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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 147:1-11

Here, I. The duty of praise is recommended to us. It is not without reason that we are thus called to it again and again: Praise you the Lord (Ps. 147:1), and again (Ps. 147:7), Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving, sing praise upon the harp to our God (let all our praises be directed to him and centre in him), for it is good to do so; it is our duty, and therefore good in itself; it is our interest, and therefore good for us. It is acceptable to our Creator and it answers the end of our... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 147:3

He healeth the broken in heart ,.... Christ is a physician; many are the diseases of his people; he heals them all by his blood, stripes, wounds; and among the rest their broken hearts, which none can cure but himself; hearts broken by the word, as a hammer, accompanied with a divine power; which have a true sense of sin, and godly sorrow for it; are truly contrite, such as the Lord has a respect unto, dwells with, and accepts of; and these he heals, and only he, by pouring in oil and wine,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 147:4

He telleth the number of the stars ,.... Which no man can do exactly; see Genesis 15:5 ; the ancient astronomers pretended to tell them, as Aratus and Eudoxus F15 Vid. Augustin de Civ. Dei, l. 16. c. 23. , and fixed their number at a thousand and some odd; but then these were only such as were of some magnitude and influence, and such as commonly appeared; but since the use of telescopes many are seen which were not before; and especially those clusters of them in the Milky Way... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 147:5

Great is our Lord, and of great power ,.... "Our Lord" is our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of the whole earth; the Lord of his own people by creation, by redemption, by marriage, and by the conquest of his grace, and their voluntary submission to him; he is "great" in his person, offices, and grace, and therefore greatly to be praised; see Psalm 145:3 ; and particularly his "power" is very "great", as appears in the creation of all things out of nothing by him; in the sustaining and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 147:6

The Lord lifteth up the meek ,.... The lowly and humble souls, such as are made so by the Spirit of God; he shows them their sinfulness, and want of righteousness; the insufficiency of their own, and need of Christ's; blowing a blast upon all their goodliness, so bringing down their natural pride and haughtiness, and causing them to submit to Christ, that he alone might be exalted; such as learn of him, who is meek and lowly, and become the followers of the humble Jesus; who being partakers... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 147:3

He healeth the broken in heart - שבורי , the shivered in heart. From the root שבר shabar , to break in pieces, we have our word shiver, to break into splinters, into shivers. The heart broken in pieces by a sense of God's displeasure. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 147:4

He telleth the number of the stars - He whose knowledge is so exact as to tell every star in heaven, can be under no difficulty to find out and collect all the scattered exiles of Israel. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 147:5

His understanding is infinite - To his intelligence there is no number: though he numbers the stars, his understanding is without number. It is infinite; therefore, he can know, as he can do, all things. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 147:6

The Lord lifteth up the meek - The humbled, the afflicted. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 147:4

Verse 4 4.Numbering the multitude, etc. As the gathering together of the people of whom the Psalmist spoke might appear to be an impossibility, there seems some ground for the opinion of those who think that he confirms it in this verse. The connection they give to the Psalmist’s words is this — that as it is at least not more difficult to gather men together who are outcast and scattered, than to number the stars, there was no reason why the wandering exile Israelites should despair of their... read more

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