What an interesting insight! The great, transcendent God doesn't take pleasure in the legs of a man!We can think of this in connection with the world of athletics. The track star, lithe and swift, crossing the finish line with hands flung high in victory. The basketball player, streaking down the court to sink the winning basket. The football hero, muscular and strong, irresistibly plunging through the line.The crowd goes wild. They are jumping, shouting, cheering (or alternately booing and catcalling). They are fanatics, emotionally involved in every play. You might say that they take pleasure in the legs of a man - that is, in his ability to play the game.Our verse is not intended to prohibit an interest in athletics. The Bible elsewhere speaks well of the value of bodily exercise. But God's disinterest in the legs of a man should remind us to keep our priorities in balance.It is easy for a young believer to become so engrossed in some sport that it becomes the passion of his life. All his best efforts are aimed toward achieving excellence. He disciplines his time, his food intake, his sleep. He practices endlessly, perfecting skill in every conceivable play. He maintains an exercise regimen, designed to keep him in top physical condition. He thinks and talks about this sport as if it were his life. Perhaps it actually is.Sometimes a young Christian like this is brought up short when he realizes that God doesn't take pleasure in the legs of a man. If he wants to walk in fellowship with God, he must adopt God's perspective.What, then, does God take pleasure in? The eleventh verse of Psalms 147:1-20 tells us: "The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy." In other words, God is more interested in the spiritual than in the physical. The Apostle Paul mirrors this same value system when he says that "bodily exercise profiteth (a) little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." (1 Timothy 4:8).One hundred years from today, when the cheers have died away, when the stadium is empty, and the score is forgotten, the thing that will really count is a life that first sought the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

With reverence, humor and skill, William MacDonald wove a daily devotional tapestry that challenges the reader to think deeply and Biblically, and apply God's Word to their lives.

Truths to Live By - One Day at a Time

"He taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man." (Psalms 147:10)

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart— these, O God, You will not despise. § He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. § Thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit would fail before Me, and the souls which I have made.” I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick. § Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. § Behold, your God … will come and save you.

Daily Light on the Daily Path or Daily Light is a Christian daily devotional scripture reading published by Bagster & Sons about 1875. It has been reprinted continually since then. It consists of brief groupings of scripture passages which speak to prominent Biblical themes—two themes (morning and evening) for each day of the year. It appends no commentary, but simply allows scripture to speak for itself.

Morning Daily Light

 A bruised reed He will not break. 

Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So he went out and wept bitterly. § If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of my head; therefore my heart fails me. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord, make haste to help me! So you, by the help of your God, return; observe mercy and justice, and wait on your God continually. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart— these, O God, You will not despise. § He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. § He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

 Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted. 

When Ahithophel saw that his advice was not followed, he saddled a donkey, and arose and went home to his house, to his city. Then he put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died. § Who can bear a broken spirit? Is there no balm in Gilead, is there no physician there? Why then is there no recovery for the health of the daughter of my people? § The Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, … to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. § Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. Philip … preached Jesus to him. § He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

Evening Daily Light

 The sorrow of the world produces death. 

Yet there are many that die of a broken heart. Some beautiful dream vanishes after having lured them to embark all their hopes and affections upon it the phantom vessel disappears and they are left a prey to the angry billows; but even then, would they but know it, there is deliverance for them. Admit that all their hopes are blasted; God, whose matchless title is this, " The God of hope," remains. All the good you have dreamed of, and infinitely more, resides in him. God is not dead; why then should you die? The Physician of souls rejoices when some very shattered and woe-worn heart of man is brought to him to be healed: he has then a peculiar opportunity of showing what he can do. This Physician was himself made perfect through sufferings; made perfect to deliver others from suffering. His heart was once melted within him; he was wounded for our transgressions. He knoweth how to succor them that are tempted; to heal the broken hearted. Have you lost some very precious object? He teaches you that all truly precious things are precious to God, and are to be counted as altogether safe with him when they disappear from your sight. He then reveals to you something of his own excellence, his own preciousness, so that you are soon found rejoicing with joy unspeakable and full of glory. He does not make light of your affections, though they may have been erring; he makes no mock of your broken heart; your sorrow is sacred with him; but he brings you into a path that leads to a city where all the good are gathered together, and death and pain have no admission.

A daily devotional written by a Baptist Missionary to India, Reverend George Bowen (1816-1888) over 150 years ago.

Bowen's Daily Meditations

"He healeth the broken in heart and bindeth up their wounds." - Psalms 147:3. 

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

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

Psalms 147:3

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

In 1604, King James I of England authorized that a new translation of the Bible into English be started. It was finished in 1611, just 85 years after the first translation of the New Testament into English appeared (Tyndale, 1526). The Authorized Version, or King James Version, quickly became the standard for English-speaking Protestants. Its flowing language and prose rhythm has had a profound influence on the literature of the past 400 years. The King James Version present on the Bible Gateway matches the 1987 printing. The KJV is public domain in the United States.

OT: Masoretic Text, some LXX and Vulgate influence.
NT: Textus Receptus, similar to the Byzantine text-type; some readings derived from the Vulgate.
Apocrypha: Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate.

Psalms 147:3 KJV

Psalms 147:3 KJV

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