11 The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear Him, In those
who hope in His mercy.
Psalm 147 is a psalm that should motivate us to live a life
of praise as we experience and celebrate the greatness and goodness of the LORD.
As we remember the setting of this psalm,
we recall that after the nation of Israel had been so richly blessed by God
they gradually drifted away from Him and they began to worship the blessings
rather than the God Who gave them. They forgot where the blessings came from.
They begin to live like the pagans around them and became
idol worshippers (Psalm 106). As a result, God allow Babylon to conquer them and
take them into captivity for 70 years. The Persian king, Cyrus issued a decree
permitting the Jews to return to their land in 537 B.C.. Led by Zerubbabel, a
large band of exiles went back to Judah the next year and the temple was
rebuilt. Eighty years later, in 458 B.C., Ezra returned with another remnant to
restore worship. Then 13 years later, Nehemiah came in 445 B.C. to restore the
walls and gates of Jerusalem. Psalm 147 was most likely written for the
occasion of the dedication of the rebuilt walls.
I love how this psalm begins! The very first verse reminds
us that genuine praise from our hearts is a very pleasant and beautiful
experience. As I have been meditating on this psalm, I couldn’t help but think
how we have a choice. We can choose to live a life of praise, or we can choose
to be ungrateful and live a life of greed, pride and selfishness. It appears
that most Americans have forgotten the God who has so richly blessed us. And
even most of our praise is from our mouths and lips only and not from our
hearts and lives. Jesus said that “this people draw near to me with their mouths
and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.” (Matthew
15:8).
In verses 1-6, the people are singing praises to the LORD because
they have been restored! The LORD has healed their broken hearts and bound up their
wounds! Now in verses 7-11, they are thankful and singing praises on the harp because
their land has been refreshed! Windows of blessings from heaven have begun to
fall on them again.
The exiles returned to a land that had been left a war zone
for seven decades, and they needed the early and latter rains in order to get a
harvest. The Lord gathered the clouds over the land and emptied their
life-giving rain on the newly planted seed. He even caused grass to grow on the
mountains where nobody had planted any seed! He gave food to the wild beasts so
they would not attack the humans, and He even sent food for the noisy young
ravens. (See 104:1-24.) The ancients believed that young ravens were abandoned
by the parent birds and had to find their own food (Luke 12:24). It was
essential that the men and their farm animals stay healthy so they could work
toward a harvest and be able to feed themselves and their families.
But as important as that was, the most important thing was
trusting the Lord, fearing the Lord, and giving Him delight as He beheld their faith,
devotion and obedience (Psalms 33:16-17; 146:3-4; Matt. 6:33). It is an awesome
thought that we can bring pleasure to the heart of the heavenly Father (Psalms 35:27;
37:23; 149:4).
“The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear Him, In those
who hope in His mercy” (v. 11). My friend, it is true that God
is most satisfied when we are most satisfied in Him. This is the essence of true
and pure worship!
God bless!
