Lanse Evangelical Free Church
August 9, 2026 :: Psalm 147:1-20
Hallelujah!
Who can translate that for us? Who knows what the Hebrew word “Hallelujah” means in English?
“Praise the LORD.”
That’s right! We’ve got some Hebrew scholars here this morning!
“Hallelu” (praise) “jah” (short for “Yahweh,” the covenant name for God).
Hallelujah, praise the LORD. That’s the theme and the chief application of Psalm 147.
In fact, that’s the theme of the last five songs in the Psalter. Psalm 146, 147, 148, 149, and 150 all both begin and end with the Hebrew, “Hallelujah.” Our Challenge group probably learned that a month ago because they studied the psalms in Kansas City. These five songs begin and end (like bookends) with a call for the LORD’s people to praise Him. And they give many good reasons to do it, too.
Our God is worthy of our praise. He doesn’t just demand it. He is worthy of our praise. We have good reason to say, “Hallelujah.”
In this psalm, those good reasons are summed up in verse 5 which says, “Great is our Lord.” That’s the title for this message, and it’s says a lot in just a few words. “Great is our Lord.”
He is great.
He is Lord.
And He is our Lord.
“Great is our Lord.”
Interestingly, this is the only place in the Bible that has those particular words in that particular order. “Great is our Lord.” The idea is all over our Bibles, and we’ve been singing about it all morning, “How great is our God!” But those words in that order? Only here in Psalm 147.
The Hebrew is “Gadol Adonai-nu.” “Great is our Lord.”
So you know that you’ve gotten this Psalm into you in the right way if you find yourself wanting to praise our Lord because He is so great.
Let’s see if we can’t get there together. Let’s start in verse 1.
“Praise the LORD. [Hallelujah!] How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!”
That’s a good way to start, isn’t it? The psalmist says that it’s so good and so right to praise the Lord. It just feels good! He says, “how pleasant” it is. How enjoyable. How happy it makes us to fill our mouths with praise.
Now, I know that we don’t always feel that way. Sometimes, we have to tell ourselves this to get our hearts in gear. You know what I mean? How does that song “Gratitude” that they brought back from Challenge say it, “Come on, my soul, don’t you get shy on me. Lift up your song...” That’s what verse 1 is trying to do, too. To remind our souls how good it even feels to praise God.
Did you feel it this morning as we were singing, “Bring praises! Bring praises forever to the Lord! Bring praises! Bring praises together!”
It is good and pleasant to sing praises to our God. It’s good and right to do so. This is what we were made for. You and I were made to praise God.
And God is worthy of our praise. “Great is our Lord.”
Now, there are two important themes that run throughout this whole psalm like two threads that are tied together and should not be untied.
The greatness our our Lord in Psalm 147 is in both the big and the small. Not just one but both together. his Psalm goes big! It shows the gigantic power of God especially in His creation. And it also goes small. It shows the compassionate caring of God for His people.
It’s a lot like the other two psalms that we have studied together this summer. Remember at Family Bible Week we studied Psalm 8 and saw God’s majesty...and all of His mindfulness? And then after Challenge we studied Psalm 139–the inescapable God who is everywhere and also knows us intimately, down to our very thoughts?
Psalm 147 is like those. It sings of an unimaginably powerful God who is at the very same time unbelievably caring for His covenant people. We see this right from the beginning, in verse 2.
“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. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.”
Do you see how he goes both big and small? When I read this, I’m immediately drawn to verse 4.
“He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.”
Do you know how many stars there are? No, you don't. No human being does!
I looked it up this week. NASA says that there are more than 100 billion stars (including our own sun) in the Milky Way galaxy alone. But that’s just one galaxy. Astronomers estimate (nobody knows but God) that there are (ready for this?) one septillion stars in the universe.
Anybody know how many is a septillion? It is a trillion trillion! One trillion times one trillion is one septillion. That’s a 1 followed by 24 zeroes.
Psalm 147 says that the LORD determines then number of the stars and calls them each by name!
He not only made them (He made the stars!!!!), but He’s got His own name for each one! Does that make your brain bubble? He makes them all and remembers them all!
I can’t remember where I put my car keys. He remembers where He put all of the stars, and what all of their names are! “Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.”
The Hebrew word for “limit” is the same as the word for “number” in verse 4. He can number the stars, but we cannot number his understanding! He is all powerful and all wise.
Hallelujah!
He is the star-maker, and the star-knower. The LORD is all powerful and all wise.
But don’t forget verses 2 and 3! Don’t jump over verses 2 and 3! The God who numbers the stars–who does He care about?
“The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the exiles of Israel.”
Oh, He cares about Israel. And not just Israel, but Israel whom He had sent into exile. Point number one of three this morning. Great is our Lord:
#1. IN RESTORATION.
Most scholars think that this psalm was written late in the time of the Old Testament, after Israel’s return from the exile. So this wasn’t written in King David’s time or Solomon’s, but much later after the end of 2 Kings, after Daniel, after Esther when God’s people had broken the covenant and been sent off in discipline for their idolatry and rebellion. After the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, when the Lord in His grace brought them straggling back from Babylon and Persia. And then this psalmist wrote this song. “The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the exiles of Israel.”
