Chapter One Hundred Forty-Seven

Verses 2 and 3 clearly indicate that the psalm was written on the occasion of the restoration of Jerusalem after the return from captivity, when the city gates had already been set in place, i.e., when its construction was finishing and when the field labors of the Hebrews were repaid with abundant harvests.

Praise, Jerusalem, the Lord who strengthens you. The Lord has established peace within your borders. The Lord is great and all-powerful: cold, heat, rain, and hail happen according to His will. And this Lord gave law to Jacob, but not to any other nation (1–9).

Psalm 147:1. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem; praise your God, Zion, The entire Hebrew people is called to praise the Lord as a special Caretaker and Protector of only the Hebrews (cf. verse 9).

Psalm 147:2. For He strengthens the bars of your gates, He blesses your sons within you, Psalm 147:3. He establishes peace within your borders; He satisfies you with the finest of wheat, An indication of the immediate reason for praising the Lord – the strengthening of the “bars of your gates,” i.e., the completion of the building of Jerusalem, and the “blessing of the sons” of Zion (i.e., the Hebrews in general), i.e., the peaceful and carefree condition of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who were threatened neither by external enemies nor by lack of material means for existence (Hag 1:1-15).

Psalm 147:4. He sends His word to the earth; His word runs swiftly, A depiction of Divine omnipotence. “Word” – Divine command; “to run swiftly” – to be fulfilled unfailingly and immediately. All the commandments of the Lord as Ruler of the Universe are immediately carried out, whether they concern the life of nations or the external nature.

Psalm 147:5. He gives snow like wool; He scatters hoar-frost like ashes, Psalm 147:6. He casts down His hail in pieces; who can stand before His frost? Psalm 147:7. He will send His word and it will melt; He will blow His wind and the waters will flow. Snow, white like wool of sheep washed before shearing; hoar-frost, thick like ashes from a bonfire; strong frost, destroying vegetation in winter and dangerous to human health; ice in winter and streams in spring – all this happens according to the will of the Lord.

Psalm 147:8. He declares His word to Jacob, His statutes and His judgments to Israel. Psalm 147:9. He has not done this to any other nation, and they do not know His judgments. Alleluia. Jacob (the Hebrew people) should always stand in awe before Him and thank Him, for the Lord, the Almighty Ruler of the Universe, shows special favor only to the Hebrew people. The expression of the latter is the law given to it through Moses and the prophets, which no other nation possesses. “Word,” “statutes,” “judgments” – see explanation on psalm 118.