Psalm 146:3-5

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 146:1-4

David is supposed to have penned this psalm; and he was himself a prince, a mighty prince; as such, it might be thought, 1. That he should be exempted from the service of praising God, that it was enough for him to see that his priests and people did it, but that he needed not to do it himself in his own person. Michal thought it a disparagement to him to dance before the ark; but he was so far from being of this mind that he would himself be first and foremost in the work, Ps. 146:1, 2. He... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 146:5-10

The psalmist, having cautioned us not to trust in princes (because, if we do, we shall be miserably disappointed), here encourages us to put our confidence in God, because, if we do so, we shall be happily secured: Happy is he that has the God of Jacob for his help, that has an interest in his attributes and promises, and has them engaged for him, and whose hope is in the Lord his God. I. Let us take a view of the character here given of those whom God will uphold. Those shall have God for... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 146:3

Put not your trust in princes ,.... Not in foreign princes, in alliances and confederacies with them; nor in any at home. David did not desire his people to put their trust in him, nor in his nobles and courtiers; but in the Lord Christ, who, as he is the object of praise, is also the proper object of trust. Princes, though ever so liberal and bountiful, as their name signifies, and therefore called benefactors, Luke 22:25 or ever so mighty and powerful, wise and prudent, yet are not to be... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 146:4

His breath goeth forth ,.... That is, the breath of a son of man, of any and everyone of the princes; it goes forth continually, and is drawn in again as long as a man lives; but at death it goes forth, and returns no more till the resurrection: the breath which the Lord breathed into man, and which is in his nostrils while he lives, and is very precarious. And when it is taken away, he dies, and he returneth to his earth ; from whence he was taken, and of which he was made; upon which... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 146:5

Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help ,.... The God of the patriarch Jacob, the Messiah, who is that God that fed him all his life, the Angel that redeemed him from all evil, with whom in the form of a man he wrestled, when he had power over God, and saw him face to face; the God of the posterity of Jacob, the Angel of Jehovah's presence, who went before them by day and night in the wilderness, and saved and carried them all the days of old; the God of spiritual Jacob, or... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 146:3

Put not your trust in princes - This may refer, as has been stated above, to Cyrus, who had revoked his edict for the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Perhaps they had begun to suppose that they were about to owe their deliverance to the Persian king. God permitted this change in the disposition of the king, to teach them the vanity of confidence in men, and the necessity of trusting in himself. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 146:4

His breath goeth forth - His existence depends merely, under God, on the air he breathes. When he ceases to respire he ceases to live; his body from that moment begins to claim its affinity to the earth; and all his thoughts, purposes, and projects, whether good or evil, come to nought and perish. He, then, who has no other dependence, must necessarily be miserable. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 146:5

Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help - While he that trusts in man is miserable, he that trusts in God is happy. In the son of man, אדם בן ben Adam , there is no help, תשועה teshuah , no saving principle. Every son of Adam naturally comes into the world without this, and must continue so till the Lord open the eyes of the blind, Psalm 146:8 ; but a measure of light is given from that true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. This son of Adam... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 146:3

Verse 3 3.Trust not in princes This admonition is appropriately inserted, for one means by which men blind themselves is that of involving their minds through a number of inventions, and being thus prevented from engaging in the praises of God. That God may have the whole praise due to him, David exposes and overthrows those false stays on which we would otherwise be too much disposed to trust. His meaning is, that we should withdraw ourselves from man in general, but he names princes, from... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 146:5

Verse 5 5.Blessed is he, etc. As it would not have been enough to reprove the sin, he submits the remedy upon which the proper correction of it depends; and this is, that the hopes of men are only stable and well-founded when they rest entirely upon God. For even the wicked sometimes come the length of acknowledging the folly of trust in man. Accordingly they are often angry with themselves for being so inconsiderate as to expect deliverance from men; but by neglecting the remedy, they are not... read more

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