It’s a song of restoration.
“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
Isn’t that interesting? When you think about this powerful God who creates stars, and you think about who might be on His mind, do you think about brokenhearted people?
Do you think about exiles? Do you think about grieving people? Hurting people? Traumatized people?
I’m reading a book right now about trauma. It’s called When It’s Trauma, and it’s about walking with people who have seen great suffering. The brokenhearted.
That’s who is on the LORD’s mind! He sees their grief. He knows what they have been through. He knows how they are hurting. And He’s helping them to rebuild.
And that same God is the God you and I belong to in the New Covenant. And He sees your grief. He sees your trauma. He sees your broken heart. And He’s here to help you rebuild. To bind up your wounds and heal. The same God who numbers the stars sees your pain.
“Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.”
He doesn’t just understand the stars. He understands your pain.
And we know, because of what we’ve been learning in Hebrews, that He understands it personally in the Person of Jesus Christ.
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet was without sin” (Hebrew 4:15).
He knows what it’s like from the inside. “His understanding has no limit.” It is limitless. Infinite. All of that star-making power, and it is concentrated on those who do not deserve His help and can’t help themselves. Look at verse 6.
“The LORD sustains the humble but casts the wicked to the ground.”
Our big God is a God of justice. He will, in the end, see that is made right in the world. The wicked will be cast down to the ground, to the grave, to judgment. And the wicked here are seen as proud. The proud will be humbled.
But the humble will be sustained. What a glorious word that is! “The LORD sustains the humble.” That’s the needy ones and the ones who know they are needy.
Do you know that you are needy? Do you feel small? That’s good. Because this big God has His big eyes on the small. On the needy.
Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3). The Apostle James said, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” (James 4:10).
Because our God is not just a God of justice, but a God of grace. Great is our Lord in restoration.
What’s the application of that? Praise the Lord! Look verse 7.
“Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; make music to our God on the harp.”
And the guitar and the electric keyboard, and every other instrument you can tune to His praise, especially the human voice.
“Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving!”
That He would think about you and me and restore us? After what we’ve done to Him and what has been done to us? That He would bend His attention to restoring us?
And not just restoring but sustaining us, preserving us.
Great is our Lord...
#2. IN PRESERVATION.
Verse 8 through 11 emphasize God’s provision for all creation and especially for His covenant people.
Verse 8, again, goes big:
“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” (vv.8-9).
Sounds like Shaggy’s song, doesn’t it? “You’re in Everything I See.”
I see clouds. Those come from God.
I see rain. God.
I see grass. God.
I see cows fed. God.
I see birds fed. God.
It’s a step down from the stars, we’re in the atmosphere and the hillside, but it’s all of the weather and all of the food chain. It all comes from Yahweh. If anyone (or anything) eats today, it’s because God fed them.
Scientists can track the weather. They can describe the water-cycle. Meteorologists can tell us the probabilities of the weather. They can’t predict the weather, but can tell us the chances.
But God can control the weather. God is behind the weather. He created the water-cycle. He keeps it going. And He directs it whichever way He wants. If you want a certain kind of weather, don’t talk to the weather-man, talk to God. I’ve been talking to Him about the Cruise-in for Saturday. I’ve been asking for no rain this year. But He knows best. He is so powerful! And He uses that power to provide.
And who does He delight to provide for?
Who would you guess?
I think we would naturally guess that He delights to provide and preserve the great. The strong. The popular. The powerful. The wealthy. The big. That’s who we are often impressed by.
He is great, so we might assume that He is attracted to greatness.
But we would be wrong. Look at verse 10.
“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” (vv.10-11).
Now, he’s not saying that God doesn’t like a strong horse or a fast running man. Isn’t not that God doesn’t like the horses at Miracle Mountain Ranch or that God doesn’t like soccer.
He made the strong horse, and He gives fast running men their strong legs. The song is saying that God is not impressed by them. Like we are. We are impressed by the strength of a horse. This is probably a war horse. We count up how many war horses we have on our side. The legs of a man? A soldier. We count up how many soldiers we have on our side.
Or how many are on their side. And we start to get worried.
We count up how many dollars are in our account.
How much we can bench press.
How long our resumes are.
How many in our family.
Or how many dollars are in their account.
How much they can bench.
How long their resume is.
How many in their family.
That’s what impresses us.
But not God. He doesn’t need all of that.
He’s got Himself! And, we’ve got Him, too.
So that’s what gives pleasure to God. That’s what delights the LORD.
He delights in our trusting in Him. Look at verse 11 again.
“The LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.”
Do you want the LORD to delight in you? Do you want the LORD to take pleasure in you? Do you?
Here’s how you impress the LORD. You trust Him. You fear Him. That’s not abject terror. Like screaming and running away. It is fear though. It’s your heart trembling before a holy God. It’s not treating Him lightly with contempt or ignoring Him. It’s your heart bowing before Him and running towards Him. Those who fear the Lord want Him.
Here’s how you delight the LORD. You hope in His unfailing love.
The Hebrew word is “hesed.”
