Psalm 146 - Praise to the Lord, Worthy of Our Trust
Psalm 146 begins series of five final songs in the Book of Psalms, and the five are known as the Hallelujah Psalms. "In the earlier psalms, we have studied the writers' griefs, shames, sins, doubts, and fears. We have witnessed the people of God in their defeats and victories, their ups and downs in life. We have encountered rebellious words and struggling faith. All this is behind us now. In these final psalms every word is praise." (James Montgomery Boice)
A. The happiness of trusting in the Lord.
1. (Ps. 146:1-2) A declaration of praise to Yahweh.
1 Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul!
2 I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
a. Praise the Lord! The Psalmist meant this (Hallelujah!) as both a declaration of his own praise to God and as an exhortation to praise. He called upon his own soul to give Yahweh praise, and others as well.
i. "Hallelujah is a compound word made up of two Hebrew words: hallel (an imperative verb meaning 'praise') and jah (a contraction of the name for God, Jehovah). So hallelujah means 'Praise the Lord (or Jehovah).'" (Boice)
b. While I live I will praise the Lord: This is much the same as Psalm 104:33, declaring a determination to praise God with one's entire life and being.
i. "No sooner is one hallelujah ended, but another begins." (Horne)
ii. While I have my being: "In my continuance, in my progression, my eternal existence. This is very expressive." (Clarke)
iii. "We cannot be too firm in the holy resolve to praise God, for it is the chief end of our living and being that we should glorify God and enjoy him for ever." (Spurgeon)
iv. "George Carpenter, the Bavarian martyr, being desired by some godly brethren, that when he was burning in the fire he would give them some sign of his constancy, answered, 'Let this be a sure sign unto you of my faith and perseverance in the truth, that so long as I am able to hold open my mouth, or to whisper, I will never cease to praise God, and to profess his truth'; the which also he did, saith mine author; and so did many other martyrs besides." (Trapp)
2. (Ps. 146:3-4) A caution against confidence in man.
3 Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.
a. Do not put your trust in princes: While Yahweh is to be praised, man is to be questioned. Even the highest of among men - princes - are not worthy of our confidence. We are sure to be disappointed when we put unto trust in whom there is no help.
i. Do not put your trust in princes: "In men of greatest wealth and power, in whose favour men are very prone to trust." (Poole)
ii. "The word princes may seem to remove this advice from the plane of ordinary folk and their needs; but a modern equivalent would be 'the influential', whose backing may well seem more solid and practical than God's." (Kidner)
iii. In whom there is no help: "However high his state, he is but a 'son of Adam' (the earth born), and inherits the feebleness and fleetingness which deprive him of ability to help. 'He has no salvation' is the literal rendering of the last words of Psalms 146:3b." (Maclaren)
b. His spirit departs, he returns to his earth: The greatest among men are only men, and subject to death. Ashes turn to ashes and dust to dust, and even the brilliant plans of man perish. These are reasons to set our confidence in God and not in man.
i. Spirit could also be understood as breath. "High as he stood, the want of a little air brings him down to the ground, and lays him under it." (Spurgeon)
ii. "Verses 3 and 4 make these points by two plays on Hebrew words. In Hebrew adam, meaning 'man,' is the same word for 'earth' or 'ground.' So dirt goes to dirt." (Boice)
iii. "Earthly princes, if they have the will, often want the power, even to protect their friends. And should they want neither will nor power to advance them, yet still all depends upon the breath in their nostrils." (Horne)
iv. His plans perish: "As soon as ever he is dead, his thoughts perish; all his designs and endeavours, either for himself or for others." (Poole)
v. "This is the narrow estate of man, his breath, his earth, and his thoughts; and this is his threefold climax therein,-his breath goeth forth, to his earth he returns, and his thoughts perish. Is this a being to be relied upon? Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. To trust it would be a still greater vanity." (Spurgeon)
3. (PS. 146:5-7) Happy confidence in a great God.
