Psalm 146
“I WILL PRAISE THE LORD AS LONG AS I LIVE”
In our study of Psalms, you have no doubt noticed that the major theme is the praise and worship of God, which is no surprise. This is a book of praises, of hymns that the Hebrew people had sung. There are all kinds of psalms though, and they run the gambit of human emotions. It depends on the mood and the circumstances that the psalmist was in at the time that they wrote it. They are human, right? The psalms reflect real life. Sometimes we are filled with joy and gladness. And then sometimes we are sorrowful and we are troubled. That is life. At times we are thankful. Frequently we ask questions. We ask God, “why?” or “what?” And then we are occasionally angry. Even at times we might be a bit woeful as we deal with our own sin and maybe some regrets in our lives. And that is what we see in the Psalms – all these kinds of things. But the chord that runs through all the psalms is the praise of God. He is our focus. He is our source of help and hope in this life. He alone is worthy of our praise.
Now, the last five psalms (Psalms 146 through 150) are hallelujah psalms. These are the “final hallelujahs,” if you will. Under divine inspiration the psalmist prepares us, God’s people, for that which we will be doing for all eternity, which is, praising God. Read the book of Revelation. Does that sound exciting? OK.
Notice the way each of these five psalms begins and ends… with that phrase, “Praise the Lord!” This makes them unique from all the other psalms. The other psalms may have that phrase in them, but to begin and end with those words, these are unique. “Praise the Lord.” That is exactly what the meaning of the Hebrew word “hallelujah” is… “Give praise to Yahweh” or “Praise the Lord.” Although praising God is a major theme that runs throughout the Psalms, these last five psalms are distinctive in that they specifically begin and end with a call to praise the Lord.
Psalm 146, which we are going to look at this morning, was written after the exile; around the time that the second temple was being completed; about the same time that Nehemiah was rebuilding the walls [in Jerusalem]. The Septuagint attributes the authorship of this psalm to the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. So, if that is true, then it is very possible that this psalm would have been sung at the dedication of the new temple (the post-exilic second temple).
READ Psalm 146:1
The psalm begins with this call for the people of God collectively to praise the Lord. He says, “Praise the Lord!” But then he immediately follows that up with, “Praise the Lord, O my soul,” which is a call to praise the Lord personally. What we see here at the beginning of this psalm is that praising God is to be done both corporately, as the body of Christ meeting together (like we did this morning in our worship service), as well as individually. Both aspects are indicated here.
READ Psalm 146:2
What the psalmist is saying is, “I resolve, I am determined that I will praise God as long as I live.” Now, that is quite a statement. Can I be honest with you? There are times, there are situations in my life, things happen from time to time, where frankly I don’t really feel much like praising God. I am just being honest. You know, life can be tough, right? Unfair, cruel, painful – many of us can attest to that. And sometimes our worries and concerns just seem to throw a wet blanket on our ability to praise God. Am I alone?
[One class member commented that this reminded them of Job who, despite his negative circumstances, continued to praise God.]
The psalmist is adamant here. He states, “I will praise the Lord as long as I live” – no matter what!
I want to go to the book of Habakkuk. This is a book that we do not really study much, one of those Minor Prophets. In that book, in the first couple of chapters, God tells the prophet Habakkuk that soon the evil Babylonians (enemies of Judah) are going to come and they are going to strike violently against God’s people (specifically He is talking about the nation of Judah). God’s judgment against the ungodliness of Judah was that the even more ungodly nation of Babylon would conquer them. That really bothered Habakkuk. So, many would be killed and many more would be taken captive. That is not the kind of news that Habakkuk wants to hear. It is bad news. It is terrible news! The future appears bleak. But Habakkuk refuses to focus on these negative circumstances, all that is going on around him. Instead, he focuses on the good and the holy character of God – the God who saves, the God who strengthens. He prays the following prayer in Habakkuk Chapter 3 after he has been given this bad news…
“Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail, and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, [that doesn’t sound good, does it?] yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. GOD, the Lord, is my strength; He makes my feet like the deer’s [like the hind’s feet]; He makes me tread on my high places” (Habakkuk 3:17-19).
That is an indication that God sometimes will not move our mountains, but He will give us the ability to go over them.
“No matter what happens, no matter how bad things may get, I will praise the Lord.” That is the resolve. “As long as there is breath in me, I will praise the Lord!” Can we say that today? You do not know what tomorrow holds. In fact, some of us might be even a little bit pessimistic about what tomorrow holds. But can we say that anyway? It takes personal resolve to do that.
[Class comment pointed out that our praise is not always a “happy” response. It is neither negative nor positive. It is focused on God and not on the circumstances. We have a resolve to praise God no matter what.]
