He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.
Psalm 147 praises God for two things at once: His grace to His people in Jerusalem, and His power over the world He made. Verse 15 is where the two meet, because the God who rebuilds a city also speaks to the whole earth, and His word loses no time.
Where the Verse Sits
The psalm calls for praise three times, and this verse opens the third round. In that final section the seasons stand alongside city walls and daily bread.
Hamilton SmithFor the third time in the psalm, the people hear the call to praise the Lord. They had already praised Him for His restoring grace that 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).
A Command That Loses No Time
The picture is of an order dispatched and carried at top speed. Nothing on earth resists it or slows it down.
F. W. GrantThe whole earth is in subjection to Him. The swiftest messengers hurry His commandment throughout it. He gives the snow and scatters the frost; He hardens the water with His cold, and melts it back again with a warmer wind. Nature is soft clay in His hand everywhere, and owns its God.
The verbs are worth noticing. God speaks; the earth complies.
L M GrantThe Lord speaks to the earth with firm decision, and it submits to His working.
Weather With a Person Behind It
The lines that follow keep saying He and His — His snow, His frost, His cold, His wind. That is not how most of us talk about the weather.
A J PollockIt is sad when we reduce everything to an impersonal nature. We speak as if these things just had to happen, with no reference to anything in particular. But these verses show that God is actively and intelligently behind what men call nature.
Other parts of Scripture make the same point about God's Word.
J. G. BellettScripture declares the supremacy of "the Word" in the workings of what is called nature, as in 2 Peter 3:5-7. (See Ps. 147:15, 18; Ps. 148:8.)
The Word That Melts
The word that melts ice has a further target. It is aimed at the human heart, and at what God does next for His people.
F. B. HolePsalm 147 raises its Hallelujahs because His word runs very swiftly upon earth. That word does the melting and humbling of the human heart. This is the necessary moral preparation for His stepping in to heal, to gather His people, and to build up Jerusalem.
The same hand governs both hardening and softening, and it works the same way in the hearts of people as in frost and thaw.
L M GrantHe can harden the hearts of those who harden themselves against Him, and then can melt them down by His great love.
Sent to the Earth, Shown to His People
The psalm ends by separating two things: the power anyone can see at work in the world, and the mind God opens only to His own people.
J. N. DarbyThey might have seen the creative and providential power of Jacob's God, but His mind and laws belonged to His people.
That privilege carries a risk, and it is one that anyone holding a Bible can fall into.
F. B. HoleIt is very possible for us to misuse the word of the gospel, just as Jacob misused the word about God's statutes and judgments. We may pride ourselves on the light that shines on us, while our hearts stay cold. But if the truth we know melts us, our state will be pleasing to God.
Summary
- Sent — This verse opens the psalm's third call to praise. It thanks God for His preserving care: guarded gates, peace, bread, and the seasons.
- Swift — The swiftest messengers carry His order. The earth is soft clay in His hand and submits to His speaking.
- Personal — The repeated He and His over snow, frost, cold and wind rule out an impersonal "nature". God Himself stands behind it.
- Melting — The swift word is aimed at the human heart. It hardens those who harden themselves, and melts them down by His great love.
- Entrusted — Anyone can see creative power. But God gave His mind and laws to His people. That gift leaves us cold if we prize the light but never let it melt us.