John Calvin Commentary Psalms 147

Praise you God, etc. Though the benefits he speaks of are such as God extends to all people indiscriminately, it is plain that he especially addresses God’s people, who alone behold his works in an enlightened manner, whereas stupidity and blindness of mind deprive others of their understanding. His subject is not confined to the common benefits of God, but the main thing that he celebrates is his mercy, as shown to his chosen people.

So that the Church may address itself to the praises of God with more alacrity, he states that this kind of exercise is good, delightful, and pleasant. By this, he indirectly criticizes a sin that is almost universal: becoming weary at the very mention of God, and considering it our highest pleasure to forget both God and ourselves, so that we may give way to unrestrained indulgence.

To teach people to take delight in this religious exercise, the Psalmist reminds them that praise is comely, or desirable. For the term נאוה, navah, may be rendered either way.

Jehovah building up, etc. He begins with the special mercy of God toward his Church and people, in choosing to adopt one nation out of all others, and selecting a fixed place where his name might be called upon. When he is here called the builder of Jerusalem, the allusion is not so much to the outward form and structure, as to the spiritual worship of God.

It is a common figure when speaking of the Church to describe it as a building or temple. The meaning is that the Church was not of human erection, but formed by the supernatural power of God. For it was not from any dignity of the place itself that Jerusalem became the only habitation of God in our world, nor did it achieve this honor by human counsel, industry, effort, or power, but because God was pleased to consecrate it to himself.

He indeed employed the labor and instrumentality of people in erecting his sanctuary there, but this should never detract from his grace, which alone distinguished the holy city from all others. In calling God the former and architect of the Church, his purpose is to make us aware that by his power it remains in a firm condition, or is restored when in ruins.

Therefore, he infers that it is within God's power and sovereign will to gather those who have been dispersed. Here the Psalmist seeks to comfort those miserable exiles who had been scattered in various places, with the hope of being gathered from their dispersion, as God had not adopted them without a definite purpose into one body.

As he had ordered his temple and altar to be erected at Jerusalem, and had fixed his seat there, the Psalmist encourages the Jews who were exiles from their native country to entertain good hope of a return, intimating that it was just as much God’s work to raise up his Church when ruined and fallen, as to found it at first.

Therefore, it was not the Psalmist’s direct purpose to celebrate the free mercy of God in the first institution of the Church, but to argue from its origin that God would not allow his Church to fall completely, having once founded it with the intention of preserving it forever; for he does not forsake the work of his own hands.

We ourselves should apply this comfort in the present time, when we see the Church on every side so miserably torn apart, leading us to hope that all the elect who have been joined to Christ’s body will be gathered into the unity of the faith, although now scattered like members torn from one another; and that the mutilated body of the Church, which is daily distressed, will be restored to its wholeness, for God will not allow his work to fail.

In the following verse, he insists upon the same truth, the figure suggesting that though the Church may suffer under and be oppressed by many diseases, God will quickly and easily heal it from all its wounds. Therefore, the same truth is evidently conveyed in a different form of expression—that the Church, though it may not always be in a flourishing condition, is always safe and secure, and that God will miraculously heal it, as if it were a diseased body.

Numbering the multitude, and so on. Since the gathering of the people about whom the Psalmist spoke might seem impossible, there appears to be some basis for the view of those who think that he confirms it in this verse. The connection they propose for the Psalmist’s words is this: since it is surely no more difficult to gather together people who are outcast and scattered than to count the stars, there was no reason for the wandering, exiled Israelites to despair of their return, provided they would turn with one accord to God as their only head. There is also some probability to the conjecture that the Psalmist may allude to that promise:

Look now toward the stars of heaven, if you can count them,
so shall your seed be (Genesis 15:5).

But since the Psalmist immediately afterwards discusses the general order of things in nature, I think the simplest interpretation is to understand this verse as referring to God’s admirable work seen in the heavens. There we observe his matchless wisdom in regulating, without any deviation, the manifold, complex, winding courses of the stars. To each of them he assigns its fixed and distinct function, and in all their multitude, there is no confusion. He therefore immediately exclaims: Great is God, and boundless, both in power and understanding. We learn from this that there can be no greater foolishness than to make our own judgment the measure of God’s works, in which he often displays his incomprehensible power and wisdom.

Raising up, etc. The ascription of this to God suitably tends to confirm our hope under affliction, and prevent our souls from fainting under the cross. From this we may infer that although our fathers who lived under the Law were more gently dealt with, they knew something at least of that warfare with which God daily disciplines us, in order to make us seek our true rest elsewhere than in this world.

Should a doubt steal upon the minds of those who have been brought under heavy afflictions regarding the arrival of that help which God has promised to extend, let us remember the truth that we are brought low so that God may lift us up again. And if, upon seeing the prosperity of the wicked, we are stricken and inflamed with envy, let the words of the Psalmist come into our mind: That they are lifted up so that they may be cast down into destruction. When he speaks of their being cast down even to the earth, there can be no doubt that he passes an indirect censure upon their pride, which leads them to exalt themselves on high, as if they belonged to some superior order of beings.

Sing to Jehovah in thanksgiving. Again, he exhorts us to sing the praises of God, suggesting at the same time that there was no lack of abundant reason, since new proofs of his power, goodness, and wisdom continually appear before our eyes. First, he tells us that he covers the heavens with clouds, and this change would awaken our attention, if we were not so thoughtless.

As varied as the marvels to be seen in the heavens above us are, if the same serenity were always to continue, we would not have such a wonderful display of his power as when he suddenly veils them with clouds, withdrawing the light of the sun, and setting a new face, as it were, upon the world.

He afterward suggests that in this way provision is made for all living creatures, for by this means the herbs germinate, and the earth is supplied with the moisture that makes it fertile. Thus, in connection with the proofs of his power, God sets before our eyes those of his mercy and fatherly consideration for the human family; indeed, he shows that he does not overlook even the wild animals and cattle.

Philosophers discover the origin of rain in the elements, and it is not denied that clouds are formed from the dense vapors that are exhaled from the earth and sea. However, secondary causes should not prevent us from recognizing the providence of God in providing the earth with the moisture needed for fruitfulness.

Just as the earth, parched by heat, shows its thirst by opening its mouth, so God, on his part, in sending rain, distills drink for it. He might, in other, more hidden ways, give it strength to keep it from failing, but this irrigation is something that passes before our eyes to visibly portray the continual care he has for us.

Who gives to the cattle their food. By giving this example, he explains more clearly what he had previously said about God providing food for every living creature. When he speaks of the cattle and the ravens being fed, and not humans, this is to give more emphasis to his argument.

We know that it was for humankind's sake that the world was made and endowed with fertility and abundance. The closer we are to God in the scale of existence, the more of His goodness He shows us. But if He condescends to notice the animal creation, it is clear that to us He will be a caregiver and a father.

For the same reason, he names the ravens—the most contemptible of all birds—to teach us that God's goodness extends to every part of the world. When he says that their young cry unto God, he undoubtedly refers to their natural cry. However, he also hints that they acknowledge they would be in need unless God gives them food from heaven.

Regarding the Jewish fable—that ravens desert their young as soon as they are hatched and that worms are produced in the bark of trees to feed them—this is one of their customary stories. They never hesitate, nor are they ashamed, to invent anything, however baseless, when a difficulty arises.

It is enough for us to know that the whole system of nature is so regulated by God that not even the young ravens lack their food. With a hoarse cry, they confess their need and acknowledge that it can only be supplied by God.