READ Psalm 147:1–11. 1 Praise the LORD. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him! 2 The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the exiles of Israel. 3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. 4 He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. 5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit. 6 The LORD sustains the humble but casts the wicked to the ground. 7 Sing to the LORD with grateful praise; make music to our God on the harp. 8 He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills. 9 He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call. 10 His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of the warrior; 11 the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.
HE CALLS THE STARS. The number of stars is still uncountable by human science, yet God knows them by name (verse 4; cf. Isaiah 40:26). Job speaks of the creation, when “the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy” (Job 38:7). Psalm 19 tells us that, unless you repress it, you can still hear the stars singing about their maker. “In Reason’s Ear they all rejoice, and utter forth a glorious voice; For ever singing, as they shine, “The Hand that made us is Divine.”143 Yet this unimaginably immense God is given pleasure, real joy and delight, when human beings put their life’s hope in his gracious love (verse 11). Great is our Lord!
Prayer: Lord, it is astonishing that I can bring you delight. And this delight does not wax and wane depending on my performance but is unvarying because I am in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:3–4). Let me start every day from the platform that “the only eyes in the universe that count are delighted in me.” Amen.