READ Psalm 146:3-4
Then who are we supposed to place our trust in? God. Not men. That is the whole point of this passage. Here the psalmist is talking about human leadership; and not placing your trust as the nation of Israel had done in mere men (like some of their kings or in their [military] alliances). But we are to place our trust in God.
That term “son of man” in this psalm is not a Messianic term. Here it simply means “a human being.” So, the psalmist is basically saying here, “Do not place your trust in human beings in whom there is no salvation.” They are going to promise the world, but salvation is not through them. By the way, he reminds us in v 4 that they are all going to die because they are human. They may have power for a season, but eventually these leaders, these “princes” as he calls them here, are going to step down, or they are going to be forced out or they are going to die or whatever. And then someone else will come and take their place and rise to power. And on and on it goes throughout human history. The human being remains in power, but not for long. And no world leader can save us. Only God. Man may fail us, our leaders, our presidents may disappoint us, congressmen, pastors, other leaders, teachers -- but God will never fail us. So, put your trust in God. He is not going to die. He is not going to vacate His throne. His plans never fail. In fact, they will be achieved. God’s will is going to be fulfilled in His time and in His way.
READ Psalm 146:5
Well, who is the God of Jacob? Who is that? It is Yahweh. The one true and living God. Now, let me ask you a question… Is HE our God? I hope so! He provides our hope and our help. He did back then and He does now.
At some point, you say “I trust God. I believe in Him. He is going to see me through.” All these things you will say. And then there is some agnostic who will stand up, maybe some agnostic, somebody you know. He will stand up and say, “Alright, why should we trust your God? What about Him should we trust? You are saying all this…” And so, it helps at that point to have a good, sound theology about who God is and have an answer for them. And Psalm 146 is a great place to start because what the psalmist does is he transitions from talking about the God of Jacob, Lord God; and then all of a sudden, he begins to talk about who He is, some of His character traits. So, from v 6 to the end we see a lot of character traits, a lot of the heart of God that the psalmist brings out.
READ Psalm 146:6
So, who is God? He is the Creator of everything. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Right from the beginning we are told that. And then you have Hebrews Chapter 11, the great faith chapter. It says, “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible” (Hebrews 11:3). Another great verse, right? And then you have that great passage that Paul talks about when he is talking about Jesus being there at the creation. “For by Him [speaking of Jesus] all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17). That is an important statement.
“Who keeps faith forever” (end of Psalm 146:6). I like the way the NIV (New International Version) translates that: “He remains faithful forever.”
READ Psalm 146:7
“Who executes justice for the oppressed…” Who are the oppressed? Well, they would be those who are abused by human injustice. That was Old Testament. That does not go on anymore, does it? Yes, it is still going on. In fact, it may be even worse today! Psalm 103:6: “The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.” A great verse.
I cannot help but think about Revelation Chapter 6 where all those martyrs, the righteous who are being oppressed; they are crying out to God with a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (Revelation 6:10). Fair question. Well, if you read on in the Book of Revelation, you keep asking that question yourself. “When is He going to avenge their blood?” And then all of a sudden you get to Revelation Chapter 19 and Jesus returns as King of kings and Lord of lords. And there is this judgment and there is the destruction of all those who oppose Him. In God’s time and in God’s way He will avenge. He will execute justice.
[Class discussion on the mysterious ways and timing of God – we just cannot understand it all]
“Who gives food to the hungry.” Ezekiel 18 talks about how God looks favorably and rewards the righteous. And among the many descriptions of a righteous man in that chapter, he says this: “He does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment” (Ezekiel 18:7). Wow!
And then Jesus shed more light on this and how it is all going to play out in the final judgment: “Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? And when did we see You a stranger and welcome You, or naked and clothe You? And when did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me’” (Matthew 25:37-40).
It is in the very heart of God that we, His people, do what we can to meet the physical needs of those around us, those who are in need. We are to demonstrate Christ’s love even to the people that we do not even know. And when we do it, we are doing it as unto the Lord Himself.
And then he says, “the LORD sets the prisoners free.” The Bible tells us a lot about God setting people free. He set Joseph free from prison in Egypt; He set the nation of Israel free out of Egyptian bondage; Jeremiah from the pit; He set Paul and Silas free from their prison cells. And then we know (from history) that God eventually released the Apostle John from his exile on the island of Patmos. He lived out his days in Ephesus. Psalm 102:19 says this: “He [God] looked down from His holy height; from heaven the LORD looked at the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die.” God did so in these cases that I just mentioned and in many cases throughout the Bible.
