Psalm 146
146:1. Praise ye the LORD, or, “Hallelujah.” With holy awe let us pronounce the word, and by it summon ourselves and all others to adore the God of the whole earth. People need to be called to praise; it is important that they should praise; and there are many reasons why they should do it at once.
Praise the LORD, O my soul. He would be the leader of the choir which he had summoned. It is a poor business if we exhort others, and do not stir up our own soul. If my voice should be of the poorer sort, and somewhat lacking in melody, yet my soul shall accomplish my resolve to magnify the Lord.
146:2. While I live will I praise the LORD. I cannot tell how long or short my life may be; but every hour of it shall be given to the praises of my God. As our life is the gift of God’s mercy, it should be used for his glory.
I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being. When I am no longer in being on earth, I hope to have a higher being in heaven, and there I will not only praise, but sing praises, for the glorious Jehovah is my God, my own God by covenant, and by blood relationship in Christ Jesus. I have no being apart from God; therefore I will not attempt to enjoy my being other than by singing to his honor.
146:3. Put not your trust in princes. If David be the author this warning comes from a prince. In any case it comes from the Spirit of the living God. People are always far too apt to depend upon the great ones of earth, and forget the Great One above; and this habit is the fruitful source of disappointment. Princes are only men, and men with greater needs than others; why, then, should we look to them for aid? They are in greater danger, are burdened with greater cares, and are more likely to be misled than other people; therefore, it is folly to select them for our confidence. So live as to deserve their trust, but do not burden them with your trust.
Nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. Man is a helpless creature without God; therefore, look not for help in that direction. All men are like the few who are made into princes—they are more in appearance than in reality, more in promising than in performing, more apt to help themselves than to help others. How many have turned away heart-sick from men on whom they once relied! Never was this the case with a believer in the Lord!
146:4. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth. There is a spirit in man, and when that goes the man goes. The spirit returns to God who gave it, and the flesh to the dust out of which it was fashioned. This is a poor creature to trust in.
In that very day his thoughts perish. Whatever he may have proposed to do, the proposal ends in smoke; and our trusts have perished, for their thoughts have perished. Is this a being to be relied upon?
146:5. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help. He has happiness indeed: the true and the real delight is with him. The God of Jacob is the God of the covenant, the God of wrestling prayer, the God of the tried believer; he is the only living and true God, who led the tribes of Jacob out of Egypt, and through the wilderness. The Lord never dies, neither do his thoughts perish; his purpose of mercy, like himself, endures throughout all generations. Hallelujah!
Whose hope is in the LORD his God. He is happy in help for the present and in hope for the future who has placed all his confidence in Jehovah, who is his God by a covenant of salt. Happy is he when others are despairing! Happiest shall he be in that very hour when others are discovering the depths of agony. 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. Unless Jehovah be his God no one can find confidence in the fact that he was Jacob’s God; but when by faith we know the Lord to be ours, then we are “rich to all the intents of bliss.”
146:6. Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is. He who made heaven can make a heaven for us, and make us fit for heaven. He who made the earth can preserve us while we are on earth, and help us to make good use of it while we sojourn upon it. He who made the sea and all its mysteries can steer us across the pathless deeps of a troubled life, and make it a way for his redeemed to pass over. This God who still makes the world by keeping it in existence is assuredly able to keep us to his eternal kingdom and glory. The making of the worlds is the standing proof of the power and wisdom of that great God in whom we trust. It is our joy that he not only made heaven, but the sea; not only things which are bright and blessed, but things which are deep and dark. Concerning all our circumstances, we may say that the Lord is there. In storms and hurricanes the Lord reigneth as truly as in that great calm which rules the firmament above.
Which keepeth truth forever. This is a second and most forcible justification of our trust: the Lord will never permit his promise to fail. 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.
146:7. Which executeth judgment for the oppressed. He is a swift and impartial administrator of justice. He is never a respecter of persons. He is the friend of the down-trodden, the champion of the helpless.
Which giveth food to the hungry. All food comes from God; but when we are reduced to hunger, and providence supplies our necessity, we are especially struck with the fact. Let every hungry person lay hold on this statement, and plead it before the mercy-seat, whether he suffer bodily hunger or heart hunger.
The LORD looseth the prisoners. The Lord brought Israel from the house of bondage. Jesus is the Emancipator, spiritually, providentially, and nationally. As faith in Jehovah becomes common, freedom will advance in every form; especially will mental, moral, and spiritual bonds be loosed, and the slaves of error, sin, and death will be set free. Well may the loosened ones be loudest in the song!
146:8. The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind. Jesus did this very frequently, and hereby proved himself to be Jehovah. How often is the mental eye closed in moral night! And who can remove this dreary effect of the fall but the Almighty God? This miracle of grace he has performed in myriads of cases, and it is in each case a theme for loftiest praise.
The LORD raiseth them that are bowed down. This also Jesus did literally. Jehovah consoles the bereaved, cheers the defeated, solaces the despondent, comforts the despairing. Let those who are bowed to the ground appeal to him, and he will speedily upraise them.
The LORD loveth the righteous. He gives to them the love of content, communion, and reward. Loved ones, you must never pause from his praise whose infinite love has made you what you are!
146:9. The LORD preserveth the strangers. Many monarchs hunted aliens down, or transported them from place to place, or left them as outlaws unworthy of human rights; but Jehovah made special laws for their shelter within his domain.
He relieveth the fatherless and widow. These excite his compassion, and he shows it in a practical way by upraising them from their forlorn condition. The Mosaic law made provision for these destitute persons.
But the way of the wicked he turneth upside down. The wicked man’s way is in itself a turning of things upside down, and the Lord makes it so to him providentially: everything goes wrong with him who goes wrong.
146:10. The LORD shall reign for ever. Jehovah is king, and his kingdom can never come to an end. Neither does he die, nor abdicate, nor lose his crown by force.
Even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. The God of his worshiping people is he who in every age will reign. There will always be a Zion; Zion will always have Jehovah for her king, for her he will always prove himself to be reigning in great power. What should we do in the presence of so great a King, but enter into his courts with praise, and pay to him our joyful homage?
Praise ye the LORD. Do we not also say, “Hallelujah”?
Excerpt from:
The Treasury of David by Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)
e-Sword v 9.5.1 Copyright 2000-2009 Rick Meyers
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