5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,
6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever;
7 who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free;
a. Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help: Princes among men often fail, but God never disappoints the one who hopes in Him.
i. The Psalmist has abruptly transitioned from negative to positive. "His negative teaching, if it stood alone, would be a gospel of despair, the reduction of life to a torturing cheat; but taken as the prelude to the revelation of One whom it is safe to trust, there is nothing sad in it." (Maclaren)
ii. "We have here a statement which we have personally tried and proved: resting in the Lord, we know a happiness which is beyond description, beyond comparison, beyond conception." (Spurgeon)
iii. Whose hope is in the Lord his God: "We never praise God better than by exercising faith in him! Quiet trust is among the sweetest music that reaches the heart of God; and when we put our trust in man, we rob God of his glory; we are giving to others the confidence which belongs alone to him." (Spurgeon)
b. Who made heaven and earth: The singer gives us more reasons for confidence in God. When we trust in the Lord as the creator of all things, we realize He has power to help and deliver that even great men do not have.
i. "The psalmist does not introduce anything new in this description of the Lord's mighty acts...but the manner in which he brings the various ways of divine sustenance together is most creative, including the conclusion." (VanGemeren)
c. Who keeps truth forever: God can also be trusted because He is a moral, upright God. Yahweh is unchangingly true, and the champion of justice for the oppressed. The God of such creating power would be a monster without His passion for truth and justice.
i. Who keeps truth forever: "And this 'for ever' is opposed to that mortality and mutability of earthly princes, Psalms 146:4." (Trapp)
ii. "He is true to his own nature, true to the relationships which he has assumed, true to his covenant, true to his Word, true to his Son. He keeps true, and is the keeper of all that is true." (Spurgeon)
d. Who gives food to the hungry: God also cares for those who lack. For the hungry He provides food and for prisoners He provides freedom. In all this we see a God of power, holiness, and love. This is a God who can be trusted with confidence.
i. Food to the hungry: "The hungry hearts of men, who are all full of needs and longing, may turn to this mighty, faithful, righteous Jehovah, and be sure that He never sends mouths but He sends meat to fill them. All our various kinds of hunger are doors for God to come into our spirits." (Maclaren)
ii. "Thus he completes the triple blessing: justice, bread, and liberty." (Spurgeon)
B. The helpfulness of the holy God.
1. (Ps. 146:8-9) Declaring the power and loving care of God.
8 the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous.
9 The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
a. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind: The Psalmist here began a marvelous description of Yahweh as a God of power, care, justice, and compassion. The Psalmist seems delighted to describe Yahweh in His great works of love and power.
i. "All these classes of afflicted persons are meant to be regarded literally, but all may have a wider meaning and be intended to hint at spiritual bondage, blindness, and abjectness." (Maclaren)
ii. We instantly connect this list with the work of Jesus the Messiah.
· Jesus opened the eyes of the blind (Matthew 9:27-29).
· Jesus raised those who are bowed down (Luke 13:11-13).
· Jesus loved the righteous (Matthew 13:43, 25:46).
· Jesus watched over the strangers (Matthew 8:5-10).
· Jesus relieved the fatherless and widow (Luke 7:12-15)
· Jesus turned the way of the wicked...upside down (Matthew 21:12)
· The logical conclusion is that Jesus is Yahweh, the Lord.
iii. "Like Father, like Son. For us, these lines may bring to mind the oracle of Isaiah 61 by which Jesus announced his mission, and the further clues to his identity which he sent back to John the Baptist (Luke 4:18f.; 7:21f.)." (Kidner)
b. But the way of the wicked He turns upside down: God shows great love and compassion to the poor, afflicted, and needy. Yet the Lord also brings justice against the wicked, promising to turn their way upside down.
i. He turns upside down: "He maketh them to lose their way; he not only frustrateth their plots and enterprises but turneth them against themselves." (Poole)
ii. "That aspect of God's government is lightly handled in one clause, as befits the purpose of the psalm. But it could not be left out. A true likeness must have shadows. God were not a God for men to rely on, unless the trend of His reign was to crush evil and thwart the designs of sinners." (Maclaren)
2. (10) Praising the God who reigns forever.
