Bible Lessons

Psalm 147
Praise to God continues to flow from the redeemed of Israel. Jerusalem is being built up; the outcasts of Israel are gathered in. This is the bright hope of the sons and daughters of Jacob, spread out on many pages of the Old Testament prophets. (See Isaiah 65: 18-25; Jeremiah 3:17,17At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. (Jeremiah 3:17) and 33:16, etc.; Zechariah 8:3-83Thus saith the Lord; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain. 4Thus saith the Lord of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age. 5And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof. 6Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the Lord of hosts. 7Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country; 8And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness. (Zechariah 8:3‑8)). Israel will never be gathered together as a nation until in the land of Canaan, and then Jerusalem shall be as described in Zechariah 14:8-21,8And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. 9And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one. 10All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king's winepresses. 11And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. 12And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. 13And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor. 14And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance. 15And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague. 16And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. 17And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. 18And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 19This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 20In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar. 21Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts. (Zechariah 14:8‑21) God's dwelling place in the midst of His earthly people.
Verse 3. The best that man can suggest for an aching heart is pleasure, or business; God only can (and does) heal the broken hearted. Omnipotent in power, so as to do what man never has been able to do (verse 4), yet He concerns Himself with the meek, the lowly (verse 6).
Thanksgiving will flow from countless hearts of the redeemed in the day for which heaven and earth wait. What a scene it will be, when the whole creation no longer groans.
Look back to Genesis 4:21,21And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. (Genesis 4:21) and reflect that the music of that day was devised to still the voice of the conscience; to bring in a false happiness where God was not known and where the knowledge of Him was not desired; music was designed by Cain's family to make it easier to forget God. But in the day we are considering, when the outcasts of Israel shall be returned to Jerusalem, the instruments of music will be to celebrate God, to remember Him in all His ways of grace and power.
Verses 8 and 9 praise Him for His wise and beneficient provision for the earth and the lower creation, but (verses 10, 11) His joys are not in nature even at its best, but in those that fear Him, them that hope in His loving kindness. This is what cheers and delights the believer's heart,—that God has pleasure in those who have put their trust in Him.
Jerusalem will be a place of security and blessing, peace and satisfaction (verses 13, 14).
In verses 15-18 God's power in natural things is considered, but this occupation leads to the knowledge and understanding of His Word, and His will possessed by those He has made His own people. Singularly blessed are they (verse 20).
The whole psalm is about Jehovah, and rightly so. He is worthy.
"He is worthy; take it with thee,
Just this thought to ponder o'er,
Till His loveliness and beauty
Fill Thy soul yet more and more."
Messages of God’s Love 3/13/1932