For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee;
The psalm turns from God's power in the skies to a single city, and calls Jerusalem and Zion to praise. Verse 13 gives the reason. God Himself makes her gates secure and blesses the children inside her.
The verse opens with "for." It gives Jerusalem the reason for the praise she has just been called to bring. One writer traces how this third summons to praise moves through the rest of the psalm:
Hamilton SmithThis is the third time in the psalm that the people are called to praise the Lord. They have already praised Him for His restoring grace, which gathered the outcasts and rebuilt Jerusalem. Now they praise Him for His preserving care. That care keeps the gates of the city, maintains peace, and satisfies the needs of His people (vv. 13-14). It commands the seasons for their blessing (vv. 15-18). It reveals His mind, and gives His statutes and judgments to Israel (vv. 19-20).
God gathers a people, then keeps them.
The bars across a city gate kept violence outside. But the strength here is not in the iron. It is in the One who put it there:
A. PridhamHe is known in Zion as her God. By His power He has silenced the enemies. He has set a border of lasting peace around the beloved inheritance He chose. He has blessed the children of Jerusalem inside her, and His lasting saving strength keeps her gates safe from violence (verses 13, 14).
This is not Jerusalem as anyone knows it today. One writer sets the present city against the one this verse describes:
L. M. GrantJerusalem is told to praise the Lord. What a change for that city, which today is "spiritually called Sodom and Egypt" (Rev. 11:8), and is attacked bitterly and without pause by enemies close by. One day they will realize that the Lord Jesus is both their Lord and their God (v. 12). Then they will find the bars of their gates strengthened, and their children blessed in the safety of a secure home.
The second half of the verse moves from the wall to the family. The blessing lands on the children, inside the city. One writer draws the whole scene together:
F. W. GrantJerusalem now sits in this sunshine, wrapped in the everlasting Arms. Zion has her walls and defences that no enemy can break, and her happy children. Inside her there is prosperity and contentment. These are only the outward signs of God's favour: Jehovah has done this, and it is the seal of God on her forehead.
The same psalm speaks of counted stars and bound-up wounds. The God who secures one city's gates holds all creation:
WhybrowPsalm 147 — Jerusalem, Israel, and Creation are the subjects of praise, and of the display of Jehovah's grace... That grace also matches the vastness of His power in creation, for the One who bound up their wounds counted the number of the stars... the psalm shows grace in Israel and power in creation.
So the bars of her gates rest on the strength that counted the stars.
In verse 12 the city is told to praise her own God. One writer notes what that name means for the faithful remnant of Israel once they are at peace:
J. N. DarbyIn this psalm He is to Israel, the remnant, "Our God"; and, with them at peace, praise is pleasant and fitting. How lovely is this peace, and the Lord's prosperity on them! Indeed, "He takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His mercy" — not in their own righteousness.
- He built — first He rebuilt the city and gathered the outcasts. Restoring grace comes before preserving care.
- He barred — He silenced the enemies, so the bars hold. The strength at the gate is His salvation, not iron.
- He blessed — the blessing reaches past the wall and rests on the children inside the city.
- He sealed — walls, peace and happy children are outward marks of His favour. Jehovah has done this; it is His seal on her.
- She praises — the God who counts the stars secures this one city. So verse 13 calls for the praise commanded in verse 12.
He maketh peace in thy borders; he satisfieth thee with the finest of the wheat.
Psalm 147 ends by telling Jerusalem why she should praise God. Verse 14 names two reasons: safety at the edges of the land, and the best food inside it. One Giver stands behind both.
The psalm calls for praise three times, and each call rests on a different kindness. This verse belongs to the third call, which praises God not for rescue but for keeping.
Hamilton Smith(vv. 12-20) For the third time in the psalm, the people are called to praise the Lord. They have already praised Him for the restoring grace that gathered the outcasts and rebuilt Jerusalem. Now they praise Him for His preserving care. It keeps the gates of the city, maintains peace, and satisfies the needs of His people (vv. 13-14). It commands the seasons for their blessing (vv. 15-18). It reveals His mind, and gives His statutes and judgments to Israel (vv. 19-20).
The blessings of verse 14 do not rest on Israel's own strength.
WhybrowPsalm 147 — Jerusalem, Israel, and creation are the subjects of praise, and of the display of Jehovah's grace… That grace matches the vastness of His power in creation, for the One who bound up their wounds counted the number of the stars. The psalm mentions government only in verse 6, and the emptiness of human strength in verse 10. Apart from these, it sets out grace toward Israel and power in creation.
A border is where an enemy comes in. God Himself silences the enemies there, and the peace He sets is lasting.
A. PridhamJehovah has built up Jerusalem and gathered the outcasts of Israel (verse 2) (cp. Isa. 11:12). Zion knows Him as her God. By His power He has silenced the enemies, and set a border of lasting peace around the beloved inheritance He chose. He has blessed the children of Jerusalem inside her, and He keeps her gates safe from violence in the lasting strength of His salvation (verses 13, 14) (cp. Isa. 60).
Compared with the city as it is today, the change is enormous.
L. M. GrantJerusalem is told to praise the Lord. What a change for that city, which today is "spiritually called Sodom and Egypt" (Rev. 11:8), and which nearby enemies attack bitterly and without pause. At last they will realize that the Lord Jesus is both their Lord and their God (v. 12), and they will have found the bars of their gates strengthened and their children blessed in the safety of a secure home… The constant pressure of hatred and war is gone forever. In its place come peace within their borders, and the finest wheat given to them.
This food was offered to Israel long ago, and they lost it.
L. M. GrantIf Israel had only submitted to the Lord, He would have fed them with the finest of the wheat. No land would have been left waste to stunt the growth of the wheat. Instead there would have been everything it needed to grow well… Yet what Israel has missed for many centuries they will enjoy at last, when they turn to the Lord after the Great Tribulation.
One writer hears this verse behind Christ's own ministry among the people.
The Bible TreasuryIn this way the Anointed One offered Himself to the people as their Saviour King, and He proved to be exactly that to everyone who had eyes to see. In this small picture of the Messiah's own rule, anyone could see that Jehovah was among the people as the Shepherd of Israel. He was seeking the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and leading His flock into the "green pastures" of that ancient prophetic song of praise: "He makes peace in your borders; he fills you with the finest of the wheat" (Ps. 147:14).
The psalm looks ahead for Israel, but the believer knows the same God today.
A. PridhamAnd here the believing citizen of the heavenly Jerusalem finds the right words for the worship of his own heart toward the God of His salvation. What Israel will taste in their Messiah in the coming day, the Christian finds in Jesus now.
Christ Himself holds both halves of the verse together — the peace and the food.
Scripture QuarterlyWhat a change — from the husks the world offers, to feeding on the finest of the wheat. He who offered Himself by the Eternal Spirit without spot to God is alive from among the dead, and He is our peace. (Eph. 2:14).
- Grace gives. The blessing rests on God's grace toward Israel and His power in creation, not on the strength of horse or man.
- Grace guards. He silences the enemies, sets a border of lasting peace around the land He chose, and keeps the city gates safe.
- Grace feeds. Israel missed the finest of the wheat for centuries by refusing to submit. They receive it when they turn to the Lord.
- Grace appears. Christ's ministry gave a small picture of this care — the Shepherd of Israel among His people, leading His flock.
- Grace reaches us. What Israel will taste in the coming day, the believer already has in Jesus — He is our peace, and He is our food.