The Meaning of Psalms 147:7 Explained

Psalms 147:7

KJV: Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God:

YLT: Answer ye to Jehovah with thanksgiving, Sing ye to our God with a harp.

Darby: Sing unto Jehovah with thanksgiving; sing psalms upon the harp unto our God:

ASV: Sing unto Jehovah with thanksgiving; Sing praises upon the harp unto our God,

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Sing  unto the LORD  with thanksgiving;  sing praise  upon the harp  unto our God: 

What does Psalms 147:7 Mean?

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 147:7 mean?

Sing to Yahweh with thanksgiving Sing praises to our God on the harp
עֱנ֣וּ לַיהוָ֣ה בְּתוֹדָ֑ה זַמְּר֖וּ לֵאלֹהֵ֣ינוּ בְכִנּֽוֹר

עֱנ֣וּ  Sing 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: לְעַנּׄות 
Sense: to answer, respond, testify, speak, shout.
לַיהוָ֣ה  to  Yahweh 
Parse: Preposition-l, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
בְּתוֹדָ֑ה  with  thanksgiving 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, feminine singular
Root: תֹּודָה  
Sense: confession, praise, thanksgiving.
זַמְּר֖וּ  Sing  praises 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: זָמַר  
Sense: to sing, sing praise, make music.
לֵאלֹהֵ֣ינוּ  to  our  God 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine plural construct, first person common plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
בְכִנּֽוֹר  on  the  harp 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular
Root: כִּנּׄור  
Sense: lyre, harp.