LAB 81: Fear God for His Greatness; Hope in Him for His Love

Here is the full context of verses 10-11. I really struggled with the final relationship covering the entire thing. I finally chose Fact/Interpretation as it seemed the Psalmist was "setting up," so to speak, God's power and might in the first half and then essentially telling us what that power interpreted to. I was a little nervous that my conclusion would come out differently than my original version, but it didn't.

Fear or Love?

At first glance the passage may appear to be a paradox. On the one hand the Psalmist proclaims that God is pleased with those who fear Him. On the other hand, he also states that God is pleased with those who hope in His goodness and love. How are these two truths reconciled? The answer is actually found in the entire context of the Psalm. He opens with the exhortation for the people to praise God:

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Psalms 147:1 ESV

Psalms 147:1

He Heals the Brokenhearted 147 1 i Praise the Lord ! For j it is good to sing praises to our God; for k it is pleasant, 1 and l a song of praise is fitting.

Introduction

This Hebrew imperative to praise is where we get our English word, 'hallelujah,' where the ending of the word is the abbreviated form of Yahweh. The Psalmist then launches into God's greatness showing His mighty power to help His people, His power over the cosmos, and His power over the elements and nature. A brief look at these three sections will put verses 10-11 into perspective:

Psalms 147:2-3 ESV

Psalms 147:2-3

2 The Lord m builds up Jerusalem; he n gathers the outcasts of Israel. 3 He heals o the brokenhearted and p binds up their wounds.

A. God's power to help His People (vv. 2-3)

Verses 2 and 3 recall the Lord's goodness and power to help His people. Some have attributed this as a Psalm of Haggai and Zechariah as present in the LXX. God is to be praised for bringing the remnant back to His Holy city, and by doing thus, has healed those whose hearts were downcast and broken. Though He exiled them for their atrocities against His Law His never-failing love has returned them to their beloved land.

Psalms 147:4-5 ESV

Psalms 147:4-5

4 He q determines the number of the stars; he r gives to all of them their names. 5 s Great is our Lord, and t abundant in power; u his understanding is beyond measure.

B. God's power over the cosmos (vv. 4-5)

The exultation of Yahweh is then proclaimed as we are told that, not only does He determine how many stars there should be but He also names every one of them! Do we really need to ask why we should fear God?

A Side Note:

Verse 6 seems to be synonymous with our passage. It will be discussed below

Psalms 147:7-9 ESV

Psalms 147:7-9

7 w Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on x the lyre! 8 He covers the heavens with clouds; he prepares y rain for the earth; he makes z grass grow on the hills. 9 He a gives to the beasts their food, and to b the young ravens that cry.

C. God's power over the elements & nature (vv.7-9)

This section begins with the second imperative of the passage. First, we are told to praise God. Now we are commanded to sing to Him for His goodness. And to what goodness does the Psalmist refer? He refers to the progressive nature of God's goodness in: (1) forming the rain clouds and covering the land with them, which, (2) causes the rain to be produced by the clouds so that, (3) the grass upon the earth will grow, thereby, (4) providing food for His own creation These verses also seem to be the catalyst to verse 10-11. All of God's power is culminated in the display of His love and care for His creation. While He could very well choose to harm mankind for his sinfulness He instead uses His awesome power to care for his needs, and even his beasts and livestock so that he may reap the benefits of them.

Label choices for my arc

While the overarching relationship to the verses seems quite clear to be a Negative/Positive relationship, I felt that the Psalmist was proclaiming more than just a simple contrast between who displeases Yahweh and who pleases Him. I chose the Action/Purpose relationship because it seems to be the Psalmist's point that God purposely thwarts those who hope in power. This is where verse 6 comes into play. The humble are those who know God's power but also recognize His goodness and therefore choose to hope in His love. The wicked are those who trust in the hope of the power of men (i.e., the horse and other men), and therefore God casts the wicked to the ground. This seems to be the point that the Psalmist is making. He goes to great lengths to show how powerful Yahweh is and then shows how Yahweh purposely uses that power: to love and care for those whose fear causes them to recognize His goodness and fall upon His mercy. Praise God for His steadfast love!!!

Wisdom, Works, and Worship

We fear God because He has the power to take our lives at any moment. We love God because we know that He is good and does not desire our death, but our submission to Him. The balance between the two spired at the cross. God showed His ultimate love for us by sending Jesus to turn away His wrath from our sinful, law-breaking hearts. This display of God's love pierced the very darkness of our souls, causing some of us recognize that His power is not hate, His motivation is not condemnation, and His goodness not caused by anything we offer in return. In turn, this display of power personified by love is the ultimate reason for our hope in His steadfast love. The paradox becomes clear when we fully realize that trusting alone in Jesus is what pleases God and cause His favor upon us. 1John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are Amen!

Comments

Kabeeria

Beautiful! Joyful trembling in fearful love!

Jeannie Koh

Dear Steven,

Thank you for your work here. I loved many things about it, how you followed the passage and looked at various ever expanding context to seek to fully understand the message. I loved the way you laid out your thought process along with the various components which you built towards a coherent whole. I like how you interact with various issues at different stages. Thank you! I've learnt a lot!

Steven Long

Thank you Jeannie. I hope everyone is encouraged and edified :)

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