10 The LORD will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the LORD!!
a. The Lord shall reign forever: The Psalmist was happy to declare this, because God's power and might are expressed in such love and compassion. Though both might and right, the Lord shall reign forever, even to all generations.
i. The Lord shall reign forever: "Therefore he can never fail; and he is thy God, O Zion. Hitherto he has helped you and your fathers; and has extended that help from generation to generation. Therefore trust in him and bless the Lord." (Clarke)
ii. "However humbling the thought may be, and to whatever searching of heart it may drive us, it is certain that if, and when 'Hosannas languish on our tongues, and our devotion dies,' the reason is that we have lost our clear vision of God, our keen consciousness of what He is. To know Him is to praise Him, and that without ceasing." (Morgan)
b. Praise the Lord! Psalm 146 ends as it began - with a declaration of praise to Yahweh, the proclamation of Hallelujah!
i. "Here endeth this gladsome Psalm. Here endeth not the praise of the Lord, which shall ascend for ever and ever." (Spurgeon)
Psalm 146: Always Praising, Always Trusting, Always Blessed
We don't know who wrote Psalm 146 or when it was written. Many think that it was after the Babylonian exile. It tells us how to experience God's blessing. It is the last of the Psalm beatitudes. It would be enlightening to study all of them (Derek Kidner, Psalms 1-72 [IVP], 1:47, lists them: Psalms 1:1; 2:12; 32:1, 2; 33:12; 34:8; 40:4; 41:1; 65:4; 84:4, 5, 12: 89:15; 94:12; 106:3; 112:1; 119:1, 2; 127:5; 128:1, 2; 137:8, 9; 144:15, 16; 146:3). Psalm 146 tells us,
To experience God's blessing, always praise Him and always trust Him.
This psalm (and each of Psalms 147-150), begins and ends with the exhortation, "Praise the Lord" ("Hallelujah"). We should not use hallelujah loosely, lest we be guilty of taking the Lord's name in vain. It should be a genuine expression of praise to the Lord. It is interesting that hallelujah first occurs in the Psalms in Psalm 104:35 and it only occurs 23 times in the Psalms (104:35; 105:45; 106:1, 48; 112:1; 113:1, 9; 115:18; 116:19; 117:2; 135:1, 3, 21; 146:1, 10; 147:1, 20; 148:1, 14; 149:1, 9; 150:1, 6). Also, no psalm that is labeled as a psalm of David contains hallelujah.
In Psalm 146:1-2, we see the psalmist always praising the Lord. In verses 3-4, he tells us in whom not to trust and thus, by implication, in whom always to trust. In verses 5-10, he shows that when we praise and trust in the almighty Lord, we will be blessed.
1. To receive God's blessing, always praise Him (146:1-2).
The opening "Praise the Lord" is plural, addressed to the entire congregation, but then the psalmist talks to himself, "Praise the Lord, O my soul!" Verse 2 adds a determined resolve, "I will praise the Lord while I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being." If the psalmist, filled with the Spirit, had to preach to himself in order to sing God's praises all of his days, then certainly we must do the same (John Calvin makes this point, Calvin's Commentaries [Baker], on Ps. 146:1-2, p. 285). Praising God every day as long as you live won't happen naturally or because you have a cheery disposition. It requires a God-ward focus, where you see every blessing and trial coming from His loving hand.
Also, the psalmist has to make this determined resolve to praise God as long as he is alive because, as he clearly shows (in verses 7-9), the Lord's people are not exempt from difficult trials. They are oppressed, hungry, imprisoned, blind, bowed down, strangers, fatherless, and widowed. There are wicked people in the world who persecute them (v. 9c). The apostle Paul gives a similar list (Rom. 8:35): tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, and sword. Then he adds (Rom. 8:37), "But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us."