It’s almost impossible to translate because it’s so wonderful. It’s love, but it’s not just love. It’s loyal love. It’s gracious love. It’s merciful love. It’s steadfast love. Our LORD delights to give grace to those who place their hope in His grace.
Now, let me flip this around: Are you putting your hope in His unfailing love? Are you?
If you are, then the LORD is delighting in you! Yes, you heard me right. The LORD, Yah, Yahweh, is delighting in you right now. He is pleased with you!
I don’t know about you, but this blows my mind more than the fact that He numbers the stars. He is preserving His people, those who put their hope in His “hesed.”
And He is just loving it! He doesn’t need us. He doesn’t need us to be strong. He needs us to know our weakness and to hope in His strong love.
What’s the application of that? Praise the Lord! Look verse 12.
“Extol the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion, for he strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses your people within you. He grants peace to your borders and satisfies you with the finest of wheat” (vv.12-14).
Now, again, this was written for people of God under the Old Covenant who had recently returned from exile. Especially the city of Jerusalem which was built on Mt. Zion and often called “Zion” itself.
Jerusalem had been burned. It had been ransacked. It had been overrun by Babylonians. And the temple destroyed in 586 BC. It’s citizens were dragged off into captivity.
But years later, their grandchildren and great grandchildren were back and were rebuilding. They rebuilt the temple. They rebuilt the wall around Jerusalem.
And the LORD Himself strengthened the bars of its gates and once again blessed the people within them. He gave them "shalom" just as He had promised when He said, “For I know the plans I have for you...plans to prosper you [shalom you, give you peace], and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).
He did that. In part then, and He will do that in the future when He restores Zion to the fullest extent.
We learned earlier this year when we studied Psalm 87 that “Zion” is a picture of heaven. It’s poetic and prophetic, and it’s talking not just about those people then in physical, geographical Jerusalem but the Zion to come.
We’re going to see that again even more clearly when we get to Hebrews chapter 12. We can sing this song because we are Zion, too.
But the focus here in Psalm 147 is on how good God is being to Jerusalem.
He is blessing them.
He is sustaining them.
He is prospering, “shaloming” them.
He is satisfying them.
He is preserving them.
And He’s doing it with a word.
The focus on these last few verses is on God’s command. God is doing all this, but He doesn’t have to like run around doing everything. “Okay, I’m going to go up to the gates and strengthen the bars now. Okay. Strengthen, strengthen, strengthen. Okay it’s time to make the wheat. Growing wheat, growing wheat, growing wheat.”
No, He says the word and it happens. Look at verse 15.
“He sends his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes. He hurls down his hail like pebbles. Who can withstand his icy blast? He sends his word and melts them; he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow” (vv.14-18).
Do you see it? Do you feel how God is ruling the world by simply saying the word?
He rules the world by saying the word.
I love all of the weather in this song. We all care about the weather, but we can’t control it. The LORD can. It’s all the weather. You’ve got snow and frost and hail and icy winds. That’s all winter, and it’s coming. I know it doesn’t feel like it today, but just you wait.
But God isn’t just the God of autumn and winter. He says the word, and it’s spring and summer. The ice melts, the rivers run, April showers bring May flowers. Just because God says so!
And what will be the kicker for this song of God’s glorious power? What would you make be the last verse of this song that celebrates the God who numbers the stars and controls the weather?
The psalmist says, “Oh, here’s a great miracle! He gave us His words.”
He doesn’t just command creation, he has revealed His covenants. Look at verse 19.
“He has revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel. He has done this for no other nation; they do not know his laws. Praise the LORD.”
The psalmist is not bragging. We know that by now.
At first, whenever I read this, I feel like he’s bragging. “We’ve got the law, and the pagan nations don’t.” But, no, he’s overwhelmed that the creator God would do this for them.
He’s singing about their exile.
He’s singing about their brokenness.
He’s singing about their humility, their smallness.
He’s singing about their weakness.
He’s singing about how they don’t deserve all of these unbelievable blessings from this incredibly powerful God.
“Why has God been so gracious to us? He has done this for no other nation!”
“He has given us the Law!”
Great is our Lord....
#3. IN REVELATION.
Not just in creation but in revelation.
God has revealed His word to His people!
He’s told us Who He is.
He’s told us what He wants.
He’s told us what He wants for us.
He’s not been quiet.
He’s revealed Himself and His will to His people.
What an wonderful gift that is! The psalmist is just shaking his head in wonder at God’s gracious condescension.
And if that’s how this songwriter felt about the Old Covenant? How much more should we be amazed at God’s grace in giving us the New Covenant? The one mediated by our Great High Priest Jesus Christ. The final Word. The final Revelation of God to human beings like you and me.
The God who kindled the stars humbled Himself and became a human being Himself. And then He lived a perfect life and died a sacrificial death to save us from our own sins. And then He came back to life to give us life. And He ascended to the right hand of the Majesty on high and always lives to intercede for us.
That’s unfailing love! And it is our only hope.
What’s the application of this truth for those who are hoping in Him?
Praise the LORD!
He is great!
He is LORD.
And He is ours.
HALLELUJAH!
***
Bonus Message on Psalm 147: "Encounter the God of the Universe" FBW, July 2015
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