But clearly there are times when He does not. He chooses not to. At the end of Hebrews Chapter 11, the writer of Hebrews talks about all those dear saints that God did not deliver. Have you ever read that? Hebrews 11 is a great study. You say, “Wow! What faith!” But then you get to the end of Hebrews Chapter 11 and it is a little bit disconcerting. “And all these were commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised. For God had provided something better for us, so that they would be made perfect together with us” (Hebrews 11:39-40). So, even though they were not set free in this world, we know that those righteous who died were indeed set free spiritually to be forever with the Lord and to receive their heavenly eternal reward, right? We know that by faith. The word of God says so. So, even if He does not set the prisoners free in the literal sense here and now, we know that spiritually we are free. We have liberty in Christ.
READ Psalm 146:8
“The LORD opens the eyes of the blind.” God opens their eyes in a spiritual sense. Paul says, “But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed” (2 Corinthians 3:16). In other words, we can now see spiritually. Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind” (John 9:9). “Amazing grace! How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.”
And then in a very real sense we also know that God can choose to actually give back sight to those who are blind physically. Jesus not only brought spiritual sight but He also brought physical sight. We saw that in the role of the Apostles as well and their ministries. So, the very heart of God that we see in this passage in Psalm 146, making the blind to see both physically and spiritually, Jesus demonstrated in His own life and ministry.
“The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down.” The parallel passage in Psalm 145 says, “The LORD upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down” (Psalm 145:14). He exalts the humble. “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6) “He raises up the poor from the dust; He lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor.” (1 Samuel 2:8)
One of the commentaries I was reading asked this question, “Who is the most important person [human being living] in the world right now?” A lot of people came to my mind. The only right answer is, “We don’t know.” We know that as we read the Bible and look at world history that God takes great delight in using those unknown ordinary people to do extraordinary things for Him. It may well be that when we get to heaven someday, we are going to know about somebody we have not even heard of that did something amazing. Maybe they are in some obscure part of the world (maybe China or Africa or someplace else) that God is using in a mighty way and we do not even know who they are. But God will exalt them.
And then it says, “the LORD loves the righteous.” In a real sense God loves all of His children, those who are “righteous” positionally because of Christ. There is that aspect of it (and I do not want to discount that), but I think this goes further. Psalm 11:7 is where I am going with this. It says, “For the LORD is righteous; He loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold His face.” So, yes, God loves His people because we are righteous in the sense that Christ is righteous and we have the righteousness of Christ. But God want us and takes great delight when we do righteous deeds. We do what Jesus model modeled for us. We exhibit the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) by what we do. Not just positionally, yes, we are righteous, but He wants us to act that way.
[Class comment on the delight that teachers receive when they see their students growing and applying the knowledge they have learned.]
READ Psalm 146:9
The people of Israel were reminded that they were once sojourners (when they were living in the land of Egypt). So, for that reason, they needed to treat sojourners right. And then, in a real sense we are sojourners in this world. This is not our home. We are just sojourners. It says that God watches over the sojourners.
“He upholds the widows and the fatherless (the orphans).” Just read throughout the scriptures all the passages that relate to orphans and widows. Psalm 68:5: “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in His holy habitation.” James 1:27 says, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”
I do not think any psalm is complete unless it addresses a little bit about the wicked. This psalm is no exception… “but the way of the wicked He brings to ruin.” How does that apply to us? We are not wicked, are we? No, but what the preacher said in his message today hits the nail on the head – one of the things we are to do as believers is to let people know that there is coming a judgment and we need to get them prepared. I always use the analogy of the road being out, the bridge is out. You get out there and warn the drivers, “Don’t go there!” You are just telling them the facts and you are trying to get them NOT to go there. You are trying to save them. That is the application of this part of the psalm. “You all don’t want to go there (the way of the wicked).” You try to get them to go the way of the righteous toward Jesus and through Him.
READ Psalm 146:10
Our Lord will reign forever. Psalm 146 tells us a lot about God, but it only touches on the fringes because you have much more in God’s holy word to learn about God. This is just part of the theology, part of learning about God. But there is much more.
And here is the final point and then we will sing. The more you know, the more you learn about God, the more you cannot help but praise Him. Think about your own salvation. You think back to the day you were saved. If that is not enough to get you excited, to praise God… You just cannot help but break out in praise. So, we are going to do that. We are going to sing a great hymn of praise – Praise to the Lord, the Almighty.
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is your health and salvation!
Come, all who hear; now to His temple draw near,
join me in glad adoration.
Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that has life and breath, come now with praises before Him.
Let the Amen sound from His people again;
gladly forever adore Him.