So we can't base our praise for the Lord on happy circumstances or on the mood of the moment. Praising the Lord always doesn't rest on having an upbeat, happy personality. Rather, it must be the determined choice of those who know God's love through Jesus Christ. In whatever trials or joys we may find ourselves, we must join the psalmist in preaching to ourselves, "Praise the Lord, O my soul!" We must join Paul, who from prison wrote (Phil. 4:4), "Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, rejoice!" Charles Spurgeon put it (The Treasury of David [Baker], 7:380), "We cannot be too firm in the holy resolve to praise God, for it is the chief end of our living and being that we should glorify God and enjoy Him forever." And, if we all will live that way each day during the week, when we gather to worship on the Lord's Day, God's praises will flood this place.
2. To receive God's blessing, always trust in Him, not in any human (146:3-4).
"Do not trust in princes, in mortal man, in whom there is no salvation. His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; in that very day his thoughts perish."
At first glance, verse 3 seems disjointed from verses 1 & 2. What is the connection between praising the Lord and not trusting in princes (or, in modern terms, influential people)? The connection is, you will praise the one whom you trust if he helps you. If you trust a person in high places to help you and he comes through, you sing his praises. It's not wrong to give credit to the official who helped you, but you must not rob God of His rightful glory. If your trust is in the Lord, you see His hand behind what the official did, so He gets the glory. As Psalm 50:15 states, "Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me."
Some think that Psalm 146 was written after the Babylonian exile. The LXX adds to Psalms 146, 147, & 148 the title, "of Haggai and Zechariah," who were prophets in that era. Some of the Jews who had returned to the land were counting on the influence of the Persian King Cyrus to get the temple rebuilt. At first Cyrus granted permission, but then enemies of the Jews persuaded him to put a stop to the construction (Ezra 4:1-5).
We cannot know for certain whether or not that was the historical setting of this psalm. But the point applies to every time and place: If we trust in influential people for help, we are likely to be disappointed. Even if they come through as we hoped, we are then prone to praise them rather than the Lord. If we trust in the Lord, who can direct the hearts of kings whichever way He chooses (Prov. 21:1), then we will praise the Lord if those in high places show us favor.
In verse 3, the psalmist states his case: Trusting in influential people is misplaced, because they are mortal and any help that they may give is short-lived. Then in verse 4 he supports his case: The powerful man in whom you trust is one breath away from the grave, where he will be no help at all. There is a Hebrew word-play between man (Hebrew, adam) and earth (Hebrew, adamah). It comes from Genesis 3:19, where God pronounced the curse on Adam that he would return to the ground, "because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return." It underscores the weakness of even the strongest of men. He may be a powerful prince today, but tomorrow he could be a corpse. You may have the king's favor today, but tomorrow, others could be in power that dislike you. So any trust in man is misplaced. Rather, trust in God and He will bless you.
Jeremiah 17 makes this point. First, the prophet says (17:5), "Thus says the Lord, 'Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the Lord.'" He goes on to compare this person to a bush in the desert. Then (17:7) he gives the contrast: "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord." He compares him to a tree planted by the water, which can endure a drought. Charles Simeon put it crisply (Expository Outlines on the Whole Bible [Zondervan], 6:499), "We cannot expect too little from man, or too much from God."
I read of a man who was having trouble trusting God to give ten percent regularly off the top of his paycheck to the Lord's work. (The New Testament standard, as I understand it, is not ten percent, but rather, as the Lord has prospered you, 1 Cor. 16:2.) But this man wanted to tithe, but he couldn't see how he could tithe and meet his bills. So he shared his fears with his pastor.
The pastor replied, "John, if I promise to make up the difference in your monthly bills if you should fall short, do you think you could try tithing for just one month?"
After thinking about it for a moment, John replied, "Sure, if you promise to make up any shortfall, I guess I could try tithing for one month."
The pastor mused, "Now, what do you think of that? You say you'd be willing to put your trust in a mere man like myself, who possesses so little materially, but you couldn't trust your Heavenly Father, who owns the whole universe!" John got the point and started giving faithfully off the top, trusting God to provide.
