He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs; who can stand before his cold?
Psalm 147 calls Jerusalem to praise the God who builds the city and gathers the scattered. Without changing subject, the psalm then points to snow, frost and freezing weather as proof of the same hand. Verse 17 turns winter into a question no one can answer. He scatters the ice, so who can stand up under a cold He has sent?
The answer to Job's question
Long before this psalm, God challenged Job to say where ice comes from. A dictionary entry on the word "ice" links that challenge to this verse:
Morrish Bible DictionaryFrozen water or snow. God asked Job, "From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the frost of heaven?" The Psalms answer it: it is God who "hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs; who can stand before his cold?"
"His" ice, "His" cold
The verse keeps saying "His." One writer lines up those small words across the passage:
A J PollockAll this is attributed to GOD and not to nature. "HE gives snow." "HE scatters HIS ice." It is "HIS cold." "HE sends out HIS word." "HE causes HIS wind to blow."
The same writer names what is lost when we drop that way of speaking:
A J PollockIt is sad when we reduce everything to an impersonal nature. We speak as though these things must happen, with no reference to anything in particular. But these verses show that God is actively and intelligently behind what men call nature.
Why no one can stand
The question in the second half of the verse is not looking for information. It shows how small we are when the cold comes. Writing on the same theme in Job, one writer treats winter as a lesson and shows how we should respond:
Samuel RidoutSnow may cover the earth like a burial cloth. Winter may lay its icy hand on man and stop all his activities. Still, it is His snow, His hand, to teach man His supreme power. The beast goes into its shelter; let us too enter the "cleft of the rock," until these troubles have passed. Whether the storm comes in the whirlwind of the south, or from the frozen north, it is only His breath. How good, then, to humble ourselves under His mighty hand!
The cold that hardens and the word that thaws
The verse does not stand alone in the psalm. What He freezes He also melts. One writer takes that pattern over into how God deals with people:
L M GrantThe Lord speaks to the earth with firm decision, and it submits to His working. He can give such cold that no one can stand before it (v. 17). Just as easily, He can melt snow and hail by His Word, with the wind helping to make the waters flow. In the same way, He can harden the hearts of those who harden themselves against Him. Then He can melt them down by His great love.
A hard heart is not beyond thawing, and the thawing agent is the same word that governs the frost:
F. B. HoleVerse 18 says God sends out His word and melts the snow and ice. Verse 19 says He shows His word to Jacob, so that Jacob might feel that same melting power. Jacob was his name according to nature, whereas Israel was his name according to the grace God gave him.
Why the psalm brings up the weather at all
The frost is not where the psalm stops. It moves from His power in the seasons to His word given to one people:
J. N. DarbyVerses 15–18 celebrate His dealings with the seasons in power. Verses 19 and 20 celebrate His showing His word and judgments to Jacob, as He had not done for any nation. The nations might have seen the creative power of Jacob's God and His care over all things. But His mind and His laws belonged to His people.
Summary
- His word freezes. The ice over the earth is not an accident. It is the work of God — His answer to the question He once put to Job about where ice comes from.
- His word owns it. Every clause of the verse says "He" and "His". Treating weather as impersonal nature loses the Person at work behind it.
- His word humbles. Winter stops all our activities and teaches His supreme power. The right response is to take shelter and bow under His mighty hand.
- His word melts. God can harden those who harden themselves against Him. He can also melt them down by His great love. The same word that sends frost sends the thaw.
- His word is given. The psalm moves from seasons to Scripture. Nations could see His power in creation. His mind and His laws He gave to His people.