Psalms 147:12

Psalms 147:12 says, Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion.  David calls on all the leaders of Jerusalem and Zion to praise the LORD.  This was the Holy City and the Holy Hill of God, so it would be natural for the people there to praise God, just as it should be natural for the people of the Church to praise God today.  Verse thirteen adds, For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee.  David said the people of Jerusalem and Zion should praise God because He protected them, and He still protects those who put their faith in Jesus Christ and follow Him today.  Verse fourteen continues, He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat.  God makes peace for us in the world today as Christians, and He provides more than just ordinary bread, since He gives us the Bread of Life. Verse fifteen states, He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly.  God sent His commandments to the people of Israel, and has preserved them for us today.   God created the universe by His Word, and He is still in charge today.  Verse sixteen adds, He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes.  God is in charge of the snow and the frost and the entire climate of the world.  I don't believe this means that all bad weather is caused by God, though, since He has granted Satan certain power over the world until Chist returns.  Verse seventeen says, He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold?  God can indeed make it so cold that people cannot endure it. Verse eighteen adds, He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow.  Just as God can freeze everything to the point that people cannot endure it, He can just as easily melt the snow.  God causes wind to blow and water to flow.  I believe that we as Christians have the responsibility to do everything we can to care for the earth, but God is the ultimate authority on what happens in the earth.  Verse nineteen continues, He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel.  God made His statutes known to Israel, and He makes them known to us today if we put our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. Verse twenty concludes, He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD.  God did not deal with other nations as He did with Israel, because they were the people that God was going to use to ensure that the world knew Who He was and what His word said.  As Christians, this is our responsibility today, and it is not confined to just one nation.  God's word has been spread throughout the world.  

Psalms 147:1

Psalms 147:1 says, Praise ye the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely.  David said that it is good to sing praises to God.  Sometimes, as Christians, we seem to be more inclined to complain to God than to sing praises to Him, especially if things are going the least bit wrong.  Verse two adds, The LORD doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.  David said God was responsible for Jerusalem being strong and that He gathered the outcasts of Israel.  Matthew Henry said this could refer to the outcasts of Israel during Saul's reign after David had been chosen king.  Verse three continues, He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.  God still heals those who are broken hearted and binds their spiritual wounds if they put their faith in Jesus Christ.  Verse four states, He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.  David said that God not only knows the number of the stars, but He calls them by name.  Scientists continue to discover new stars today, but they have never been unknown to God.  Verse five adds, Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.  We need to always remember the greatness of God's power and understanding.  We do serve the all powerful God as followers of Christ, so we should never have a reason to live in fear.  Verse six continues, The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground.  If you are feeling weak as a Christian, remember that God will lift you up if you continue to put your faith in Him.  Verse seven declares, Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God:  David did not say to occasionally sing praises to God if things were going well, but to always sing praises to Him.  Verse eight adds, Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.  David said that the people of Israel were to sing praises to God because He is the Creator and Sustainer of the world.  Verse nine continues, He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.  As David said, God provides for the animals of the world.  Verse ten says, He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man.   David said God is impressed by the armies of man, either by the strength of their calvary  or their infantry.  We may have much stronger weapons today, but God is still not impressed.  Verse eleven adds, The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.  God's pleasure is in those that put their faith in Him and their hope in His mercy.  This is what we should do as followers of Christ today. 

Psalms 146:1

Psalms 146:1 says, Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul.  This should be the cry of the Christian everyday.  We should praise God with our soul, our everlasting part of ourself.  Verse two adds, While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.  There is no retirement age for praising God.  We should praise Him as long as we live, and spiritually this will be forever.  As followers of Christ, we should never stop praising God in this lifetime, and we certainly won't in the one to come.  Verse three states, Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.  David said that we are never to put our trust in people.  I believe this means for everlasting security.  Verse four adds, His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.  People die, and when they do, they no longer have any thoughts in this world.  Verse five declares, Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:  After telling the people of Israel then and us today to not put their or our faith in people, David tells if we put our faith in God, then we should be happy.  Verse six adds, Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:  David said that we should put our faith in God because He alone is the Creator and Sustainer of everything.  Verse seven continues, Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners:  David said God provides judgment for the oppressed, food for the hungry, and sets the prisoners free when they put their faith in Him.  We may not see this happen in every circumstance in this lifetime, but it will certainly happen in the lifetime to come.  Verse eight says, The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous:  God can indeed do this physically, but more importantly He opens our blind eyes spiritually and removes the burden of sin that causes us to bow do when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Verse nine adds, The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.  David said that God helped the orphans and widows, but He turned the wicked upside down.  As Christians, we are to help the orphans and widows a much as we are able to since we represent God in the world.  Verse ten declares, The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD.  God will rule forever.  We need to praise God for Who He is.

