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Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament

Psalms 146

Psalm 146: trust not in princes; the Lord who looses prisoners reigns for ever

General context

The psalm opens with "Praise ye the Lord" and the speaker's call to his own soul to praise. He says he will praise the Lord while he lives and sing praises while he has any being. He tells hearers not to trust in princes or in the son of man, in whom there is no help, because his breath goes forth, he returns to his earth, and that day his thoughts perish. Happy is the one who has the God of Jacob for help and hopes in the Lord, who made heaven, earth, the sea and all in them, keeps truth for ever, executes judgment for the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord looses prisoners, opens the eyes of the blind, raises the bowed down, loves the righteous, preserves strangers and relieves the fatherless and widow, but turns the way of the wicked upside down. The psalm closes by saying the Lord shall reign for ever, Zion's God to all generations, and ends with "Praise ye the Lord".

Cited passages: Psalms 146:1, Psalms 146:2, Psalms 146:3, Psalms 146:4, Psalms 146:5, Psalms 146:6, Psalms 146:7, Psalms 146:8, Psalms 146:9, Psalms 146:10

Psalms 146 (KJV)

1Praise ye the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul.

2While I live will I praise the Lord: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.

3Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.

4His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

5Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God:

6Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:

7Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth the prisoners:

8The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind: the Lord raiseth them that are bowed down: the Lord loveth the righteous:

9The Lord preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.

10The Lord shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the Lord.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The source prints no heading for this psalm; verse 1 begins with "Praise ye the Lord", so no title, author or occasion is given and none is asserted. The speaker is a single "I" in verses 1-2 and is not named; verse 3 addresses a plural "your", and verse 10 addresses Zion. The only names are the God of Jacob and Zion; no prince, king or nation is named, and "princes" and "the son of man" are spoken of as a class. The people the Lord helps are named by condition, the oppressed, the hungry, the prisoners, the blind, the bowed down, the righteous, the strangers, the fatherless and widow, and no event is narrated. The wicked are mentioned once. The psalm is framed by "Praise ye the Lord" at its beginning and end, as Psalm 135 is. No Selah occurs.

Cited passages: Psalms 146:1, Psalms 146:3, Psalms 146:10, Psalms 146:5, Psalms 146:7, Psalms 146:9, Psalms 135:21

Literary context

The psalm sets a contrast at its centre. Verse 4 dismisses the prince and the son of man in three short clauses about breath, earth and perishing thoughts; verses 5-9 describe the Lord in a long chain of relative clauses, "Which made", "which keepeth", "Which executeth", "which giveth", and then a run of clauses that begin "The Lord", five in verses 7-9 and a sixth in verse 10. The man's help is denied, "no help", and the Lord's help is affirmed with the same word, "for his help". The chain of the Lord's acts pairs each need with a verb: prisoners loosed, eyes opened, the bowed raised, strangers preserved, fatherless and widow relieved, and the single "but" of verse 9 turns the wicked's way upside down. The prince's "very day" in verse 4 is answered by "for ever" and "all generations" in verse 10. The speaker's own voice appears only at the opening, and the psalm ends with the same words it began with.

Cited passages: Psalms 146:4, Psalms 146:6, Psalms 146:7, Psalms 146:3, Psalms 146:5, Psalms 146:8, Psalms 146:9, Psalms 146:10, Psalms 146:2

Key moments

  1. Praise while I live (Psalms 146:2). The speaker resolves to praise the Lord while he lives and has any being.
  2. Trust not in princes (Psalms 146:3). Hearers are told not to trust in princes or the son of man, in whom there is no help.
  3. His thoughts perish (Psalms 146:4). When a man's breath goes forth he returns to earth and his thoughts perish that day.
  4. Happy with the God of Jacob (Psalms 146:5). The one whose help is the God of Jacob is called happy.
  5. Prisoners loosed, eyes opened (Psalms 146:7). The Lord gives judgment for the oppressed, food to the hungry, and looses prisoners.
  6. Strangers, fatherless and widow (Psalms 146:9). The Lord preserves strangers and relieves the fatherless and widow, but overturns the wicked.
  7. The Lord shall reign for ever (Psalms 146:10). The psalm ends with the Lord reigning for ever as Zion's God.

For reflection

The psalm gives one reason not to trust a prince: his breath goes out and his thoughts perish that day. What does the list of what the Lord does for prisoners, the blind and the widow imply about the kind of help the psalm says a prince cannot give?

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