Psalms — Chapter 146

Loading ESV text...

1Hallelujah! Praise the LORD, O my soul.

2I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

3Put not your trust in princes, in mortal man, who cannot save.

4When his spirit departs, he returns to the ground; on that very day his plans perish.

5Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,

6the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. He remains faithful forever.

7He executes justice for the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free,

8the LORD opens the eyes of the blind, the LORD lifts those who are weighed down, the LORD loves the righteous.

9The LORD protects foreigners; He sustains the fatherless and the widow, but the ways of the wicked He frustrates.

10The LORD reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Hallelujah!

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.

1Praise ye Jehovah. Praise Jehovah, O my soul.

2While I live will I praise Jehovah: 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 Jehovah his God:

6Who made heaven and earth, The sea, and all that in them is; Who keepeth truth for ever;

7Who executeth justice for the oppressed; Who giveth food to the hungry. Jehovah looseth the prisoners;

8Jehovah openeth [the eyes of] the blind; Jehovah raiseth up them that are bowed down; Jehovah loveth the righteous;

9Jehovah preserveth the sojourners; He upholdeth the fatherless and widow; But the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.

10Jehovah will reign for ever, Thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye Jehovah. Psalm 147

1Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul.

2I will praise the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God as long as I exist.

3Do not trust in princes, or in human beings, who cannot deliver.

4Their life’s breath departs, they return to the ground. On that day their plans die.

5How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God.

6The one who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who remains forever faithful,

7vindicates the oppressed, and gives food to the hungry. The Lord releases the imprisoned.

8The Lord gives sight to the blind. The Lord lifts up all who are bent over. The Lord loves the godly.

9The Lord protects the resident foreigner. He lifts up the fatherless and the widow, but he opposes the wicked.

10The Lord rules forever, your God, O Zion, throughout the generations to come. Praise the Lord!

1Praise Yah! Praise Yahweh, my soul.

2While I live, I will praise Yahweh. I will sing praises to my God as long as I exist.

3Don’t put your trust in princes, each a son of man in whom there is no help.

4His spirit departs, and he returns to the earth. In that very day, his thoughts perish.

5Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in Yahweh, his God:

6who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps truth forever;

7who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. Yahweh frees the prisoners.

8Yahweh opens the eyes of the blind. Yahweh raises up those who are bowed down. Yahweh loves the righteous.

9Yahweh preserves the foreigners. He upholds the fatherless and widow, but the way of the wicked he turns upside down.

10Yahweh will reign forever; your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise Yah!

Summary
Authorship & Background
Map & Geography
Commentary
Videos
Articles
Reflection

Summary

This Hallel psalm, the first of the final five, opens with the psalmist vowing to praise the LORD as long as he lives (vv. 1-2). He warns against putting trust in princes or any mortal, since their breath departs and their plans perish with them (vv. 3-4). He calls blessed the one whose help is the God of Jacob, the maker of heaven and earth who remains faithful forever (vv. 5-6). The psalm lists the LORD's care for the oppressed, hungry, blind, and bowed down, and his love for the righteous, strangers, orphans, and widows, while overturning the ways of the wicked (vv. 7-9), closing with the declaration that the LORD reigns forever (v. 10).

