The Word Made Fresh
1Hallelujah!
Praise the LORD, my soul!
2I will praise the LORD my whole life long,
and sing praises to my God as long as I live.
3Don’t trust in rulers who are mere mortals,
for there is no help in them.
4When they breathe their last they will return to the ground,
and that is the day their plans will die as well.
5Those whose help is in the God of Jacob are fortunate,
whose hope is in the LORD their God,
6who made earth and sky and sea
and all they contain; they have kept their faith through all times.
7The LORD provides justice to the oppressed,
food for the hungry, and freedom for the prisoner.
8The LORD helps the blind to see and
raises up the burdened because the LORD loves the righteous.
9The LORD watches over strangers and protects orphans and widows,
but the wicked are quickly brought to ruin.
10The LORD’s reign will last forever.
Your God, Zion, will rule for all generations.
Hallelujah!
Commentary
1-2: Psalm 146 begins the last section of the book, a series of five songs of praise often referred to as the Hallel psalms because each of the five begins and ends with Halleluyah (“Praise the LORD”). The opening verses declare the author’s intent to live a life of praise.
3-4: Here is good advice – don’t depend on earthly rulers (or elected officials) who are incapable of determining the future.
5-7: Instead, depend on God who made the whole shebang and watches over it.
8-9: God is especially concerned with those who have been cast aside – the oppressed, the hungry, the imprisoned, the blind, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow – but will thwart the plans of the wicked.
10: The psalm ends as it begins: “Hallelujah!” “Praise the LORD!”
Takeaway
Trust in God. Nothing else is as dependable.