Psalms 146:5

POSITIVE INSTRUCTION TO TRUST IN THE LORD

"Happy is he that hath the God of

Jacob for his help,

Whose hope is in Jehovah his God:

Who made heaven and earth,

The sea, and all that in them is;

Who keepeth truth forever.

Who executeth justice for the oppressed;

Who giveth food to the hungry.

Jehovah looseth the prisoners;

Jehovah openeth the eyes of the blind;

Jehovah raiseth up them that are bowed down;

Jehovah loveth the righteous;

Jehovah preserveth the sojourner;

He upholdeth the fatherless and widow;

But the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.

Jehovah will reign forever,

Thy God, O Zion, unto all generations.

Praise ye Jehovah."

It was upon the basis of this paragraph that we entitled this psalm, "Praise the Lord for What he Does." Some of the psalms praise God for what he has done, but the emphasis here is rather upon what he is doing. A mere list of these is impressive.

The Lord keepeth truth forever (Psalms 146:6).

He executeth judgment for the oppressed (Psalms 146:7).

He giveth food to the hungry (Psalms 146:7).

He looseth the prisoners (Psalms 146:7).

He openeth the eyes of the blind (Psalms 146:8).

He raises up them that are bowed down (Psalms 146:8).

He loveth the righteous (Psalms 146:8).

He preserveth the sojourners (Psalms 146:9).

He upholdeth the fatherless and widow (Psalms 146:9).

He turns the way of the wicked upside down (Psalms 146:9)

He reigns forever, unto all generations (Psalms 146:10).

Rhodes gave voice to a popular error, writing that, in the light of this passage, "According to both Testaments, personal gospel and social gospel are one gospel."[15] The truth is that what men today call the "social gospel" is nothing but a thinly-veneered "humanism," utterly void of the eternal salvation available "in Christ" as the Lord's devoted follower.

"The God of Jacob" (Psalms 146:5). In time, this expression came to be the virtual equivalent of "The God of Israel." It is by no means enough to praise "deity." One must praise the true God, even the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God revealed in the Holy Bible.

This final paragraph cannot be read without an acute consciousness of the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ stressed all of these things during his earthly ministry.

"Looseth the prisoners" (Psalms 146:7). "Deliverance from the bondage of sin may be intended here."[16]

"Openeth the eyes of the blind" (Psalms 146:8). "The spiritually blind, rather than the physically blind may be meant, because there was no healing of the physically blind in the Old Testament."[17]

"These verses belong to the `God of Jacob' exclusively and to no other. He is the God known to Israel and to Zion. This is the exclusivism of the Old Testament. The abstract concept of `deity' is not enough for a man to trust; nor is any other claimant to the title, `God.' Only one God is worthy of trust. He is to be found only in Jacob (Israel) and Zion."[18]

"Who keepeth truth forever" (Psalms 146:6). Barnes pointed out that two reasons are here given for trusting God: (1) He is the one and only true God, the Creator, able indeed to help those whom he loves. (2) He is faithful and may always be relied upon.[19]

"Turneth the way of the wicked upside down" (Psalms 146:9). Dummelow explained this as meaning that, "God turns aside the way of the wicked into the trackless desert where it disappears."[20]

"Jehovah will reign forever, Thy God, O Zion, unto all generations" (Psalms 146:10). Briggs pointed out that 10a here is a quotation from Exodus 15:18, and that 10b is a quotation from Psalms 147:12.[21]

One of the most interesting comments we have seen on this psalm is that of Rawlinson, who identified the "Zion of this passage as that of Hebrews 12:22, adding that, "God is the God of Zion and will remain so unto all generations, since the Church of Christ is now the true Zion of Hebrews 12:22."[22] It is also a fact that the Church of Christ is the true "Israel of God" (Galatians 6:16).