So, to receive God's blessing, always praise Him (146:1-2). To receive His blessing, do not trust in mortal man, but rather in God alone (146:3-4). Third,
3. When you trust in the all-powerful Lord, He will be your support in your weakness, and you will praise Him forever (146:5-10).
First the psalmist states his case (v. 5), that you will be blessed when you trust in the Lord. Then he supports his case (vv. 6-9), showing that the almighty, faithful Creator, comes to the aid of the weak who cast themselves upon Him. Finally (v. 10), he comes full circle, showing that when you trust the Lord in your weakness, because He reigns forever, you will praise Him forever.
A. Statement of the case: When the almighty God is your help and your hope, you will be blessed (146:5).
"How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God." The title, "God of Jacob," underscores God's sovereign grace. Why would God choose Jacob over his brother Esau? Esau was the nicer man. Jacob was a conniving scoundrel. But God set His blessing on Jacob over Esau "so that God's purpose according to His choice would stand" (Rom. 9:11).
You know the story: after Jacob stole his brother Esau's birthright, he had to flee and live with Laban in Haran for 20 years. When he finally returned to the promised land, he got word that Esau was coming to meet him with 400 armed men. Weak and defenseless, Jacob panicked. He quickly divided his wives and possessions, each bearing gifts, in the hope that if the first bunch got slaughtered, the rest could somehow escape.
Then as he stayed back on the other side of the stream alone, the angel met him and wrestled with him until daybreak. When the angel told Jacob to let him go, Jacob gave that great answer (Gen. 32:26), "I will not let you go unless you bless me." The angel blessed him, but he also touched the socket of his thigh, so that Jacob afterward walked with a limp. Jacob had seen God face to face, so that God was his only help and hope. As a result, he was weak in himself, but strong in the Lord, and thus truly blessed. Likewise, when you are weak in yourself, but the God of Jacob is your help and your hope, you will be truly blessed. Spurgeon put it (An All Round Ministry [Banner of Truth], p. 329), "The Lord pours most into those who are most empty of self. Those who have least of their own shall have the most of God's."
B. Support for the case: When you are weak and trust in the almighty, faithful God, you will be blessed because He delights to sustain the needy who trust in Him (146:6-9).
The psalmist makes four points here:
(1). The Lord is able to bless you because He is the almighty Creator of heaven and earth (146:6a).
"Who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them" We have seen this theme repeatedly in the psalms. You can trust in God because, in contrast to the mortal "helpers" of verses 3-4, the Lord is the almighty Creator. The sea, for the Hebrews, often connotes that which is dark and threatening. But, God made it, too, and thus He controls it. He is Lord of heaven and earth.
(2). The Lord is able to bless you because He is forever faithful (146:6b).
He "keeps faith forever." He never goes back on His covenant promises. So, as the writer of Hebrews (10:23) exhorts, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful."
(3). The Lord is able to bless you because He delights to sustain the weak and needy (146:7-9).
The psalmist gives a quick list of people in dire straits whom the Lord sustains or delivers. Five times in rapid fire, he puts "the Lord" ("Yahweh") in the emphatic position to apply in specific fashion the general truth that the almighty Creator is also the sustainer of the weak and needy (Willem VanGemeren, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, ed. by Frank Gaebelein [Zondervan], 5:866). He mentions eight things:
First, the Lord "executes justice for the oppressed" (146:7a). Often, wicked, powerful men oppress God's people. In His inscrutable purposes, God often delays judgment, as the Book of Revelation shows (see Rev. 6:10). But that same book shows that although judgment may be delayed, it is 100 percent certain. All wrongs will be righted. No oppressor will escape.
Second, the Lord "gives food to the hungry" (146:7b). We saw this in Psalm 145:15-16, that the Lord provides food for all of His creatures. Thus we can trust Him to provide for our needs.
Third, "the Lord sets the prisoners free" (146:7c). They may be imprisoned unjustly, such as Joseph or Peter, or due to their own rebellion (Ps. 107:10-16). It also could refer to those who are imprisoned by various sins or guilt or troubling situations beyond their ability to break free. The Lord is able to deliver the prisoners, no matter how securely the enemy guards them.
