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<< PSALM CXLVII. >>
1. Praise ye Jehovah;
For it is good to sing praises unto our God;
For it is pleasant, and praise is comely.
2. Jehovah doth build up Jerusalem;
He gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.
3. He healeth the broken in heart,
And bindeth up their wounds.
4. He counteth the number of the stars;
He calleth them all by their names.
5. Great is our Lord, and mighty in power;
His understanding is infinite.
6. Jehovah upholdeth the meek:
He bringeth the wicked down to the ground.
7. Sing unto Jehovah with thanksgiving;
Sing praises upon the harp unto our God,
8. Who covereth the heavens with clouds,
Who prepareth rain for the earth,
Who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.
9. He giveth to the beast his food,
And to the young ravens which cry.
10. He delighteth not in the strength of the horse:
He taketh no pleasure in the legs of a man.
11. Jehovah taketh pleasure in them that fear him,
In those that hope in his lovingkindness.
12. Praise Jehovah, O Jerusalem;
Praise thy God, O Zion.
13. For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates;
He hath blessed thy children within thee.
14. He maketh peace in thy borders;
He filleth thee with the finest of the wheat.
15. He sendeth out his commandment upon earth;
His word runneth very swiftly.
16. He giveth snow like wool;
He scattereth the hoar-frost like ashes.
17. He casteth forth his ice like morsels:
Who can stand before his cold ?
18. He sendeth out his word, and melteth them:
He causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow.
19. He showeth his word unto Jacob,
His statutes and his ordinances unto Israel.
20. He hath not dealt so with any nation;
And as for his ordinances, they have not known them.
Praise ye Jehovah.
1. Praise ye Jehovah;
For it is good to sing praises unto our God;
For it is pleasant, and praise is comely.
2. Jehovah doth build up Jerusalem;
He gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.
1, 2, 7. Celebration of the Lord by His church. P. P.
3. Stars signify the knowledges of good and truth, also the doctrinals of the church. A. 4697.
3. 4. Who reforms by knowledges of truth. P. P.
4. By numbering is signified to ordain and to arrange.
Stars the truths and goods of faith and love. A. 102 17.
By stars the knowledges of good and truth are signified. R. 51-
To number signifies to know the quality, because the number means the quality of a thing. R. 364.
The stars signify the truths of the church and their knowledges. E. 72.
By telling the number of the stars, and by calling them all by name is signified to know all goods and truths, and according to their quality to dispose them in heaven and the church. E. 453.
5. Great is our Lord, and mighty in power;
His understanding is infinite.
6. Jehovah upholdeth the meek:
He bringeth the wicked down to the ground.
7. Sing unto Jehovah with thanksgiving;
Sing praises upon the harp unto our God,
5. Who alone is able to do this. P. P.
6. 8, 9. Who teaches truths to those who are in ignorance. P.P.
7. Thanksgiving refers to celestial things of faith, and for that reason Jehovah is named; to sing praises refers to the spiritual things of faith, and therefore God is named. A. 420.
Singing with the harp and other stringed instruments signifies spiritual things. A. 3880.
See Psalm xxxiii. 2, 3. R. 276.
By answering Jehovah confession from spiritual good is expressed, by praising upon the harp confession from spiritual truth. E. 323.
8. Who covereth the heavens with clouds,
Who prepareth rain for the earth,
Who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.
9. He giveth to the beast his food,
And to the young ravens which cry.
8. By the clouds with which Jehovah is said to cover the Heaven are signified external truths, such as are contained in the literal sense of the Word, for the truths contained in that sense are in the Word called clouds, and those which are in the internal sense are called glory. By the heavens are understood internal truths, because they who are in the heavens are in those truths. By the rain which he prepares for the earth is signified the influx of truth, the earth standing for the church, thence those therein who receive the truth, since they constitute the church. The mountains and the growing grass signify the goods of love and those principled in them. Grass signifies the spiritual nourishment which they receive, for grass is understood to be for beasts, and beasts signify the good affections of the natural man. E. 405. To cover the heavens with clouds signifies to defend and keep together the spiritual things of the Word, which are in the heavens, by natural truths such as are in the literal sense of the Word. E. 594.
