It Is Good to Sing Praises
“Hallelujah! How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and lovely to praise Him! 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; He calls them each by name. Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit. The LORD sustains the humble, but casts the wicked to the ground.
Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; make music on the harp to our God, who covers the sky with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass to grow on the hills. He provides food for the animals, and for the young ravens when they call.
He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He takes no pleasure in the leg power of the man. The LORD is pleased with those who fear Him, who hope in His loving devotion.
Exalt the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion! For He strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses the children within you. He makes peace at your borders; He fills you with the finest wheat. He sends forth His command to the earth; His word runs swiftly.
He spreads the snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes; He casts forth His hail like pebbles.(breadcrumbs) Who can withstand His icy blast? He sends forth His word and melts them; He unleashes His winds, and the waters flow. He declares His word to Jacob, His statutes, and judgments to Israel. He has done this for no other nation; they do not know His judgments. Hallelujah!”
“Hallelujah! How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and lovely to praise Him! The LORD builds up Jerusalem; He gathers the exiles of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” The story is told in Jeremiah 39. Due to the stupidity and arrogance of King Zedekiah, the Babylonians destroy Jerusalem, burning all the palaces, looting Solomon’s temple, and generally causing havoc. This psalm has obviously been written after the destruction of Jerusalem because it mentions the exiles who have been carried off to Babylon. Now the psalmist is praising God but also speaking by faith that God will build up Jerusalem and heal the broken hearted.
“He determines the number of the stars; He calls them each by name. Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit. The LORD sustains the humble, but casts the wicked to the ground.” We worry about ourselves, but meanwhile, God knows all the planets, the stars, and the galaxies, and He names them. But the God who names the stars understands everything and also cares for the humble and knows all the wicked. And that same God also knows each one of us as well.
“Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; make music on the harp to our God, who covers the sky with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass to grow on the hills. He provides food for the animals, and for the young ravens when they call.” We worry about the essentials of life; meanwhile, God feeds animals and ravens.
“He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He takes no pleasure in the leg power of the man. The LORD is pleased with those who fear Him, who hope in His loving devotion.” No amount of strength impresses God; he looks at our hearts.
“Exalt the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion! For He strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses the children within you. He makes peace at your borders; He fills you with the finest wheat. He sends forth His command to the earth; His word runs swiftly.” Even though Jerusalem has been destroyed, the psalmist still encourages all the exiles to praise God, the only One who can help them.
“He spreads the snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes; He casts forth His hail like pebbles.(breadcrumbs) Who can withstand His icy blast? He sends forth His word and melts them; He unleashes His winds, and the waters flow. He declares His word to Jacob, His statutes, and judgments to Israel. He has done this for no other nation; they do not know His judgments. Hallelujah!” Not only does God control the weather but He also continues to declare His word, His statutes, and His judgments to Israel, despite their refusal to obey Him.
APPLICATION: The late Madeleine L’Engle used Psalm 147 as part of the basis of her book A Wind in the Door. L’Engle was a Christian writer who incorporated scripture in many of her books, but she did it so subtly that many readers probably had no idea of the origin of her stories. In this book, Progo, who is a cherub, tells Meg, the heroine how he was previously tasked to memorize all the names of the stars in a particular galaxy. Throughout the course of the book, names assume critical importance as Meg and Progo battle their way through a series of evil counterfeits to help heal Meg’s younger brother Charles. Charles is dying from mitochondritis because evil counterfeits are convincing the mitochondria in his cells that they don’t need to fulfill their God-given purpose, that they can forsake their own names and nature, abandoning themselves to entertaining themselves instead. Although ostensibly a children’s book, A Wind in the Door is actually an allegory that works on many levels.
If God determines the number of the stars and calls them all by name, we can trust that He also knows us and that He cares for us just as much as He does for those stars. Many of us toil in jobs that seem insignificant. We wonder if our lives really count for anything. But while God is naming the stars, He is equally aware of you, for “His understanding has no limit.” Take heart! God knows your name! God knows your struggles! God knows all your problems and He can give you the strength to endure. The same God who feeds ravens can feed you.
As I am writing these words, our hospital is about to undertake a major construction project. After years of chasing away animals, we are finally going to build a fence wall around the hospital to protect the property. The land to be enclosed is extensive, the cost of the project is daunting, and we are the major fund raisers for the hospital. We do not work with a large well-funded organization but with two faith-based missions. We already depend largely on donations for all our work, and most of our donors are people of modest means. Through our hospital chaplain, we are already helping a number of patients by giving them money for food, for medicines, and for other medical expenses. But we serve the God who determines the number of stars and names them.
Years ago, I earned my Master’s degree in public health at Tulane University. God gave me a scholarship for one third of my costs and donations from various sources covered the rest while my husband’s earnings from temporary jobs furnished our living expenses. At my graduation, the Assistant Dean went all around the room pointing me out as the woman who had come to Tulane on faith and for whom God had paid the bills. We are trusting that the same God who sustained us through my program at Tulane will furnish the money for the fence wall as well as for the other projects we are doing.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help all who read these words to realize how much You truly know and love them. Lord, help us to trust You, even when things become very difficult. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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