How good and pleasant it is to sing praise to our God!
[Psalms 147]
If we look at Psalms 147:1, the psalmist confesses: “Praise the LORD. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!” Why is he saying that it is good, pleasant and fitting to praise God? What is the reason? The reason is because the Lord builds up Jerusalem. Look at verse 2: “The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the exiles of Israel.” Here, the word that the Lord builds up Jerusalem means that He is building God's people, that is, He is building the church. Why is the Lord building the church? The reason is because the Lord loves and is pleased with the church. Look at verses 10-11: “His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man; the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.” The true church is a gathering of those who fear God and who put their hope in His unfailing love. Since the Lord is building such church, we must praise God.
Then, how is the Lord building the church? We can find the answer in Psalms 147 in five ways.
First, the Lord is building the church by gathering the outcasts and heals the brokenhearted.
Look at Psalms 147:2-3: ” The LORD builds up Jerusalem; He gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds.” This word can be understand better if we the background of this poem a little more. The background of this poem is that the poem was written during the times of Ezra and Nehemiah, that is during the reconstruction of the city of Jerusalem, the temple, and the country after returning from captivity to Jerusalem (Park). Therefore, the word that God gathers the outcasts and heals the brokenhearted means that God would bring the Israelites who were living in captivity to return to Jerusalem again and restores them. This isn’t difficult for God. So the psalmist says that the Lord counts the number of the stars and gives names to all of them (v. 4), and is great and abundant in strength and his understanding is infinite (v. 5). The Lord, who gathers all the outcasted Israelites is a great and powerful God who has nothing difficult. Our Lord gathers those who are scattered in building the church. And not only He gathers them, He heals those who have broken heart in building His church and binds their wounds (v. 3). When the Israelites were disciplined by God for their sins, they were taken captive to Babylon. And when they repented and turned to God, God gathered them back to Jerusalem and healed their brokenhearted and bound up their wounds. So the prophet Hosea also exhorted the Israelites: “"Come, let us return to the LORD For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us” (Hos. 6:1). What do you think? Indeed, do we see the Lord fulfilling the promise of Matthew 16:18 in building His church by gathering the scattered and healing the wounded? If we answer “Yes”, then we should praise God as those who taste God's goodness. Praising God like this is good and pleasant.
Second, the Lord is building the church by sustaining the humble.
Look at Psalms 147:6 – “The LORD sustains the humble but casts the wicked to the ground.” The Israelites were humbled by God's discipline. Bound by God through Babylon, they humbled themselves before God. God sustained the humbled Israelites. I remember the words of Isaiah 41:10, 13 that I meditated on during the morning prayer meeting. God has promised to uphold us with His His righteous right hand. And according to the promised word, the Lord is upholding our weak hands. God's righteous hand holds the church, and He is building His church. But if the church is proud before God, the Lord first breaks our pride and humbles us in building His church. The reason is because God shows grace to the humble. Therefore, our church must humble ourselves before God. In the meantime, we must experience with faith that the Lord is sustaining our weak hands. At that time, we have no choice but to praise God by singing “Hallelujah”. Praising God like this is good and pleasant.
Third, the Lord is building the church by providing us with what we need.
Look at Psalms 147:8-9: “He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills. He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call.” If Creator God gives the necessary things to the creatures He has made, how much more will He not give us who are made in His image the things we need? God supplies the earth with rain and provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call. So the psalmist says: “He … satisfies you with the finest of wheat” (v. 14). God is the God who provides the church abundantly. However, one of the reasons why we become in need is, of course, our sins. One of them is a stewardship. We may become in need because we fail to wisely manage the abundant things God has provided. In Psalms 147, the psalmist teaches us that people have nothing to worry about with food problems (Park). If we look at Matthew 6:30b-33 of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is telling us like this: “… You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Worrying about what we will eat, what to drink, what to wear doesn’t solve the problem. But we are weak in faith and continue to worry about eating and living like unbelievers. It isn’t only the individual or the family that we have these worries, but also the church as well. The psalmist's message is not to worry. The Lord is telling us that in building His church, He will supply and fill the needs of the church. Praising God while experiencing this truth through faith is good and pleasant.
Fourth, the Lord protects His church.
Look at Psalms 147:13 – “for he strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses your people within you.” This means that God will safely protect the land of those who trust him (Park). When we apply this to the church, the Lord who is the head of the church safely protects the believers who trust Him. Looking at Psalms 146:9, which we have already meditated on, we are taught that God is a God who protects the alien. In addition, in Psalms 145:20, which we have already meditated on, God says that He watches over all who love Him. God, who protects the alien and all those who love Him, loves and protects the church, His people, whom He bought with the precious blood of His begotten Son Jesus Christ. As a result, the church enjoys peace through God’s protection (147:14). And the church that enjoys peace deserves to praise God. This is good and pleasant in the sight of God.
Fifth and last, the Lord is building the church by sending His word to the church.
Look at Psalms 147:18-19: “He sends his word and melts them; he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow. He has revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel.” God is the God who not only sends His word to us, but also shows the word to us. In other words, the Lord speaks to us and also reveals His word to us. That was why Peter in Matthew 16 was asked by Jesus “who do you say that I am?” (v. 15) and he answered “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (v. 16) because Father God revealed this to him (v. 17). When we make the right confession of faith due to the revelation of His word, the church can be firmly built on the rock. The Lord is doing this building His church firmly. Therefore, we cannot help but praise God. This is good in God's sight.
It is good, pleasant, and fitting to praise God (Ps. 147:1). The reason is because God is building His church because He loves us and is pleased with us (v. 2). How is the Lord building His church? First, the Lord is building His church by gathering the outcasts and heals the brokenhearted (vv. 2-3). Second, the Lord is building the church by sustaining the humble (v. 6). Third, the Lord is building His church by providing us with what we need (vv. 8-9). Fourth, the Lord protects His church (v. 13). Fifth and last, the Lord is building the church by sending His word to the church. Therefore, it is fitting for us to praise God. Praising God is good and pleasant.
As I hold onto the word of promise that the Lord will build His church (Mt. 16:18),
James Kim
[Hymn “Hail to the Brightness of Zion’s Glad Morning”]