Weekly Devotional 15th of August, 2025
by Bruce Billington
Weekly Devotional 15th of August, 2025
We will continue our series on hearing God through the Psalms by examining Psalm 147, the author is assumed to be David.
Psalm 147:9-11 – “He gives to the beast its food, And to the young ravens which cry. 10 He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He does not take pleasure in the legs of a man. 11 The LORD favors those who fear Him, Those who wait for His lovingkindness.”
Here, it is shown that divine goodness is visible all around the world, and people have no strength except what is given from above. The focus here is that God is not impressed with anything we claim to do by our own power, even when we rely on animals instead of Him.
Obviously, as their Creator, God is not displeased with animals in themselves; rather, He is addressing our tendency to rely on anything but Him, and we should not have false confidence in them. Therefore, we learn that He only condemns strength that diminishes the honour due to Him.
He takes pleasure in the trust of His people, those who fear Him, revere, and obey Him (verse 11). He is happy when His followers hope in His mercy —His steadfast, unwavering love (Psalm 33:18).
The picture here shows the farmer who, after ploughing and planting his fields, waits for the LORD to do what he cannot himself (Js. 5:7). Only God can provide the rain needed for his crops to sprout and grow. The farmer works hard and invests his seed, trusting that God will send enough rain. In the end, his trust isn’t in his own strength or in the strength of his plough horse, but in God’s faithfulness to provide for him and his family. This trust, the psalmist emphasises, is what delights the LORD.
In short, we need to acknowledge God as the provider of everything we need. Shortly before the Israelites originally entered the promised land, the LORD reminded them of an important fact: it was He who had provided for them in the wilderness. He then issued them a serious warning: once they were settled in the land and enjoying its abundance, they must never think that their own power had produced their wealth (Deuteronomy 8:10–18).
We must heed this warning. Whether we have little or much, it all comes from the LORD. It is He who supplies our needs and gives us the ability to work. It is He who sends the rain that produces food. Everything we invent or manufacture begins with something God created. He is the source of everything that sustains our lives. When we recognise this and trust Him rather than our own resources, He will be pleased with us.
The rest of this Psalm reiterates the above words and then makes the following statement.
V20 – “He has not dealt thus with any nation; And as for His ordinances, they have not known them. Praise the LORD!”
We see here that God has not dealt with any other nation the way He has to Israel by revealing His doctrine. And so it goes with us as the church under the New Covenant.
John Calvin makes a useful comment about this. He says,
And let us learn from this, that we should not only receive the doctrine of God with reverential and holy obedience, but embrace it with affection, for we can conceive of nothing more delightful and desirable than that God should undertake our salvation, and give testimony of this by stretching out his hand to bring us to himself.
For this is the design with which the doctrine has been given to us, that amidst the thick darkness of this world, and the devious errors into which Satan misleads the children of men, the great Father of us all may by it cast a foregoing light upon our path before gathering us to the inheritance of heaven.
We are not only shown the way of the Lord, and given insight to His Kingdom whilst here on earth, but also assured of the great joy of eternal life that is set out before all who are in Christ.
May God bless you.