Psalm 147:
12 Glorify Adonai, Yerushalayim!
Praise your God, Tziyon!
13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates,
he blesses your children within you,
14 he brings peace within your borders,
he gives you your fill of the finest wheat.
15 He sends his word out over the earth,
his command runs swiftly.
16 Thus he gives snow like wool,
scatters hoarfrost like ashes,
17 sends crystals of ice like crumbs of bread —
who can withstand such cold?
18 Then he sends his word out and melts them;
he makes the winds blow, and the water flows.
19 He reveals his words to Ya‘akov,
his laws and rulings to Isra’el.
20 He has not done this for other nations;
they do not know his rulings.
Halleluyah!
[Complete Jewish Bible]---------------------
Last February, my wife and I visited our daughter, who was serving in the ELCA's Young Adults in Global Mission program in Rwanda. When we boarded the plane in Kigali for the return flight home the temperature was 100 degrees warmer than when we deplaned in Cleveland. One doesn't generally think of snow storms and Jerusalem in the same sentence. In spite of all the snow covered stables we have seen presented on Christmas cards, snow and ice in the Middle East cannot compete with the higher latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. So when the snow would fall, the frost coat the trees and hail carpet the ground one can understand how the imagination of the poet might be stimulated. Here is an inspiring demonstration of the power of God over the affairs of the nations. Who indeed "can stand before his cold?"
This winter storm of Psalm 147 is a metaphor for God's judgement upon wickedness and violence. Yet when the word of God blows over the frozen rivers, the landscape is released from the grip of cold and the waters run freely again. God's word declared of old to Jacob is filled with purpose, grace and mercy. To the ears of faith this word comes to us like the sounds of spring. And those sounds on our lips become songs of praise. Praise the LORD!
Gracious Lord, in the cold and emotional winters of our lives, remind us always of the promise of spring. Warm our hearts with your love, your healing and your forgiveness. Amen.
Sherman Bishop
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Westlake, Ohio
Master of Divinity , 1980
Psalm 147:12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your children within you.
14 He grants peace within your borders; he fills you with the finest of wheat.
15 He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.
16 He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes.
17 He hurls down hail like crumbs-- who can stand before his cold?
18 He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow.
19 He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and ordinances to Israel.
20 He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his ordinances. Praise the Lord![New Revised Standard Version]
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