The Meaning of Psalms 147:1 Explained

Psalms 147:1

KJV: Praise ye the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely.

YLT: Praise ye Jah! For it is good to praise our God, For pleasant -- comely is praise.

Darby: Praise ye Jah! for it is good. Sing psalms of our God; for it is pleasant: praise is comely.

ASV: Praise ye Jehovah; For it is good to sing praises unto our God; For it is pleasant, and praise is comely.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Praise  ye the LORD:  for [it is] good  to sing praises  unto our God;  for [it is] pleasant;  [and] praise  is comely. 

What does Psalms 147:1 Mean?

Verse Meaning

After the initial call to praise the Lord, the writer explained that such praise is pleasant and appropriate.

Context Summary

Psalms 147:1-11 - Why We Praise The Lord
It has been supposed that this psalm was prepared for use when the new walls of the city were completed in the days of Nehemiah. It contains a further enumeration of God's present tenses. The psalmist never tires of celebrating the immediateness of God. He will not tolerate the intervention of second causes, which are the artifice of scientific explanation. Laws are, after all, only the convenient statement of the regularity of God's methods. The couplets of this psalm are amazingly suggestive. By contrast they complete each other. God builds up the great city of Jerusalem, but His heart goes out to the individual prodigal. He is equally at home in the hospital where broken hearts congregate, and among the stars, which He names and counts as a shepherd His flock. He upholds the meek and overthrows the proud. Spring, with its clouds and rain and sprouting grass, is His work; but so also the wild life of the forest, with its beasts and birds. He has no such delight in athletic strength or speed as He has in the reverent worship of His people. There is a perfect balance and rhythm in God's nature. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 147

1  The prophet exhorts to praise God for his care of the church
4  His power and wisdom
6  His mercy
7  His providence
12  To praise him for his blessings upon the kingdom
15  For his power over the elements
19  And for his ordinances in the church

What do the individual words in Psalms 147:1 mean?

Praise YAH for [it is] good to sing praises to our God for [it is] pleasant beautiful [and] praise is
הַ֥לְלוּ ! יָ֨הּ ׀ כִּי־ ט֭וֹב זַמְּרָ֣ה אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּ כִּֽי־ נָ֝עִים נָאוָ֥ה תְהִלָּֽה

הַ֥לְלוּ  Praise 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: הָלַל 
Sense: to shine.
! יָ֨הּ ׀  YAH 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יָהּ  
Sense: Jah (Jehovah in the shortened form).
ט֭וֹב  [it  is]  good 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: טָבַב 
Sense: good, pleasant, agreeable.
זַמְּרָ֣ה  to  sing  praises 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Infinitive construct, third person feminine singular
Root: זָמַר  
Sense: to sing, sing praise, make music.
אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּ  to  our  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, first person common plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
נָ֝עִים  [it  is]  pleasant 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: נָעִים 
Sense: pleasant, delightful, sweet, lovely, agreeable.
נָאוָ֥ה  beautiful 
Parse: Adjective, feminine singular
Root: נָאוֶה  
Sense: comely, beautiful, seemly.
תְהִלָּֽה  [and]  praise  is 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: תְּהִלָּה  
Sense: praise, song or hymn of praise.