Saturday, September 27, 2008

Praise ye the Lord for it is good (Scottish Metrical Psalms - Psalm 147)










Dear Friends,

Thanks for stopping by my Fearfully Fabulous Friday and Then Sing My Souls Saturday.

For Fearfully Fabulous Friday I am sharing this wonderful verses from Psalm 147 and a very encouraging commentary from Matthew Henry on these verses:

Psalm 147:1-11

1 Praise ye the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely.
2 The LORD doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.
3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.
4 He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.
5 Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.
6 The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground.
7 Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God:
8 Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.
9 He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.
10 He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man.
11 The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.

The following is an excerpt taken from Matthew Henry's Commentary:

Psalm 147:1-11

Here,

I. The duty of praise is recommended to us.

II. God is recommended to us as the proper object of our most exalted and enlarged praises, upon several accounts.

1. The care he takes of his chosen people, Psalm 147:2. The Lord builds up Jerusalem. The gospel-church, the Jerusalem that is from above, is of this building (the church and all who truly trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ is the spiritual Jerusalem). He founded it by the preaching of his gospel; he adds to it daily such as shall be saved, and so increases it. He gathers His people by giving them repentance and bringing them again into the communion of saints.

2. The comforts he has laid up for true penitents, Psalm 147:3. They are broken in heart, and wounded, humbled, and troubled, for sin, inwardly pained at the remembrance of it, as a man is that is sorely wounded. Their very hearts are not only pricked, but rent, under the sense of the dishonour they have done to God and the injury they have done to themselves by sin. To those whom God heals with the consolations of his Spirit he speaks peace, assures them that their sins are pardoned and that he is reconciled to them, and so makes them easy, pours the balm of Gilead into the bleeding wounds, and then binds them up, and makes them to rejoice.

3. The sovereign dominion he has over the lights of heaven, Psalm 147:4, Psalm 147:5. The stars are innumerable, many of them being scarcely discernible with the naked eye, and yet he counts them, and knows the exact number of them, for they are all the work of his hands and the instruments of his providence.

4. The pleasure he takes in humbling the proud and exalting those of low degree (Psalm 147:6): The Lord lifts up the meek, who abase themselves before him, and whom men trample on; but the wicked, who conduct themselves insolently towards God and scornfully towards all mankind, who lift up themselves in pride and folly, he casteth down to the ground, sometimes by very humbling providences in this world, at furthest in the day when their faces shall be filled with everlasting shame.

5. The provision he makes for the inferior creatures. Though he is so great as to command the stars, he is so good as not to forget even the fowls, Psalm 147:8, Psalm 147:9. Observe in what method he feeds man and beast.

(1.) He covereth the heaven with clouds, which darken the air and intercept the beams of the sun, and yet in them he prepareth that rain for the earth which is necessary to its fruitfulness. Clouds look melancholy, and yet without them we could have no rain and consequently no fruit. Thus afflictions, for the present, look black, and dark, and unpleasant, and we are in heaviness because of them, as sometimes when the sky is overcast it makes us dull; but they are necessary, for from these clouds of affliction come those showers that make the harvest to yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness (Hebrew 12:11), which should help to reconcile us to them. Observe the necessary dependence which the earth has upon the heavens, which directs us on earth to depend on God in heaven. All the rain with which the earth is watered is of God's preparing.

(2.) By the rain which distils on the earth he makes grass to grow upon the mountains, even the high mountains, which man neither takes care of nor reaps the benefit of. The mountains, which are not watered with the springs and rivers, as the valleys are, are yet watered so that they are not barren.

(3.) This grass he gives to the beast for his food, the beast of the mountains which runs wild, which man makes no provision for. And even the young ravens, which, being forsaken by their old ones, cry, are heard by him, and ways are found to feed them, so that they are kept from perishing in the nest.

6. The complacency he takes in his people, Psalm 147:10, Psalm 147:11. In times when great things are doing, and there are great expectations of the success of them, it concerns us to know (since the issue proceeds from the Lord) whom, and what, God will delight to honour and crown with victory. It is not the strength of armies, but the strength of grace, that God is pleased to own.

(1.) Not the strength of armies - not in the cavalry, for he delighteth not in the strength of the horse, the war-horse, noted for his courage (Job 39:19,. etc.) - nor in the infantry, for he taketh no pleasure in the legs of a man; he does not mean the swiftness of them for flight, to quit the field, but the steadiness of them for charging, to stand the ground.

But, (2.) God is pleased to own the strength of grace. A serious and suitable regard to God is that which is, in the sight of God, of great price in such a case. The Lord accepts and takes pleasure in those that fear him and that hope in his mercy.

Observe, [1.] A holy fear of God and hope in God not only may consist, but must concur. In the same heart, at the same time, there must be both a reverence of his majesty and a complacency in his goodness, both a believing dread of his wrath and a believing expectation of his favour; not that we must hang in suspense between hope and fear, but we must act under the gracious influences of hope and fear. Our fear must save our hope from swelling into presumption, and our hope must save our fear from sinking into despair; thus must we take our work before us.

