Psalm 147:2 “The LORD doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.”
According to Biblical History, several times, the Lord did “build up Jerusalem” after it was destroyed and “he gathered together” those who had fled the destruction. But, “The LORD doth” also “build up” the “Jerusalem which is above” (Galatians 4:26), the New Testament Church. And, He still “gathereth together the outcasts of Israel”; that is, “the Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16), the New Testament Church. Our Lord plainly declared, “upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18)! That is, “upon this” “petra”, a very large cliff-like “rock” that is secure and will not fail, even under immense pressure. This “rock” is the great truth that Peter had just declared, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16); thus, our Lord has the infinite Power and Authority to “build up” His Own “church”, and He secures it and protects it from “all the fiery darts of the wicked” (Ephesians 6:16)! And, even now He “gathereth together the outcasts”, His beloved Children who are often “outcasts” in this present immoral, unfriendly world that is so often filled with greed and hatefulness and violence. “Now”, we greatly rejoice, for we “are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;” (Ephesians 2:19).