8, 9. By grass is signified scientific truth. E. 507.
The things here mentioned also signify spiritual things appertaining to heaven and the church. By rain is understood influx of Divine truth, by mountains the good of love, by causing grass to germinate the instruction of the natural man by knowledges from the Word, by beasts the affections of the natural man which desire to be thence nourished, which nourishment is meant by giving them food, by the sons of the raven also natural men who are in semi-obscurity arising from fallacies concerning Divine truths. E. 650.
10. A horse the understanding of truth when falsified by reasonings. W. H.
See Psalm xx. 8, 9. R. 298.
See Psalm xx. 8, 9. E. 355.
10. 11. The strength of a horse stands for one's own power of thinking truth. The legs of man for one's own power of doing good. They that fear Jehovah for those who worship Him from the love of truth, and they that wait for His mercy for them that worship from the love of good. A. 2826.
One's own intelligence is nothing, but that which is from the Lord is something. P. P.
11. See Psalm xxii. 24. R. 527.
See Psalm xxxiii. 8, 18. E. 696.
12. Zion stands for heaven and the church where the Lord alone is worshipped. R. 612.
Verse quoted D. P., Page 63.
12, 13. See Psalm xxiv. 7, 10. A. 2851.
See Psalm lxxxvii. 2, 3. R. 899.
12-14. Wheat and barley signify the good and truth of the church. R. 315.
The church as to truths of doctrine is understood by Jerusalem, the church as to the goods of love by Zion. The borders in which He makes peace signify all things of heaven and the church. To be rilled with the finest of
wheat signify with every good of love and with wisdom. Finest — the good of love, and wheat everything originating from it, being derived from good. E. 374.
12, 14. Jerusalem stands for the church as to truths of doctrine, and Zion for the church as to goods of love. By the name of Jehovah which Zion shall praise is signified the all of worship from the good of love. Peace on thy borders signifies all things pertaining to heaven and the church, for border means all things thereof, the finest of wheat — every good of love and with wisdom, specifically the truths of heaven and wisdom thence derived. E. 365.
13. See Psalm cvii. 16. A. 9496.
13-15. The church will worship the Lord who protects her, and teaches the Word. P. P.
14. See Psalm lxxxi. 14, 17. A. 3941.
Because fat signifies good it is also adjoined to such things as are not fat in themselves, but still signify goods.
A. 5943-
Peace is that which inmostly affects all good with blessedness. R. 306.
15, 16. Because wool signifies good in ultimates, therefore good is sometimes described in the Word by wool, and truth by linen and by snow. E. 67.
16, 17. Hail stands for falsities from evil. A. 7553.
16-18. The Lord disperses ignorance by means of the Word. P. P.
17, 18. See Psalm vi. 2. A. 8286.
17-19. See Psalm cxxxv. 7. R. 343.
By these words also is described reformation, but only as to the natural man. The scientifics which are in that man and the knowledges which pertain to him before reformation are signified by verse 17, for before reformation man is altogether cold, and that cold is also manifestly felt when the Divine flows in out of heaven. Since those colds are dissipated by the reception of Divine good and Divine truth, thus by reformation it is therefore said — see verse 18. By the Word here mentioned is signified Divine good united with Divine truth, by the wind Divine truth, by the waters flowing its reception. From the signification of those words verse 19 is added. Jacob signifies the church which is in good, and Israel the church which is in truths. Statutes and judgments stand for external and internal truths, which are from good. E. 419.
18, 19. See Psalm lxiii. 2. R. 50.
Waters signify the truths of faith, also the knowledges of truth. E. 71.
19, 20. This He does for His church. P. P.
Author: EMANUEL SWEDENBORG (1688-1772)
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