Salmos 146

BLIVRE · Chapter 146/150

1Aleluia! Louva ao SENHOR, ó minha alma!

2Louvarei ao SENHOR durante [toda] a minha vida; cantarei louvores a meu Deus enquanto eu [existir] .

3Não ponhas tua confiança em príncipes; em filhos de homens, em quem não há salvação.

4O espírito dele [s] sai, e volta para sua terra; naquele mesmo dia seus pensamentos perecem.

5Bem-aventurado aquele que [tem] o Deus de Jacó como sua ajuda, cuja esperança está no SENHOR seu Deus;

6Que fez os céus e a terra, o mar, e tudo o que neles [há] ; que guarda a fidelidade para sempre.

7Que faz juízo aos oprimidos, que dá pão aos famintos; o SENHOR solta aos presos.

8O SENHOR abre [os olhos] dos cegos; o SENHOR levanta aos abatidos; o SENHOR ama aos justos.

9O SENHOR guarda os estrangeiros; sustenta o órfão e a viúva; mas põe dificuldades ao caminho dos perversos.

10O SENHOR reinará eternamente. Ó Sião, o teu Deus [reinará] geração após geração. Aleluia!

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The first of the final five psalms of the psalter, all beginning and ending with 'Praise the Lord' (Hallelujah): a call not to trust in mortal princes, but in the God who executes justice for the oppressed, feeds the hungry, and loves the righteous.

Explanation

This psalm opens the final sequence of five 'Hallelujah psalms' (146-150) that close out the entire book of Psalms with a rising celebration of praise. Its content warns specifically against placing ultimate trust in human political leaders ('put not your trust in princes... in that very day his thoughts perish'), contrasting them with the eternal God who remains faithful to every generation, caring specifically for the blind, the bowed down, strangers, orphans, and widows. The application for today is to remember that, while human leaders can do good, only God is a truly permanent and unchanging foundation of trust.

Fun facts

  • This is the first of the final five 'Hallelujah psalms' (146-150) that close out the entire book of Psalms, each one beginning and ending with the Hebrew expression 'Hallelu Yah' (praise the Lord).
  • The list of vulnerable groups protected by God (the blind, the bowed down, strangers, orphans, widows, vv.7-9) sums up nearly all of the social concern found in the Mosaic law and the prophets.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Salmos 146:1Psalms 146 through 150 close out the entire book of Psalms with a block of pure praise. Each one begins and ends with “Praise ye the Lord,” with no laments or requests, serving as the grand finale of the whole book.
  2. Salmos 146:2The vow to praise “while I live” and “while I have any being” repeats the same idea twice, a commitment to continuous praise similar to the vow made in Psalm 104.
  3. Salmos 146:3This is not a blanket condemnation of rulers, but a warning that no human power has the final ability to save anyone. That is why the next verse reminds us that even these princes’ plans end with their death.
  4. Salmos 146:4The description of death is blunt: it is not just the body that returns to dust, it is his very plans and thoughts that end that same day — the exact reason trusting in princes is risky.
  5. Salmos 146:5In contrast with the mortal fragility of the previous verse, here comes the happiness of the one who rests his hope on a source that does not vanish with death: the God of Jacob.
  6. Salmos 146:6God’s reliability is grounded in His origin: He made heaven, earth, and sea, and for that very reason keeps truth forever — permanence as the natural result of being the source of everything.
  7. Salmos 146:7A list of very concrete actions begins, not abstract ones: justice for the oppressed, food for the hungry, freedom for the prisoner — care that is seen in practice, not only felt.
  8. Salmos 146:8The list continues in the same format, almost like a refrain: “the Lord” opens each phrase, attending to the blind, the bowed down, and the righteous, one by one.
  9. Salmos 146:9It closes the list with the classic trio of vulnerable people protected under ancient law — the stranger, the fatherless, the widow — and a final contrast: the way of the wicked turned upside down.
  10. Salmos 146:10The psalm ends by tying God’s eternal reign specifically to Zion, returning to the theme it opened with: unlike princes who die, this reign never ends.

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