Fourth, "the Lord opens the eyes of the blind" (146:8a). Although there are no cases of the blind being healed in the Old Testament, the Lord told Moses (Exod. 4:11), "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?" Isaiah 35:5 predicts of Messiah, "Then the eyes of the blind will be opened," which Jesus referred to when He gave assurance to John the Baptist that He was the Messiah (Matt. 11:5). Interestingly, John was imprisoned, but not delivered! But he will see God's justice on the wicked Herod who executed him.
Fifth, "the Lord raises up those who are bowed down" (146:8b). We saw this in Psalm 145:14. Whatever your burden, cast it upon the Lord and He will lift you up. Even if you are bowed down with sin and guilt, bring it to the cross and plead the blood of Jesus. He is the friend of sinners!
Sixth, "the Lord loves the righteous" (146:8c). Why is this in the midst of a list of people with overwhelming problems? Because the righteous are often oppressed and persecuted because they follow the Lord. But as Jesus said (Matt. 5:10), "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Seventh, "the Lord protects the strangers" (146:9a). Often, those who are foreigners are shunned or ridiculed or discriminated against. They feel lonely and as if no one cares for them. But the Lord cares for and protects them.
Eighth, "the Lord supports the fatherless and the widow" (146:9b). This is not asserting that orphans and widows are never oppressed or even killed (see Ps. 94:6; Isa. 10:2). But it is to say that such helpless victims never suffer apart from God's permissive will, and that He cares especially for those whom the ruthless trample. As we saw at the head of the list, the Lord will execute justice for all the oppressed in His time.
So the psalmist's point is that when we are weak and needy, we should trust in the Lord to bless us. Charles Simeon (ibid., 6:501) wrote, "Let nothing, on the one hand, be deemed too great to carry to him; nor, on the other hand, account any thing so small that you may engage in it without his aid."
So the psalmist in this section has said, (1), that the Lord is able to bless you because He is the almighty Creator; (2), He is forever faithful; (3), He delights to sustain the weak and needy.
(4). The Lord is able to bless you because He thwarts the way of the wicked (146:9c).
Spurgeon put it (Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit [Pilgrim Publications], 40:70), "Where they looked for joy, they experienced disappointment; where they expected success, they met with defeat; and whereas they thought to heap to themselves pleasures according to their lusts, they find that they have only increased their misery." Or, as Isaiah (48:22) succinctly states, "'There is no peace for the wicked,' says the Lord."
The psalmist has stated his case, that you will be blessed when you trust the almighty God as your help and your hope. He has supported his case by showing that you will be blessed when you trust in the almighty, faithful God, because He delights to sustain the needy who cry out to Him. Then he wraps up his case by coming full circle:
C. The Lord will reign forever; therefore, praise Him (146:10).
"The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord!" Wicked people may think that God does not reign, but the Lord scoffs at them (Ps. 2:1-4). This God who reigns is our God and we are His covenant people. Therefore, our praise should begin here on earth, as long as we have life and breath (146:2), and will continue forever.
Conclusion
To come back to the opening question, do you want God's blessing in your life? If so, always praise Him and always trust Him. We especially learn to praise and trust Him when He brings us into overwhelming situations that are beyond our ability. Five loaves and two fish to feed 5,000 hungry men, plus women and children? No way-unless you give your little to the Lord and ask Him to bless it. Then you'll praise Him and He even makes sure that you carry away a full basket of leftovers!
Application Questions
1. When the psalmist exhorts us to praise the Lord, does he mean that we should keep repeating that phrase over and over? If not, what does he mean?
2. How do we find the balance between "not trusting in princes" and properly using the means that God provides? Is it wrong to solicit the help of a government official?
3. "The Lord sets the prisoners free," yet many of His saints (such as John the Baptist) have died in prison. How do we reconcile this seeming contradiction?
4. Some godly people seem to be blessed more than others. Is this due to human factors or to God's sovereignty alone? What human factors hinder or open the way for God's blessing?
