Psalms 146:1-10·~1 min

Praise the LORD, O My Soul

The psalmist calls his own soul to praise the LORD for as long as he lives, but that praise immediately takes the form of a warning: do not trust princes or mortal man. Human help is fragile, because breath departs, bodies return to the ground, and plans vanish in a day.

H¹allelujah! ²I will praise the LORD all my life; ³Put not your trust in princes, ⁴When his spirit departs, he returns to the ground;

Blessed is the one whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD who made heaven, earth, sea, and all within them and who keeps faith forever. That faithfulness becomes visible in his justice for the oppressed, his provision of food for the hungry, and his setting free of prisoners.

⁵Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, ⁶the Maker of heaven and earth, ⁷He executes justice for the oppressed

The psalm completes its portrait of the LORD by saying that he opens blind eyes, lifts up those bowed down, loves the righteous, watches over strangers, and upholds the fatherless and widow while frustrating the way of the wicked. Because this is who he is, Zion's God reigns forever and every generation is called again to hallelujah.

⁸the LORD opens the eyes of the blind, ⁹The LORD protects foreigners; ¹⁰The LORD reigns forever,

Section summaryThe psalm begins with a call to the soul to praise the LORD through the whole of life and warns against trusting princes or any mortal whose plans die with him. It then blesses the one whose help is the God of Jacob and describes the LORD as creator, faithful keeper, defender of the oppressed, giver of bread, liberator, healer, lover of the righteous, protector of the stranger, sustainer of the fatherless and widow, and the one who reigns forever from Zion.

Role in the chapterThis section functions as a psalm of reoriented trust. Its work is to detach confidence from human power and attach it to the everlasting reign of the LORD, whose kingship is shown not in pomp but in faithful action for those most easily forgotten or crushed.