Read
Psalm 147:20
He has not done this for just any nation. They don’t know his ordinances. Praise the LORD!
Notice
The contrast between Israel and other nations makes knowledge of God's ordinances a distinct gift, and the verse ends by praising the giver.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
How does Israel's distinct gift of knowing God's ordinances shape your reading of the closing praise?
Write on thisWhat changes when you think of God's commands as something he has made known?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Deuteronomy 4:32–34For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and from the one end of the sky to the other, …Both passages draw attention to the unmatched character of God's dealings with his people.
Deuteronomy 4:7–8For what great nation is there that has a god so near to them as the LORD our God is whenever we call on him?Both distinguish Israel from other nations through God's dealings with them: his nearness in Deuteronomy and his revealed ordinances in the psalm.
2 Samuel 7:23What one nation on the earth is like your people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem to himself for a people, and to make himself a name, and to do …Both describe Israel's distinct place among the nations through what God has done for his people.
Romans 3:1–2Then what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the profit of circumcision?Romans asks about Jewish advantage, while the psalm names a specific distinction: God made his ordinances known to Israel.
Ephesians 2:12that you were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and …Both describe a distinction involving Israel: the nations lack knowledge of God's ordinances, and Ephesians recalls exclusion from Israel's covenants.
1 Peter 2:9–10But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out …Both connect God's distinct dealings with a people to praise: Israel praises the LORD, and Peter's readers proclaim God's excellence.
Ephesians 5:8For you were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,Both distinguish people in relation to God, though Ephesians speaks of darkness and light rather than nations and ordinances.
Acts 14:16who in the generations gone by allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways.Both speak of the nations apart from Israel's revealed instruction: lacking knowledge of God's ordinances and walking in their own ways.
Exodus 34:10He said, “Behold, I make a covenant: before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been worked in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the …Both describe God doing something for his people that he has not done among other nations.
Isaiah 5:1–7Let me sing for my well beloved a song of my beloved about his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a very fruitful hill.Both are poetic passages, but Isaiah's opening vineyard song alone gives little basis for a connection with Israel's ordinances.
Proverbs 29:18Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but one who keeps the law is blessed.Both treat knowledge of God's instruction as a benefit, with Proverbs naming the blessing of keeping the law.
Acts 26:27King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.”Both concern God's revealed word, though the psalm celebrates knowing his ordinances and Acts asks about believing the prophets.
Where this verse fits
Gratitude. praise and worship. sermon or Bible study notes.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
God's commands belong among his gifts worth thanking him for. The psalm ends in praise because God has made his word known to Israel.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).