The Meaning of Psalms 147:9 Explained

Psalms 147:9

KJV: He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.

YLT: Giving to the beast its food, To the young of the ravens that call.

Darby: Who giveth to the cattle their food, to the young ravens which cry.

ASV: He giveth to the beast his food, And to the young ravens which cry.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

He giveth  to the beast  his food,  [and] to the young  ravens  which cry. 

What does Psalms 147:9 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalm 147:1-11 - Why We Praise The Lord
It has been supposed that this psalm was prepared for use when the new walls of the city were completed in the days of Nehemiah. It contains a further enumeration of God's present tenses. The psalmist never tires of celebrating the immediateness of God. He will not tolerate the intervention of second causes, which are the artifice of scientific explanation. Laws are, after all, only the convenient statement of the regularity of God's methods. The couplets of this psalm are amazingly suggestive. By contrast they complete each other. God builds up the great city of Jerusalem, but His heart goes out to the individual prodigal. He is equally at home in the hospital where broken hearts congregate, and among the stars, which He names and counts as a shepherd His flock. He upholds the meek and overthrows the proud. Spring, with its clouds and rain and sprouting grass, is His work; but so also the wild life of the forest, with its beasts and birds. He has no such delight in athletic strength or speed as He has in the reverent worship of His people. There is a perfect balance and rhythm in God's nature. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalm 147

1  The prophet exhorts to praise God for his care of the church
4  His power and wisdom
6  His mercy
7  His providence
12  To praise him for his blessings upon the kingdom
15  For his power over the elements
19  And for his ordinances in the church

What do the individual words in Psalms 147:9 mean?

He gives to the beast its food [And] to young the ravens that cry
נוֹתֵ֣ן לִבְהֵמָ֣ה לַחְמָ֑הּ לִבְנֵ֥י עֹ֝רֵ֗ב אֲשֶׁ֣ר יִקְרָֽאוּ

נוֹתֵ֣ן  He  gives 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: יָתַן 
Sense: to give, put, set.
לִבְהֵמָ֣ה  to  the  beast 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, feminine singular
Root: בְּהֵמָה  
Sense: beast, cattle, animal.
לַחְמָ֑הּ  its  food 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person feminine singular
Root: לֶחֶם  
Sense: bread, food, grain.
לִבְנֵ֥י  [And]  to  young 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
עֹ֝רֵ֗ב  the  ravens 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֹרֵב  
Sense: raven.
אֲשֶׁ֣ר  that 
Parse: Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
יִקְרָֽאוּ  cry 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: קָרָא  
Sense: to call, call out, recite, read, cry out, proclaim.