Matthew Poole and continuators on Psalms 147

1 PRaise ye the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant, and praise is comely.

It is acceptable to God, and greatly comfortable and beneficial to our selves.

Marginal references: Psal 92. 1[illegible: 1+ letters]; Psal. 33. 1.

2 The LORD doth build up Jerusalem : he gathereth together the out-casts of Israel.

It is the Lords own doing, and not mans.

Or, the banished, who were carried captives out of their own land, and dispersed in divers strange countries.

Marginal references: Deut. 30. 3.

3 He healeth the broken in heart , and bindeth up their wounds.

Either with the sence of their sins: or with their sorrows and grievous calamities. He seems to speak peculiarly of the captive Israelites now returned.

Marginal references: Heb. griess.

4 He telleth the number of the stars : he calleth them all by their names .

Which no man can do, Gen. 22. 17. For those thousand and twenty five which Astronomers number, are onely such as are most distinctly visible to the eye, and most considerable for their influences.

This signifies, 1. that he exactly knows them as we do those whom we can call by name; he is able to give distinct names to each of them, because he accurately understands their several natures and operations: 2. That he hath a Soveraign power over them, as men have over their children or servants or souldiers whom they can call by name, that he appointeth and governeth all their motions and influences to the fulfilling of his own pleasure and purposes.

Marginal references: Isa. 40. 26.

9 He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.

Which he mentions partly because they were most contemptible, especially to the Jews, to whom they were unclean and forbidden for food: partly because they are greedy and voracious: and partly because they are not onely neglected by men, but also forsaken by their dams as soon as ever they can flie, and so are wholly left to the care and keeping of Divine providence.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] 38. 41. [illegible: 1 word] 104. 27, [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1+ letters] 136. 25.; [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1+ letters]5. 15.; [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 1 word]. Job 38. 4.

10 He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man .

As if he needed either the one or the other for the accomplishment of his designs.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word]. 33. 16. [illegible: 1 word] 1. 7.

11 The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy .

That believingly and patiently expect and seek relief and happiness from God alone, and from his meer grace and mercy, and not from any creature, nor from their own merits.

13 For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates : he hath blessed thy children within thee.

Thy strength consists not in thy walls and gates and bars, but in his protection.

14 He maketh peace in thy borders , and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat.

In all thy land, even to its utmost borders, which are most liable to the incursion of enemies.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word]. who [illegible: 1 word] thy bor [illegible: 1+ letters] [illegible: 1 word].; [illegible: 1 word] ▪ 132. 15.; [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1+ letters]at of [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]. 16.

15 He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly .

Which is sufficient without any instruments to execute whatsoever pleaseth him, either in works of nature or of providence.

The thing is done without delay or difficulty.

16 He giveth snow like wool : he scattereth the hoar frost like ashes .

Not onely in colour and shape and softness, but also in use, keeping the fruits of the earth warm.

In colour and smalness of parts, as also in its burning quality.

17 He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold ?

Either, 1. pieces of ice, which God may be said to cast forth or to cast down, because he sendeth it, and oft-times suddenly: or, 2. great hail-stones, which are of an icy nature and substance, and which are very properly cast forth or cast down out of the clouds, and that like morsels or fragments, the particles being congealed in them.

The cold which he sometimes sends into the air is so sharp, that it would be intolerable, if men did not defend themselves from it by houses, cloaths, fire, &c.

18 He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow .

The Southern or some other warm wind sent with commission to dissolve the ice.

The rivers return to their course which before were bound up by, or turned into, ice.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word]. spirit. [illegible: 1 word] 40. 7.

19 He sheweth his word unto Jacob , his statutes and his judgments unto Israel.

He fully declared his mind and will by revelation and in his word.

To the children of Iacob or Israel, and to them alone, as it follows.

Marginal references: Heb. his [illegible: 1 word].

20 He hath not dealt so with any nation : and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD.

He left all others to their own native darkness and blindness, and to those dim discoveries of God and of themselves which they had from the light of Nature.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] Rom 3. 42.