The author of this psalm is unknown; nor can the occasion on which it was composed be ascertained with any degree of certainty. In the Septuagint, the Arabic, and the Syriac versions, it is ascribed, like the previous psalm, to the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. The Syriac has this title: "A Psalm of Haggai and Zechariah, when they urged the completion of the temple of Jerusalem." It is quite manifest, from Psalm 147:2, Psalm 147:13-14, that the psalm was written after the return from the Babylonian captivity, and that probably on the completion of the temple after that return, with a view to be employed at its dedication. See Introduction to Psalm 146:1-10.
This psalm comprises two themes: praise to God for his goodness to his creatures generally; and special praise for his goodness to his people. These topics are intermingled in the psalm, but the former is more prominent in the first part of the psalm; the latter in the close. Both were proper themes at the rebuilding of the temple and the walls of the city, after the return from the exile. Both are proper now, and will be so always.

The psalmist praises God for his goodness to Jerusalem, Psalm 147:1-3; shows his great mercy to them that trust in him, Psalm 147:4-6; he extols him for his mercies, and providential kindness, Psalm 147:7-11; for his defense of Jerusalem, Psalm 147:12-15; For his wonders in the seasons, Psalm 147:16-18; and his word unto Jacob, Psalm 147:19, Psalm 147:20.
This Psalm, which is without title in the Hebrew, Chaldee, and Vulgate, is attributed by the other Versions to Haggai and Zechariah. It was probably penned after the captivity, when the Jews were busily employed in rebuilding Jerusalem, as may be gathered from the second and thirteenth verses. It may be necessary to remark that all the Versions, except the Chaldee, divide this Psalm at the end of the eleventh verse, and begin a new Psalm at the twelfth. By this division the numbers of the Psalm agree in the Versions with the Hebrew; the former having been, till now, one behind.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 147
This psalm is thought to be written by David, and according to Theodoret predicts the return of the Jews from Babylon, and the rebuilding of Jerusalem by Zerubbabel, which seems to be grounded on Psalm 147:2; though the words there agree well enough with the times of David; hence the title in the Septuagint, Ethiopic, Arabic, and Syriac versions, and Apollinarius, is as the preceding; the Syriac adds,
"concerning Zerubbabel and Joshua the priest, and Ezra, who were solicitous and diligent in building Jerusalem.''
Aben Ezra and other Jewish writers think it foretells the future rebuilding of Jerusalem, and the restoration of the Jews from their present captivity, and refer it to the times of the Messiah; and so far it may be right, that it respects Christ and the praise of him, on account of his nature and works; and may take in the conversion of the Jews. It seems to be written by the same person, and on the same account, as the preceding psalm.

(Psalm 147:1-11) The people of God are exhorted to praise him for his mercies and care.
(Psalm 147:12-20) For the salvation and prosperity of the church.

Hallelujah to the Sustainer of All Things, the Restorer of Jerusalem
It is the tone of the restoration-period of Ezra and Nehemiah that meets us sounding forth out of this and the two following Psalm, even more distinctly and recognisably than out of the nearly related preceding Psalm (cf. Psalm 147:6 with Psalm 146:9). In Psalm 147 thanksgiving is rendered to God for the restoration of Jerusalem, which is now once more a city with walls and gates; in Psalm 148:1-14 for the restoration of the national independence; and in Psalm 149:1-9 for the restoration of the capacity of joyously and triumphantly defending themselves to the people so long rendered defenceless and so ignominiously enslaved.
In the seventh year of Artachshasta (Artaxerxes I Longimanus) Ezra the priest entered Jerusalem, after a journey of five months, with about two thousand exiles, mostly out of the families of the Levites (458 b.c.). In the twentieth year of this same clement king, that is to say, thirteen years later (445 b.c.), came Nehemiah, his cup-bearer, in the capacity of a Tirshâtha (vid., Isaiah, p. 4). Whilst Ezra did everything for introducing the Mosaic Law again into the mind and commonwealth of the nation, Nehemiah furthered the building of the city, and more particularly of the walls and gates. We hear from his own mouth, in Nehemiah 2:1 of the Book that is extracted from his memoirs, how indefatigably and cautiously he laboured to accomplish this work. Nehemiah 12:27 is closely connected with these notes of Nehemiah's own hand. After having been again in the meanwhile in Susa, and there neutralized the slanderous reports that had reached the court of Persia, he appointed, at his second stay in Jerusalem, a feast in dedication of the walls. The Levite musicians, who had settled down fore the most part round about Jerusalem, were summoned to appear in Jerusalem. Then the priests and Levites were purified; and they purified the people, the gates, and the walls, the bones of the dead (as we must with Herzfeld picture this to ourselves) being taken out of all the tombs within the city and buried before the city; and then came that sprinkling, according to the Law, with the sacred lye of the red heifer, which is said (Para iii. 5) to have been introduced again by Ezra for the first time after the Exile. Next the princes of Judah, the priests, and Levite musicians were placed in the west of the city in two great choirs (תּודת)
(Note: The word has been so understood by Menahem, Juda ben Koreish, and Abulwald; whereas Herzfeld is thinking of hecatombs for a thank-offering, which might have formed the beginning of both festive processions.))
and processions (תּחלכת). The one festal choir, which was led by the one half of the princes, and among the priests of which Ezra went on in front, marched round the right half of the city, and the other round the left, whilst the people looked down from the walls and towers. The two processions met on the east side of the city and drew up in the Temple, where the festive sacrifices were offered amidst music and shouts of joy.
The supposition that Psalm 147:1 were all sung at this dedication of the walls under Nehemiah (Hengstenberg) cannot be supported; but as regards Psalm 147, the composition of which in the time of Nehemiah is acknowledged by the most diverse parties (Keil, Ewald, Dillmann, Zunz), the reference to the Feast of the Dedication of the walls is very probable. The Psalm falls into two parts, Psalm 147:1-11, Psalm 147:12, which exhibit a progression both in respect of the building of the walls (Psalm 147:2, Psalm 147:13), and in respect of the circumstances of the weather, from which the poet takes occasion to sing the praise of God (Psalm 147:8, Psalm 147:16). It is a double Psalm, the first part of which seems to have been composed, as Hitzig suggests, on the appearing of the November rain, and the second in the midst of the rainy part of the winter, when the mild spring breezes and a thaw were already in prospect.