Christianity
Psalms 147He Healeth the Broken in Heart
Summary
Psalm 147 praises God as both ruler of the cosmos and tender restorer. He builds up Jerusalem and gathers Israel's outcasts, heals the broken in heart and binds up their wounds, and counts the stars and calls them all by name. He covers the sky with clouds, feeds the beasts and the young ravens, and delights not in a horse's strength but in those who fear him. He sends snow like wool and frost like ashes, and he has shown his statutes to Israel as to no other nation.
Key verse
“He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.”
Psalms 147:3
Themes
- Healing
- Restoration of Jerusalem
- God of the Stars
- Providence in Nature
- God's Word
Text
Praise ye the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely.
The LORD doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.
He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.
He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.
Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.
The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground.
Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God:
Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.
He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.
He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man.
The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.
Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion.
For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee.
He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat.
He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly.
He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes.
He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold?
He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow.
He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel.
He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD.
Text: King James Version (1611/1769), public domain.
Across traditions
Christianity
Isaiah 40: He Calleth Them All by NamesIsaiah 40:26 describes God bringing out the host of stars by number and calling them all by names, the same image found in Psalm 147:4.
Christianity
Job 38: The Treasures of the SnowJob 38 asks whether Job has entered the treasures of the snow or provides food for the raven, questions that match Psalm 147's catalogue of God's care in weather and wildlife.
Questions about Psalms 147
Why is Psalm 147 sometimes counted as two psalms?
The ancient Greek and Latin translations divide it after verse 11, numbering verses 1 to 11 as Psalm 146 and verses 12 to 20 as Psalm 147. This is one reason psalm numbers differ in older Catholic and Orthodox Bibles.
Does God count the stars in Psalm 147?
Psalm 147:4 says he tells the number of the stars and calls them all by their names. The verse stands beside 147:3 to show that the God who governs the heavens also attends to the broken in heart.