Psalm 147: 1-11

Psalm 147:1-11

Praise the Lord.

How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!

The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the exiles of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. 

Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit. The Lord sustains the humble but casts the wicked to the ground.

Sing to the Lord with grateful praise; make music to our God on the harp.

He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills. He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call.

His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of the warrior; the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.

A number of years ago I went on a solo camping trip in northern Ontario. Just me, my canoe, my fishing rod, and my backpack for three days. This trip was meant to be a sort of silent retreat as I discerned God's call and leading in my life. And so along with my knife and my hatchet I had my Bible and my journal. I would paddle for the day, moving further towards the interior, and then set up camp at night.

My last campsite was on the edge of a rock peninsula that went out into the water. After dinner, I sat around the campfire journaling prayers. Eventually it was late in the evening and I was about to get ready for bed. I extinguished the fire and cleaned up my campsite. When the work was done, I looked up into the night sky.

As far north as I was, there was zero light pollution; revealing the evening sky to be beautifully dotted with innumerable stars. Not only was I able to clearly make out ursa major, ursa minor, and polaris with ease, I saw more stars that night than I could comprehend, let alone attempt to number. I watch as shooting stars raced across the my vision and I tracked the orbit time of the International Space Station as it passed overhead every 90 minutes or so.

There I sat and watched in wonder. Before me spread the majesty of God's creation. And in my hand was my Bible and my journal, a testimony that this same God knew and cared for me, small as I was in the vastness of this creation.

The beginning of Psalm 147 marks this exact same majestic contrast: The God who knows the stars by name, cares for the small and lowly. Throughout the Psalm is a back and forth displaying the magnitude of God's reign and the immanence of his concern for his people. “He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name” (vs. 4) is offered alongside, “he heals the broken Hearted and binds up their wounds.” (vs. 3) “Great is the Lord and mighty and power; his understanding has no limit.” (vs. 5) is held in parallel to: “The Lord sustains the humble.” (vs. 6a)

The unexpected parallelism continues in verse 8, “He covers the sky with clouds. He supplies the earth with rain…” and yet his hand “Provides food for the cattle and for the young Ravens when they call.” (vs. 9) God, who is All- Mighty, does not take pleasure in the earth’s mighty (vs. 10); rather, “He delights in those who fear him…” (vs. 11)

The idea that God determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name, and that he knows my name is a profound comfort; especially when you are facing the unknowns of life. It's a comfort that calls us to worship; to sing praises to him. And it is a comfort that calls us to trust in him. In fact, maybe those two things come together: worship and trust. Since worship is acknowledging who God is and what he's done, since worship is giving God the glory due his name, true worship will also move us towards trust as we encounter God in those moments. 

Sometimes it might take the unique circumstance of standing under the night sky with the innumerable stars on full display. Sometimes it might take a timely call from a friend who prays with you over the phone. Sometimes it's a word from God spoken by a pastor seemingly directly to your heart and circumstances. Sometimes it is in looking back through your prayer journal and seeing exactly how God has answered your prayers and just how much he has changed you along this journey of life and faith. And to be sure, it is most often in the ordinary means of grace: In reading the Bible and sitting under good preaching; in receiving the sacraments and knowing that Christ himself is spiritually present in those moments.

The same God who calls all creation into being calls you into relationship with him. The same God who has given names to all the stars, by grace through faith knows your name. “Great is our Lord and mighty and power!” 

That's a truth for singing.

Prayer
Lord, it is an amazing truth of your word that you delight in us. It is amazing that you have created the world and called all things into being and you know me by name. For that I give you praise. Help me now to take this truth and to trust it always. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen!