PSALM 147

Praise for Jerusalem’s Restoration and Prosperity.

1Praise the Lord!

For it is good to sing praises to our God;

For it is pleasant and praise is becoming.

2The Lord builds up Jerusalem;

He gathers the outcasts of Israel.

3He heals the brokenhearted

And binds up their wounds.

4He counts the number of the stars;

He gives names to all of them.

5Great is our Lord and abundant in strength;

His understanding is infinite.

6The Lord supports the afflicted;

He brings down the wicked to the ground.

7Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;

Sing praises to our God on the lyre,

8Who covers the heavens with clouds,

Who provides rain for the earth,

Who makes grass to grow on the mountains.

9He gives to the beast its food,

And to the young ravens which cry.

10He does not delight in the strength of the horse;

He does not take pleasure in the legs of a man.

11The Lord favors those who fear Him,

Those who wait for His lovingkindness.

1) Why does יהוה number His people?

2) How does counting express both order and care?

3) What parallels exist between Israel’s army and Yeshua’s sent ones?

Job Asserts His Integrity

1“I have made a covenant with my eyes;

How then could I gaze at a virgin?

2And what is the portion of God from above

Or the heritage of the Almighty from on high?

3Is it not calamity to the unjust

And disaster to those who work iniquity?

4Does He not see my ways

And number all my steps?

5“If I have walked with falsehood,

And my foot has hastened after deceit,

6Let Him weigh me with accurate scales,

And let God know my integrity.

7If my step has turned from the way,

Or my heart followed my eyes,

Or if any spot has stuck to my hands,

8Let me sow and another eat,

And let my crops be uprooted.

9“If my heart has been enticed by a woman,

Or I have lurked at my neighbor’s doorway,

10May my wife grind for another,

And let others kneel down over her.

11For that would be a lustful crime;

Moreover, it would be an iniquity punishable by judges.

12For it would be fire that consumes to Abaddon,

And would uproot all my increase.

13“If I have despised the claim of my male or female slaves

When they filed a complaint against me,

14What then could I do when God arises?

And when He calls me to account, what will I answer Him?

15Did not He who made me in the womb make him,

And the same one fashion us in the womb?

16“If I have kept the poor from their desire,

Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

17Or have eaten my morsel alone,

And the orphan has not shared it

18(But from my youth he grew up with me as with a father,

And from infancy I guided her),

19If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,

Or that the needy had no covering,

20If his loins have not thanked me,

And if he has not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep,

21If I have lifted up my hand against the orphan,

Because I saw I had support in the gate,

22Let my shoulder fall from the socket,

And my arm be broken off at the elbow.

23For calamity from God is a terror to me,

And because of His majesty I can do nothing.

24“If I have put my confidence in gold,

And called fine gold my trust,

25If I have gloated because my wealth was great,

And because my hand had secured so much;

26If I have looked at the sun when it shone

Or the moon going in splendor,

27And my heart became secretly enticed,

And my hand threw a kiss from my mouth,

28That too would have been an iniquity calling for judgment,

For I would have denied God above.

29“Have I rejoiced at the extinction of my enemy,

Or exulted when evil befell him?

30No, I have not allowed my mouth to sin

By asking for his life in a curse.

31Have the men of my tent not said,

‘Who can find one who has not been satisfied with his meat’?

32The alien has not lodged outside,

For I have opened my doors to the traveler.

33Have I covered my transgressions like Adam,

By hiding my iniquity in my bosom,

34Because I feared the great multitude,

And the contempt of families terrified me,

And kept silent and did not go out of doors?

35Oh that I had one to hear me!

Behold, here is my signature;

Let the Almighty answer me!

And the indictment which my adversary has written,

36Surely I would carry it on my shoulder,

I would bind it to myself like a crown.

37I would declare to Him the number of my steps;

Like a prince I would approach Him.

38“If my land cries out against me,

And its furrows weep together;

39If I have eaten its fruit without money,

Or have caused its owners to lose their lives,

40Let briars grow instead of wheat,

And stinkweed instead of barley.”

The words of Job are ended.

12Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!

Praise your God, O Zion!

13For He has strengthened the bars of your gates;

He has blessed your sons within you.

14He makes peace in your borders;

He satisfies you with the finest of the wheat.

15He sends forth His command to the earth;

His word runs very swiftly.

16He gives snow like wool;

He scatters the frost like ashes.

17He casts forth His ice as fragments;

Who can stand before His cold?

18He sends forth His word and melts them;

He causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow.

19He declares His words to Jacob,

His statutes and His ordinances to Israel.

20He has not dealt thus with any nation;

And as for His ordinances, they have not known them.

Praise the Lord!

45But they did not understand this statement, and it was concealed from them so that they would not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement.

The Test of Greatness

46An argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest. 47But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and stood him by His side, 48and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.”

49John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name; and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow along with us.” 50But Jesus said to him, “Do not hinder him; for he who is not against you is for you.”

51When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem; 52and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him. 53But they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem. 54When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 55But He turned and rebuked them, [and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; 56for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”] And they went on to another village.