that God can make as ſudden changes alſo in the civil ſtate and condition of his people.
Verſ. 16. He giveth ſnow, like wooll, &c.] To wit, not only becauſe it is white and ſoft & light, and when the flakes are any thing great, ſeems to fall like ſo many locks of wooll, (whence the heathens of old have alſo called it foreign, woolly water;) but alſo eſpecially becauſe it keeps the corn in the earth warm, and covers it from the cold wind like a garment of wooll. And obſervable alſo it is, that becauſe the ſnow doth uſually fall gently from the clouds, therefore is the expreſſion here uſed for this, he giveth ſnow like wooll, ſo different from that which is uſed in the following verſe concerning the hail, he caſteth forth his yee, becauſe that doth commonly fall with a violent tempeſt. And ſo likewiſe that next expreſſion, he ſcattereth the hoare froſt like ashes, is grounded upon this, that it fals not ſo thick as the ſnow doth, nor is ſo white, but rather indeed of an aſh-colour, and likewiſe becauſe it warms and battens the earth, even as dung and aſhes do.
Verſ. 17. He caſteth forth his yee like morſels, &c.] That is, great ycy hailſtones. Some, I know, underſtand this of thoſe pieces or cantles of yee, which will be in ſeverall places on the ground in froſty weather, whereever there was any water ſtanding; and that it is ſaid that God caſts it forth, becauſe it comes ſuddenly at Gods command: for of the hail they conceive it cannot be meant, becauſe that fals moſt frequently in the ſpring or ſummer. But becauſe thoſe words, He caſteth forth his yee, do ſeem clearly to be meant of an yee that is caſt down with violence from the clouds, (ſee the foregoing Note) I rather think it is meant of hailſtones, which fall like bits or gobbets of bread. And I conceive that that which is noted here as obſervable is, that the water that freezeth in the air doth not freeze & fall down in huge pieces and rocks of yce, ſuch as are in rivers and other waters here below, which muſt needs overwhelm & deſtroy the creatures on earth, but piece meal, as we ſee it doth in ſhowers of hail. Who can ſtand before his cold? that is, ſay ſome Expoſitours, the cold that uſually follows ſuch ſtorms of hail; or rather, the cold which God ſometimes ſends in ſuch froſty and ſnowy weather. And the meaning is, that men cannot but be very ſenſible of it; or rather, that were it not that men have clothes to cover them, and other means to keep them warm, they would never be able to endure the cold in its extremity, but would periſh by it.
Verſ. 18. He ſendeth out his word, and melteth them, &c.] That is, He commandeth, & immediately they are melted, froſt & hail and ſnow, yea & the yce too, which perhaps a little before men could ſcarce break with levers and pickaxes; and that either by the ſudden breaking out of the ſun, or by ſending ſome warm and moiſt thawing wind, as it followeth in the next words, he cauſeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow; that is, the waters of the rivers & ſtreams, being then melted, run down their channels, which were before bound up, as it were, with yce, ſee the Note Job 37.10. Yea being encreaſed by the ſnow water, they ſwell and flow beyond their ordinary bounds.