Psalms 146King James Version
Praise the Lord, O my soul. Put not your trust in princes. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help. Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth the prisoners: the Lord openeth the eyes of the blind.
The first of the five closing Hallel psalms (146-150). Praise the LORD, O my soul. While I live, I will praise; I will sing praises while I have any being. Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man in whom there is no help: when he breathes his last, his thoughts perish. Happy is the man whose help is the God of Jacob. He made heaven and earth and sea; he keeps truth forever. He executes judgment for the oppressed; feeds the hungry; frees prisoners; opens blind eyes; raises the bowed down. He loves the righteous. The LORD shall reign forever.
The permanent praise of the living is grounded in the contrast between the prince whose breath departs and whose thoughts perish, and the God who never ceases to help the specific categories of people no one else helps.
verse: "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." The anti-trust warning is as sharp as the pro-trust invitation is warm.
No superscription. Opens the closing Hallel. The five closing psalms (146-150) form a liturgical crescendo, each beginning and ending with Hallelujah. The Psalter that opened with the quiet wisdom of Psalm 1 closes with the full orchestra and all flesh praising. The specific social catalog of those God helps (vv7-9) grounds the final praise in concrete mercy.
The psalmist's soul addressed for praise; the princes warned against as temporary; the God of Jacob as the permanent helper; the specific beneficiaries: oppressed, hungry, prisoners, blind, bowed down, righteous, strangers, fatherless, widows.
Psalm 146 opens the final Hallel (146-150), which closes the entire Psalter with escalating praise. The social theology of vv7-9 (feeding the hungry, freeing prisoners, opening blind eyes) directly anticipates Jesus's answer to John the Baptist in Luke 7:22, listing the same acts as evidence of messianic presence. The praise-while-I-live commitment became the model for lifelong doxology.
For when you want to commit to praise not as a feeling but as a decision: while I live, while I have any being. The psalm is a vow.
1Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul.
2While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.
3Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
4His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.
5Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:
6Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:
7Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners:
8The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous:
9The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.
10The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD.