Shout Praises to The LORD

Commentary

The inhabitants of Jerusalem are reminded that they need to praise the Lord for all He has done in restoring Jerusalem (v. 12). He makes the city gates strong and blesses the people (v. 13). He has helped them to rebuild the walls and to have a security from their enemies with internal happiness.  He lets the people live in peace and gives them the very best wheat (v. 14). Along with this peace came prosper­ity. They needed to remember that all of this came about because God had chosen to bring it to pass and not because of their abilities. 
What a wondrous wintertime scene is portrayed in this passage. God speaks, and the elements of nature obey (v. 15). When He commands winter, blizzards occur. “He spreads the snow” and “scatters the frost” like ashes on the ground (v. 16). He hurls down his hail like pebbles” (v. 17). Who can stand the cold? At His command the ice melts, the wind blows, and steams begin to flow (v. 18). God gave His laws and teachings to the descendants of Jacob, the nation of Israel (v. 19). The icy blast is almost felt as well as seen in this graphic word picture. When nature obeys God’s commands, we all enjoy the bene­fits. The same is true when man obeys His word. He has especially blessed His own people by giving them His own revealed truth. There was no nation in the ancient world as favored as the Hebrew people in this respect (v. 20). The possession of God’s written word gives any people a special advantage over those who are ignorant of His laws and subject to the evils which are a result of this ignorance. This is reason for Israel to praise the Lord and we need to praise Him for the same reason.

Application

Wycliffe Bible translators say there are over 2000 known tribes who do not have the written Word of God in their lan­guage. I need to keep in mind all the advantages I possess by having the Bible in so many versions of my own language and then thank the Lord for these and seek to share His Word with others.