Psalms 145:14

Psalms 145:14 adds, The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.  This refers to all the animals of the world.  Verse fifteen adds, The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season.  David said that all of the animals looked to God, though they do not know Who He is, to provide them with food when they needed it.  Of course, that is also a part of the responsibility of people, who were created to have dominion over the animals and to care for them.  Verse sixteen continues, Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.  God does provide for the needs of all living things.  Of course, in the sin filled world, mankind often gets in the way of God's plan.  Verse seventeen declares, The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.  What David said then has not changed.  God is still righteous in all His works and holy in all His ways.  If things are going badly in the world or in our lives as Christians, we do not need to blame God as or first course of action.  Verse eighteen adds, The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.  Though God is close by everyone, He is really just close to those who call on Him in faith by His truth.  If God's nearness is to have any meaning to us, we must call out to Him in faith, beginning by accepting the truth that Jesus Christ died for our sins and is the only way to salvation.  Verse nineteen continues, He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.  David said that God would save those who reached out to Him for salvation.  This should be our only desire from God until we are saved, and then doing His will should become our only desire.   Verse twenty states, The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.  This may not happen in our lifetime, but one day all the evil, those who do not believe in God, will be sent away to everlasting destruction.  Of course, once we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we are spiritually preserved by God forever. Verse twenty-one adds, My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.  We, like David, need to speak praises to God in the world today and pray that everyone will come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord and bless God's holy name forever.

Psalms 145:1

Psalms 145:1 says, David’s Psalm of praise.  This is identified as a psalm of praise by David, then verse one says, I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.  David said he would extol, or praise, God and bless His name for ever and ever.  As Christians, we should always praise God, throughout life everlasting.  Verse two adds, Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.  David did not say on good days or one or two particular days a week he would praise God, but that everyday he would.  We cannot just praise God when things are going well or one or two hours on one or two days a week set aside as days to gather together to worship God, but we must praise Him continually.  Verse three declares, Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. We should praise God because of His greatness, and not because of what is happening in our life.  God's greatness is unsearchable, or above our understanding.  Verse four adds, One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.  David said that because of Who God is, that each generation should teach the next to praise Him.  This is our responsibility today as well.  If one generation is skipped, the next will be in danger of never hearing about God.  Though I don't believe any person will ever be able to justify themself because they claim to have never known about God, it is much easier to come to Him by faith when the gospel is shared.  Verse five continues, I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.  Like David, we as followers of Christ must tell others of the majesty and wonderous works of God, beginning with sharing the gospel.  Verse six states,  And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness.  David said when people spoke of God's terrible, or well known acts of judgment, that they would declare God's greatness.  We must always proclaim God's greatness, even if He is acting in judgment against the sin and unrepentant sinners in the world.  Verse seven adds, They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.  This is what we should do as Christians, and we should do this no matter what is happening in the world.  We sing God's righteousness because He alone is righteous.  Verse eight says, The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.  We are so blessed that this is true.  If it were not for the grace and compassion of God, there would be no hope for salvation.  If God acted hastily out of anger everytime we sinned, we would be damned forever.  Verse nine adds, The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.  God is indeed good to all, because He offers salvation to everyone.  Unfortunately, too many people never accept His salvation plan and will one day be separated from His tender mercies forever.  Verse ten continues, All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee.  We as Christians are the saints of God and we should bless,or praise, Him.  Saints are not some super righteous group, but are simply sinners saved by grace who are set apart for doing God's work.  Verse eleven states, They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power;  We should never forget tell others of the glory of the kingdom of God and of His power in the world.  Verse twelve adds, To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.  We as followers of Christ must tell others of the mighty acts of God and the glorious majesty of His kingdom.  If we personally don't know of any other mighty act of God, we know of His mighty act of providing a way of salvation if we have accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord.  Verse thirteen declares, Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.  This will never change.  God's kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion will last through all generations. 

