He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel.
Psalm 147 belongs to a group of psalms connected with the return from Babylonian captivity under Cyrus, reflecting the returning exiles' mixed joy, sorrow, and anxiety over the building and dedication of the second temple and its associated triumphs. The preceding verses describe snow, hoarfrost, ice, and intense cold followed by God sending his word to melt the ice, showing that winters in Judea could be severe enough to require fires. The verse means that God revealed and entrusted his word, statutes, and judgments to Jacob and Israel, giving them a knowledge of his law that was not made known to other nations.
In the verse, judgments joined with statutes denotes part of God's law and revealed will. These oracles were a valuable privilege consisting of the precepts of the law, by which Israel had an advantage and circumcision had value. This entrusting was an honor and a responsibility and trust: Israel kept the law in charge and it was handed down to others through them, and their custody did not make the law or the Sabbath exclusively Jewish.
The verse does not confine the moral law to Israel, since the moral law binds all people alike, and to apply the verse to the Jewish ritual in order to argue that Gentile believers keeping the same law did not know God confuses that ritual with the moral law. This revelation taught Israel to worship the Lord and obey his law in both private and public life. Israel's religious services connected with this revelation pointed forward to a better service, as their faith looked ahead to the Messiah, the great reality foreshadowed by their ceremonies and foretold in prophecy.
Psalm 147 belongs to a group of psalms connected with the return from Babylonian captivity under Cyrus, reflecting the returning exiles' mixed joy, sorrow, and anxiety over the building and dedication of the second temple and its associated triumphs. The preceding verses describe snow, hoarfrost, ice, and intense cold followed by God sending his word to melt the ice, showing that winters in Judea could be severe enough to require fires. The verse means that God revealed and entrusted his word, statutes, and judgments to Jacob and Israel, giving them a knowledge of his law that was not made known to other nations.
In the verse, judgments joined with statutes denotes part of God's law and revealed will. These oracles were a valuable privilege consisting of the precepts of the law, by which Israel had an advantage and circumcision had value. This entrusting was an honor and a responsibility and trust: Israel kept the law in charge and it was handed down to others through them, and their custody did not make the law or the Sabbath exclusively Jewish.
The verse does not confine the moral law to Israel, since the moral law binds all people alike, and to apply the verse to the Jewish ritual in order to argue that Gentile believers keeping the same law did not know God confuses that ritual with the moral law. This revelation taught Israel to worship the Lord and obey his law in both private and public life. Israel's religious services connected with this revelation pointed forward to a better service, as their faith looked ahead to the Messiah, the great reality foreshadowed by their ceremonies and foretold in prophecy.