Psalms 146

KJV · Chapter 146/150

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.

📖 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.

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