One reason why it has been best to handle Psalm 147 according to the stanzas of the New International Version and not according to the three parts preferred by many commentators is that verses 19 and 20 stand by themselves as a climax. Of all the many blessings for which the people of God should be thankful, the greatest is that God has established a personal relationship with his people by means of a verbalized and written communication.
At first glance, verses 10 and 11 seem to be a digression in which the writer reflects on the value of godliness over physical strength. But this is not really a digression at all. He is still thinking about God, and what he is saying about God here is that he is not like most of us who are usually impressed with physical qualities—things we can see—and not with things we cannot see. Rather, “the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love” (v. 11.).
Reflections on how God brought the exiles back from distant Babylon and reestablished them in a rebuilt Jerusalem leads the psalmist to reflect on God's power, seen in his numbering and naming of the stars. Truly, “[God's] understanding has no limit,” he writes (v. 5).
Why is it that praise of God is good, pleasant and fitting? The first of the psalm's answers is provided in verses 2 and 3, which use four verbs to record what God does or has done for his people: 1) he builds up Jerusalem; 2) he gathers the exiles of Israel; 3) he heals the brokenhearted; and 4) he binds up their wounds.
Psalms 146-150 in particular develop aspects of what it means to praise God. Psalm 146 begins with the personal element (“I will praise the LORD all my life,” v. 2); then it invites all God's people to join in (vv. 3, 5, 8). Psalm 148 explains where God must be praised: from the heavens above to the earth below (vv. 1, 7). Psalm 149 tells how to praise God; it is with a new song" (v. 1). Psalm 150 tells everyone to praise God: “Let everything that hath breath praise the LORD” (v. 6). Psalm 147, the psalm we are going to be looking at now, tells us what we can praise God for.