Psalms 144:9

Psalms 144: 9 says, I will sing a new song unto thee, O God: upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee.  In the midst of David's problems, he said he would sing a new song of praise to God accompanied by musical instruments.  Even if we are surrounded by problems, we need to sing a new song to God everyday, though I don't believe that means we have to create a new song.  We simply need to sing praises to God each new day.  Verse ten adds, It is he that giveth salvation unto kings: who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful sword.  David said he was singing praises to God because of Who God is.  God is the deliverer of not only those in power, but of even the lowest of individual who puts their faith in Him.  As Christians, we know that this means accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Verse eleven states, Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood:  David asked God to deliver him from the hands of strangers who spoke vanities and to rid him of them.  God has already provided us with everlasting victory over all who stand against His people.  We will still be in their midst though until Jesus Christ returns.  Verse twelve adds,That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace:  David asked God to remove him from the presence of his enemies and their lies so his children could grow up safely.  As followers of Christ, it is our responsibility to teach our children about Jesus Christ, so that they might grow up to become a part of the family of God.  Verse thirteen continues, That our garners may be full, affording all manner of store: that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets:  David then asked that God bless them abundantly materially.  This really wasn't a call for God to make them really rich, but for Him to abundantly meet their needs.  We should not expect Godcto make us materially wealthy today, but instead should rely on Him to meet our everyday needs abundantly.  Verse fourteen concludes, That our oxen may be strong to labour; that there be no breaking in, nor going out; that there be no complaining in our streets.  David asked that their work animals be strong and that their would be no complaining in the streets by God's people.  David also asked for peace, in that their would be no one breaking into their country in war.  We have God's peace with us as Christians, no matter what is happening in life, if we remain faithful to Him.  Verse fifteen declares,  Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.  As followers of Christ, we should be happy, rejoicing people because Jesus Christ is our Savior and Lord.  Even in the midst of great trouble, this should be true. 

Psalms 144:1

Psalms 144;1 says, A Psalm of David.  This is identified as a psalm of David, then verse one says, Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:  As king, David was known as a great fighting man, but he gave God credit for his success.  We need to give God the credit for all our victories over sin today, since it is by His power that we are successful.  Verse two adds, My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me.  Like David, God should be our goodness, fortress, high tower and shield, because as Christians He is our Deliverer from power of death and and sin.  We must therefore put our trust in Him.  Verse three declares, LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!  David asked what man was that God would make note of him.  The only real value we have as people is the value that God gives us.  We are God's creation, and He could just totally destroy us because of our sinful thoughts and actions, but He chooses to redeem us instead.  Verse four adds, Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.  David said people were like a vanity, or nothing compared to God, who soon passed away physically.  Still, our soul lives on forever, and we are of such great value to God that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place.  We only have to accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord in order to claim everlasting life with God instead of being  separated from Him in hell.  Verse five states, Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.  David asked God to come down from the heavens and give him victory in his battles.  We do not have to ask God to come down from the heavens to help us, because the Holy Spirit indwells us as Christians.  Verse six adds, Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them.  David asked God to use His power to destroy his enemies, but I believe our prayer today should be that God would save our enemies through their turning to Him for salvation.  Verse seven continues, Send thine hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children;  David asked God to deliver him from the hand of strangers.  I believe these would be people who are strangers both to David and to God.  Verse eight concludes, Whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.  David said that those who fought against him spoke lies about both God and David, and that their strength was based on lies.  No matter how powerful those who fight against God and His people, those who put their faith in Jesus Christ, may be today, their strength is based on a lie that they are more powerful than God.