[2.] We must hope in God's mercy, his general mercy, even when we cannot find a particular promise to stay ourselves upon. A humble confidence in the goodness of God's nature is very pleasing to him, as that which turns to the glory of that attribute in which he most glories. Every man of honour loves to be trusted.

Thank and praise God that He has called us to Himself and place us in the church which is the body of Christ that we can worship Him, grow in Him and enjoy His love through the fellowship of His people. As we converse one with another and recount God's goodness and mercies to us, we shall find many reasons to praise the Lord!

God heals us when sin broke us by sending His only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ to die for us on the cross and wash away all our sins. He reconciled us to Himself and bless us with every spiritual blessings and provide also for our temporal needs. Though in this life, we have our portions of ups and downs, being sinners saved by grace and still living in a fallen and imperfect world, God is showering His love and mercies to us daily that we may know His love and know that He is working all things for our good (Romans 8:28).

Thus afflictions, for the present, look black, and dark, and unpleasant, and we are in heaviness because of them, as sometimes when the sky is overcast it makes us dull; but they are necessary, for from these clouds of affliction come those showers that make the harvest to yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness (Hebrew 12:11), which should help to reconcile us to them.

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18

For Then Sing My Souls Saturday I am sharing this video on Psalm 147:1-11 posted on Youtube:



Psalm 147:1-11

1 Praise ye the Lord; for it is good
praise to our God to sing:
For it is pleasant, and to praise
it is a comely thing.

2 God doth build up Jerusalem;
and he it is alone
That the dispersed of Israel
doth gather into one.

3 Those that are broken in their heart,
and grievèd in their minds,
He healeth, and their painful wounds
he tenderly up-binds.

4 He counts the number of the stars;
he names them ev'ry one.
5 Great is our Lord, and of great pow'r;
his wisdom search can none.

6 The Lord lifts up the meek; and casts
the wicked to the ground.
7 Sing to the Lord, and give him thanks;
on harp his praises sound;

8 Who covereth the heav'n with clouds,
who for the earth below
Prepareth rain, who maketh grass
upon the mountains grow.

9 He gives the beast his food, he feeds
the ravens young that cry.
10 His pleasure not in horses' strength,
nor in man's legs, doth lie.

11 But in all those that do him fear
the Lord doth pleasure take;
In those that to his mercy do
by hope themselves betake.

May God enable us to sing praises unto Him daily as we remember and experience His goodness and mercies.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a blessed weekend!

For more participants of Fearfully Fabulous Friday, do visit Jill.

For more participants of Then Sing My Souls Saturday, do visit Amy Wyatt.

11 comments:

Cathy said...

I loved that beautiful video.

Addicted to Beadz said...

Hey Nancie,

Where would we be without music, but better yet without our Great God!

Thanks for sharing!

Blessings!
Cheryl

Anonymous said...

Blessings Nancie, Renewing my inward man and mind as I read your wonderful thoughts on what is temporal and that which is eternal.
Praise God, that HE is in control & because of Jesus, we know that we can be reconciled & blessed by His mercies & love! No matter if the present looks dim, He will shine His light and complete a good work!

Psalm 147 reassures me HE heals the broken hearted & have hope in His mercy! Singing praisefor how very Good God is!!! I'm thankful that I am chosen. I find peace in Christ!

How insightful your FFF! I'll be back tomorrow for TSMSS!Can't wait!

Mindy said...

Such a beautiful hymn and video!

Anonymous said...

Beauitful post and I hope you have a blessed weekend:)
Love
Jennifer

He & Me + 3 said...

I love it when scripture is turned into music, especially the Psalms...always makes me wonder if that is how David sang it. Nice post!

Anonymous said...

I love this. How interesting to hear the voices like this. The more I hear of it the more I like it.

Sita said...

This is absolutely beautiful. My husband is part Scottish. He will love this version. There is such power in singing His Word. Thank you for sharing this.

Marsha said...

Oh Nancie, this blessed my heart! I love Celtic and Scottish music.

I'm sorry I haven't been around lately for a visit. Being sick for so long got me behind with my ministry to the at risk girls I'm teaching. I've just been trying to keep my head above water!

This week I go to my Mom's for the week. I'm praying to get all caught up with my blog friends at that time.

Have a blessed week my friend and we'll visit later!

Debra Kaye said...

Blessings to you Nancie,

How you have ministered to me with this most beautiful pslam and video.

What a gift you have at edifying ohers, Nancie. Thank you for sharing this with us. I just got back home and am catching up on my blog and came to see my dear sweet Nancie and I can always say I am the richer for it!

God bless you my friend!

Anonymous said...

Hello Nancie,

Everytime I read your wonderful posts it further enriches my life. I find comfort and reasurrance in my salvation everytime I come by your blog. Thank you for the beautiful video and your words of passion for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Be blessed.

Vietta