“Praise ye the Lord: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely.”
Praise the Lord! How good it is to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting. The opening celebrates the goodness and fittingness of praise itself; singing becomes an appropriate response to God's graciousness. How good it is creates invitation for others to join in praise; the psalmist's own conviction draws others into participation. Fitting suggests that praise is not arbitrary but the naturally appropriate human response to divine graciousness. This verse frames praise as both pleasurable and morally fitting.
Church Fathers on Psalms 147:1
1. It is said to us, “Praise the Lord” Psalm 146:1. This is said to all nations, not to us alone. And these words, sounded forth through separate places by the Readers, each Church hears separately; but the one same Voice of God proclaims unto all, that we praise Him. And as though we asked wherefore we ought to praise the Lord, behold what reason he has brought forward: “Praise the Lord,” he says, “for a Psalm is good.” Is this all the reward of them that praise?...The…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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