Psalm 146

Psalm 146 opens the final Hallel of the Psalter (Psalms 146-150), each of which begins and ends with "Praise ye the Lord" (Hallelujah). The psalmist resolves to praise the Lord with his whole soul as long as he has being, and immediately warns against trusting in princes or any son of man, whose breath departs and whose plans perish that very day. By contrast, happy is the one whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God—the Maker of heaven, earth, and sea, who keeps truth forever. The middle of the psalm is a cascade of God’s faithful deeds: He executes justice for the oppressed, feeds the hungry, frees prisoners, opens the eyes of the blind, lifts up the bowed down, loves the righteous, preserves strangers, and relieves the fatherless and widow, while turning the way of the wicked upside down.

The major themes are praise, trust in God rather than man, God’s justice and compassion, His care for the vulnerable, and His eternal reign. The closing verse—"The Lord shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations"—anchors all praise in God’s unending kingship. Practically, the psalm teaches that the breathless trust we are tempted to place in human leaders belongs only to the Maker who never perishes, and that praising God includes imitating His care for the vulnerable. The great lesson is that happy are those whose hope is in the Lord their God.