The Pulpit Commentary
Praise ye the Lord: for it is good to sing praises unto our God (comp. Psa_92:1). For it is pleasant (see Psa_135:3). And praise is comely; rather, becoming, or seemly—suitable, that is, to such a Being as we know God to be.

The Pulpit Commentary
The Lord doth build up Jerusalem. The rebuilding of Jerusalem after the return from the Babylonish captivity covered a space of above ninety years, from B.C. 538 till B.C. 445. First the temple was built; then the city; finally, the walls and the gates. It was in connection with this last portion of the building that the present psalm seems to have been written. He gathereth together the outcasts of Israel. The exiles returned gradually—some with Zerubbabel; some with Ezra, in B.C. 457; others, doubtless, with Nehemiah, in B.C. 445; and again in B.C. 434.

The Pulpit Commentary
He healeth the broken in heart (comp. Psa_51:17; Isa_57:15). Israel in exile was broken-hearted, wretched, miserable (see Psa_137:1-4; —Isa_64:6-12). Their restoration to their own land "healed" them. And bindeth up their wounds (comp. Isa_61:1, "He hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted").

The Pulpit Commentary
He telleth the number of the stars. Nothing escapes God's knowledge. He knew the number of the exiles, and the place and name of each, just as he knows the number of the stars and their names (comp. Isa_40:26). He calleth them all by their names (see Job_9:9; Isaiah l.s.c.).

The Pulpit Commentary
Great is our Lord, and of great power; or, "mighty in strength" (comp. Nah_1:3). His understanding is infinite. He is at once omnipotent and omniscient.

The Pulpit Commentary
The Lord lifteth up the meek (comp. Psa_145:14; Psa_146:8). He casteth the wicked down to the ground (comp. Psa_146:9, and the comment ad loc.).

The Pulpit Commentary
Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving. God is not only to be praised for his greatness (Psa_147:5), but also to be thanked for his loving-kindness (Psa_147:2, Psa_147:3, Psa_147:8, Psa_147:9). Sing praise upon the harp unto our God. The glad sound of the harp should accompany his praises.

The Pulpit Commentary
Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth. In the parched and sultry East "clouds" and "rain" are a boon that we of the temperate West can scarcely appreciate. The cruel heat of the solar rays in a clear sky for weeks or months together causes a longing of the intensest kind for shade and moisture. Man and beast alike rejoice when the time of the autumn rains draws near, and the cloudless blue of the summer heaven gives place (of a sky that is gray and overcast (comp. Job_38:25-41; Psa_104:13). Who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains. The "mountains," and even the plains of Palestine, are, with rare exceptions, completely burnt up at the close of summer, and show no verdure, but merely an arid sapless, brown or buff vegetation. When the" former rain" begins, a great change begins. Tender green blades of grass at once sprout up, and in a little time the whole country shows a tinge of verdure.

The Pulpit Commentary
He giveth to the beast his food (comp. Psa_104:27; Psa_145:15, Psa_145:16). The constant supplies of their own proper food to all classes of animals are among the principal proofs of God's power anti goodness. And to the young ravens which cry. Even the unclean raven, with his harsh croak and inelegant form, is not neglected (comp. Luk_12:24, "God feedeth them").

The Pulpit Commentary
He delighteth not in the strength of the horse. In a certain sense, God no doubt "delights" in the glory and excellency of all his creatures; but their physical endowments do not give him the sensible pleasure which he derives from the moral qualities of his rational creation (see Psa_147:11). The negation is not absolute, but relative (compare "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice"). He taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man; i.e. in his strength and swiftness.

The Pulpit Commentary
The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him (comp. Psa_149:4). The "fear" intended is, of course, that which includes trust and love (see the next clause). In those that hope in his mercy; or, "that wait for his loving-kindness."

The Pulpit Commentary
Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem. The other exhortations to praise in the psalm are general (Psa_147:1, Psa_147:7); now a special call is made on Jerusalem to give him praise, since Jerusalem has lately experienced special mercies (Psa_147:13, Psa_147:14). Praise thy God, O Zion (comp. Psa_146:10).

The Pulpit Commentary
For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates. The strength of gates in the ancient world depended wholly upon their bars, which were generally strong beams of wood passed across from side to side of the gateway, about midway up the gate, having their ends inserted into strong iron hooks or clamps, which were let into the stonework of the walls. The "bars" of the gates of Jerusalem are mentioned in Nehemiah repeatedly (Psa_3:3, Psa_3:6, 13, 14, 15; Psa_7:3). He hath blessed thy children within thee. Under Nehemiah's govern-meet, when he had firmly established it, Israel enjoyed a period of repose and of great prosperity, which, at the date of the psalm, was probably just commencing.

The Pulpit Commentary
He maketh peace in thy borders. The completion of the walls and gates of Jerusalem brought to an end the troubles caused by Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, and established general peace and tranquility in Israel. And filleth thee with the finest of the wheat; literally, with the fat of wheat; i.e. wheat in abundance and of good quality. The prosperity of Nehemiah's time appears in Neh_10:28-39; Neh_12:44-47; Neh_13:12-15.

The Pulpit Commentary
He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth. Heavy crops, good harvests, abundant food, result from God's providential ordering of his world, to which he gives commands that are obeyed instantly, since his word runneth very swiftly.

The Pulpit Commentary
He giveth snow like wool. The loveliness of new-fallen snow has evidently been felt by the psalmist, to whom it has seemed like a spotless robe of whitest wool spread upon the earth. Snow, though rare in Palestine, does occasionally fall, and is said to "cover the streets of Jerusalem two winters out of three. It generally comes in small quantities; but there are sometimes very snowy winters." In 1879, for instance, snow lay in Jerusalem to a depth of seventeen inches. He scattereth the hoar-frost like ashes. The metaphor is less appropriate, and was selected, probably, on account of the near resemblance of the two words, kephor and kaepher.

The Pulpit Commentary
He casteth forth his ice like morsels; or, "like crumbs;" i.e. in profusion, as men feed birds. The "ice" intended would seem to be that of hailstones. Who can stand before his cold? Though the thermometer rarely shows more than six or seven degrees of frost in Palestine, yet the Oriental is as much chilled by such a temperature as the Englishman by one twenty degrees lower. He shivers in his light attire, and is very reluctant to leave the shelter of his house or tent.

The Pulpit Commentary
He sendeth out his word, and melteth them (comp. Psa_147:15). God has only to "speak the word," and all trace of winter disappears—hoar-frost, hail, snow, melt away, and the atmosphere is once more soft and genial. He causeth his wind to blow. The change usually comes With a change of wind, which, as with ourselves, is commonly cold from the north and east, warm from the west and south. And the waters flow. A thaw sets in, and soon all the watercourses are full of rushing streams.

The Pulpit Commentary
He showeth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. Beyond and above all the physical blessings which God bestows on man are the gifts of spiritual enlightenment dud direction. These also Israel may count on receiving from him, who has already given them a written revelation—"statutes dud judgments"—while he also enlightens and directs them from time to time by his prophets.

The Pulpit Commentary
He hath not dealt so with any nation. Though the Word of God, to a certain extent, "lighteth every man that cometh into the world" (Joh_1:9), yet this light of nature is not to be compared to the revelation vouchsafed to Israel. Israel was God's "peculiar people," and had peculiar privileges, which involved special responsibilities. And as for his judgments, they (i.e. the nations) have not known them (comp. Amo_3:2, "You only have I known out of all the families of the earth: therefore will I visit upon you all your iniquities"). Praise ye the Lord (comp. Psa_147:1).