Authorship & Background

Author: Multiple authors — primarily David (73 psalms attributed), plus Asaph (12), Sons of Korah (11), Solomon (2), Moses (1), Heman (1), Ethan (1), and anonymous. The Psalter was compiled over approximately 1000 years and served as Israel's hymnal and prayer book. The book is divided into five 'books' (1-41, 42-72, 73-89, 90-106, 107-150), paralleling the five books of Moses.
Classification: Hallelujah Psalm (begins the Final Five)
Attributed Author: Anonymous
Key Themes: Lifelong praise, trusting God over princes, God as helper of the helpless, God who executes justice for the oppressed, the Creator who cares for the marginalized
Historical Context: Psalm 146 begins the final five "Hallelujah Psalms" (146-150) that close the Psalter. Each begins and ends with "Praise the LORD" (Hallelujah). These five psalms form a crescendo of praise that builds to the universal climax of Psalm 150. Psalm 146 focuses on why God should be praised: He is the reliable helper (unlike human princes who die), the Creator who keeps faith forever, the champion of the oppressed, hungry, prisoners, blind, bowed down, strangers, widows, and fatherless. This psalm heavily influenced Mary's Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55).
While I Live Will I Praise the LORD (vv.1-2): Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul. The first of the five psalms that close the psalter, each of which begins and ends with hallelujah. The opening instruction is to itself, as in Psalms 103 and 104, and the term set on it is a lifetime, while I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.
Put Not Your Trust in Princes (vv.3-4): Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. The warning is not that rulers are wicked but that they are temporary, which the next verse spells out without any malice, his breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. What dies with a man is his planning, and that is the reason given for not building on him.
Happy Is He That Hath the God of Jacob for His Help (v.5): Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God. The alternative to the princes, and the title chosen is deliberate: the God of Jacob is the God of a man who spent his life being outmanoeuvred and was kept anyway.
Which Keepeth Truth for Ever (v.6): Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever. The credential is the maker's, as in the Songs of Ascents, and the last clause is the answer to the perishing thoughts of verse 4: this one keeps his word past his own lifetime, having none to end.
The LORD Looseth the Prisoners (vv.7-9): Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners. Nine actions in three verses and every one of them concerns somebody with no standing, the hungry, the imprisoned, the blind, the bowed down, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow. It is the same list Jesus reads out of Isaiah at Nazareth in Luke 4 and sends back to John in Matthew 11, and the psalm treats it as a description of what God does routinely rather than a program for the future. But the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.
The LORD Shall Reign for Ever (v.10): The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD. The last verse answers the princes of verse 3 with the one thing they lacked, and it addresses the city rather than the singer, so a psalm that began with one soul ends with a nation.

Map & Geography

  • Zion (v.10): The hill on which Jerusalem/the Temple stood; often used poetically for God's dwelling.

Places on this map

  • JerusalemJerusalemA hill town about 2,500 feet up in the central spine of Judah, roughly 35 miles inland from the Mediterranean and 15 miles west of the Jordan. It sits on no trade route and has no river, which is why it mattered as a fortress and a sanctuary rather than as a market. Wikipedia

Towns sit on their excavated or traditional site. Regions, rivers and seas are ringed rather than dotted, because for those a single point is only an anchor. Coastlines from Natural Earth.

Commentary

  • Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com Verse-by-verse commentary on this chapter, written for the everyday reader and freely available online.
  • Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871): blueletterbible.org A critical and explanatory commentary on the whole Bible, more concise than Matthew Henry and closer to the Hebrew and Greek, with attention to historical and geographical detail. Public domain.
  • Matthew Henry's Exposition (1710): blueletterbible.org A devotional verse-by-verse commentary in the Puritan tradition, still among the most widely read three centuries on. Public domain.

Videos

Psalm 146 - Praise to the LORD, Worthy of Our Trust
David Guzik

Psalms 146-150 | All Creation Praises the King | Bible Study
Spoken Gospel

Articles

  • GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org On the whole book: an overview of Psalms -- who wrote it, when, why, and how it fits the rest of Scripture.

Links open on the publisher's own site. Nothing here is reproduced on this page.

Reflection

  • Praise for as Long as You Live (vv.1-2) — The psalmist commits to praising God for his whole life, not just in a season of gratitude. Is your praise tied to your circumstances, or is it a lifelong commitment regardless of what season you're in?
  • Don't Put Ultimate Trust in Mortal Leaders (vv.3-4) — The psalm warns against placing ultimate hope in princes, whose breath leaves them and whose plans die with them. Where have you been quietly resting your deepest security on a person or position that could vanish tomorrow?
  • Blessed Is the One Whose Help Is God (v.5) — True blessing is defined here not by circumstances but by having the God of Jacob as your help and hope. Do you measure your own blessedness by your situation, or by whose help you actually have?
  • A Creator Who Keeps Faith Forever (v.6) — The God who made heaven, earth, and sea also keeps His promises without fail, forever. When a promise from God feels slow, do you doubt His faithfulness, or trust that it's still being kept?
  • God's Heart for the Oppressed and Forgotten (vv.7-9) — God is described executing justice for the oppressed, feeding the hungry, freeing prisoners, and watching over strangers, orphans, and widows. Does your own heart for the marginalized actually reflect this list, or have you overlooked some of these people?
  • A Reign That Never Ends (v.10) — The psalm closes declaring that the Lord will reign forever, through every generation. When earthly authority feels unstable or untrustworthy, does this eternal reign genuinely anchor you?