Psalms 147:17

He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes. HE GIVETH SNOW LIKE WOOL: HE SCATTERETH THE HOAR-FROST LIKE ASHES. HE CASTETH FORTH HIS ICE LIKE MORSELS: WHO CAN STAND BEFORE HIS COLD? God giveth forth the widely extending and intensely chilling snow, hoar-frost, and ice, with as much ease as a man would scatter a few locks of "wool," or a handful of "ashes" (cf. ; ), or throw some "morsels" of bread to animals. The things to which the snow, hoar-frost, and ice are thus compared bear some resemblance to these. The snow, frost, and cold are also symbolical of the chill winter of Israel's adversity. She, by bitter experience, could testify, "who can stand before His cold?...

12-20 The church, like Jerusalem of old, built up and preserved by the wisdom, power, and goodness of God, is exhorted to praise him for all the benefits and blessings vouchsafed to her; and these are represented by his favours in the course of nature. The thawing word may represent the gospel of Christ, and the thawing wind the Spirit of Christ; for the Spirit is compared to the wind, John 3:8. Converting grace softens the heart that was hard frozen, and melts it into tears of repentance, and makes good reflections to flow, which before were chilled and stopped up. The change which the thaw makes is very evident, yet how it is done no one can say. Such is the change wrought in the conversion of a soul, when God's word and Spirit are sent to melt it and restore it to itself...

Verse Psalms 147:17. _HE CASTETH FORTH HIS ICE_] קרחו _korcho_, (probably _hailstones_,) like crumbs. _WHO CAN STAND BEFORE HIS COLD?_] At particular times the cold in the _east_ is so very intense as to kill man and beast. _Jacobus de_ _Vitriaco_, one of the writers in the _Gesta Dei per Francos_, says, that in an expedition in which he was engaged against Mount Tabor, on the 24th of December, the cold was so intense that many of the poor people, and the beasts of burden, died by it. And _Albertus_ _Aquensis_, another of these writers, speaking of the cold in Judea, says, that _thirty_ of the people who attended Baldwin I. in the mountainous districts near the Dead Sea, were killed by it; and that in that expedition they had to contend with horrible hail and ice, with unheard-of snow and rain. From this we fi

HE CASTETH FORTH HIS ICE LIKE MORSELS - The word rendered morsels means properly a bit, a crumb, as of bread, Genesis 18:5; Judges 19:5. The allusion here would seem to be to hail, which God sends upon the earth as easily as one scatters crumbs of bread from the hand. WHO CAN STAND BEFORE HIS COLD? - Or, hail. The word is the same, except in pointing, as the preceding word rendered ice. The idea is that no one can stand before the peltings of the hail, when God sends it forth, or scatters it upon the earth....

EXPOSITION This psalm is generally assigned to the time of the dedication of the city wall (Nehemiah 12:27-16), when the gate-towers had been set up, and the gates and bars put in their places (see Psalms 147:13; and comp. Nehemiah 7:1). It is, more manifestly than any of the others, a Return joy-song (Psalms 147:2, Psalms 147:12). Its delicate appreciation of the grandeur and beauty of nature, and of God's closeness to nature (Psalms 147

HE CASTETH FORTH HIS ICE LIKE MORSELS,.... Divided like morsels, as the Targum; cut into pieces, like morsels of bread. This seems to have respect to hail stones, which sometimes fall like pieces of ice, and are very prejudicial to the fruits of the earth: this was one of the ten plagues of Egypt; and whereby also many of the Canaanites were destroyed in the times of Joshua, Exodus 9:23; and there is an exceeding great storm of hail yet to come, very dreadful; see Revelation 16:21. This is expressive of the wrath, vengeance, and judgments of God upon men, by which he is known in various perfections of his nature; as his power, justice, and holiness, for which he is celebrated, Isaiah 30:30; who can stan

Psalms 147:1. _Praise ye the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant;_ Ye that know him, ye that love him, «praise ye the Lord.» «It is good: «it is right, it is acceptable; it is good for you, the Lord counts it good. «It is good to sing praises unto our God;» and to God alone. There is no better argument for anything than that it is good, for good men delight in that which is good because it is good. «For it is pleasant.» That is a very happy conjunction, for it is not everything that is good that is pleasant, medicine to wit. It is not everything that is pleasant that is good, for there are some things that are pleasant in the mouth, but they are poison in the bowels. But to sing praises unto our God is both good and pleasant. Psalms 147:1. And pra

PSALM 144-150 THE HALLELUJAH CHORUS The five Psalms with which this marvellous book closeth are all Psalms of praise. The word “praise” is found in the Hebrew thirty-seven times. Each one of these Psalms begins and ends with a hallelujah; there are ten hallelujahs. First is a hallelujah which celebrates Himself, He who is the God of Jacob. Precious vision of Him who delights to call Himself “the God of Jacob,” the God who loves the sinner and has redeemed His people. Who is He? The Creator of all, by whom and for whom all things were made (Psalms 146:6). The Lord of judgment and redemption; the Lord who looseth the prisoners, openeth the eyes of the blind, raiseth them that are bowed down--and He will reign for ever. Hallelujah. Psalms 147:1 is the hallelujah for what He has done for Hi

CXLVII. The LXX, perhaps rightly, divides the Ps. into two, Psalms 147:1 and Psalms 147:12. PSALMS 147:1. An invitation to praise Yahweh for His almighty power and His kindness to Israel. Observe how the two thoughts are intertwined. After Psalms 147:8 c the LXX has, and herbage for the service of men. In Psalms 147:10 the legs of a man is curious. Swift running is a characteristic of the Homeric heroes, but the emendation, armour of a man, is tempting....

Zion is summoned to praise Jehovah for the blessings of peace and prosperity. The Lord of Nature is He Who has endowed Israel with unique privileges....