King James Version
Psalms 146
10 verses with commentary
Put Not Your Trust in Princes
Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul. Praise ye: Heb. Hallelujah
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse initiates the Final Hallel (Psalms 146-150) with an emphatic summons: 'Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul.' The Hebrew 'Hallelujah' (from hallel, to praise, and Yah, the Lord's name) appears four times in this verse alone, establishing repetition for emphasis and liturgical rhythm. The first two occurrences are general calls; the shift to 'O my soul' personalizes the summons...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(1, 2) **Praise.—**Following Psalm 103:1; Psalm 103:22; Psalm 104:33, “praise” being substituted for “bless.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**33-41. He turneth rivers into a wilderness, &c.--**God's providence is illustriously displayed in His influence on two great elements of human prosperity, the earth's productiveness and the powers of government. He punishes the wicked by destroying the sources of fertility, or, in mercy, gives fruitfulness to deserts, which become the homes of a busy and successful agricultural population. B...
Read full commentary →While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse extends the personal commitment to perpetual praise: 'While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.' The phrase 'while I live' (Hebrew 'be'odi) establishes temporal boundaries - human praise is limited to mortal existence. 'I will praise the LORD' and 'I will sing praises unto my God' uses parallel verbs emphasizing different aspects of wor...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**33-41. He turneth rivers into a wilderness, &c.--**God's providence is illustriously displayed in His influence on two great elements of human prosperity, the earth's productiveness and the powers of government. He punishes the wicked by destroying the sources of fertility, or, in mercy, gives fruitfulness to deserts, which become the homes of a busy and successful agricultural population. B...
Read full commentary →Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. help: or, salvation
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.</strong> The emphatic negative—<em>al-tivtechu vindivim</em> (אַל־תִּבְטְחוּ בִנְדִיבִים) "do not trust in princes"—warns against misplaced confidence. <em>Nadiv</em> (נָדִיב) "prince/noble" denotes those with power, wealth, or status. <em>Ben-adam</em> (בֶּן־אָדָם) "son of man" emphasizes human frailty and mor...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3, 4) **Princes—**The thought of Psalm 118:8-9 is here elaborated, with distinct allusion to Genesis 2:7; Genesis 3:19 (Comp. 1 Maccabees 2:63.) The verse, no doubt, was in Shakespeare’s mind when he made Wolsey say:
“Oh, how wretched
Is that poor man that hangs on princes’ favours!”
as it was quoted by Strafford when the news reached him that Charles I. had given the royal assent to the bill of ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**33-41. He turneth rivers into a wilderness, &c.--**God's providence is illustriously displayed in His influence on two great elements of human prosperity, the earth's productiveness and the powers of government. He punishes the wicked by destroying the sources of fertility, or, in mercy, gives fruitfulness to deserts, which become the homes of a busy and successful agricultural population. B...
Read full commentary →His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.</strong> Human mortality starkly portrayed—<em>tetse rucho</em> (תֵּצֵא רוּחוֹ) "his spirit goes out" at death, when <em>ruach</em> (רוּחַ) "breath/spirit" departs. <em>Yashuv le'admato</em> (יָשֻׁב לְאַדְמָתוֹ) "he returns to his ground"—wordplay on <em>adam</em> (אָדָם) "man" and <em>adamah</em> (אֲד...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **In that very day **. . .—Comp. Antony’s words:
“But yesterday the word of Cæsar might
Have stood against the world; now lies he there,
And none so poor to do him reverence.”
SHAKSPEARE, *Julius Cæsar.*
**Thoughts.—**The Hebrew word is peculiar to this passage. “Fabrications” would reproduce its etymological meaning.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**33-41. He turneth rivers into a wilderness, &c.--**God's providence is illustriously displayed in His influence on two great elements of human prosperity, the earth's productiveness and the powers of government. He punishes the wicked by destroying the sources of fertility, or, in mercy, gives fruitfulness to deserts, which become the homes of a busy and successful agricultural population. B...
Read full commentary →Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse shifts from the theme of perpetual personal praise to a comparative theological claim: 'Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God.' The word 'happy' (Hebrew 'ashrei') indicates not mere pleasure but deep blessedness and fulfillment from a state of grace. The phrase 'God of Jacob' is theologically loaded: Jacob, the patriarch who wrestled with...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) For the different aspects of the Divine nature and character inspiring trust see Introduction. With this verse comp. Psalm 33:12; Psalm 144:15.
**Hope.—**The Hebrew word is rare in the psalter, expressing earnest” looking for,” or “waiting for.” (See Psalm 104:27; Psalm 119:166.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**33-41. He turneth rivers into a wilderness, &c.--**God's providence is illustriously displayed in His influence on two great elements of human prosperity, the earth's productiveness and the powers of government. He punishes the wicked by destroying the sources of fertility, or, in mercy, gives fruitfulness to deserts, which become the homes of a busy and successful agricultural population. B...
Read full commentary →Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever.</strong> God's trustworthiness rooted in His role as Creator—<em>oseh shamayim va'arets</em> (עֹשֶׂה שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ) "maker of heaven and earth"—the covenant formula affirming Yahweh created all reality (Genesis 1:1, Exodus 20:11). Unlike powerless princes (v. 3), the Creator controls all creati...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **Truth.**—Or, *faithfulness. *The connection of this feature of the Divine character with the creative act is worthy of notice. That act alone was for the universe a promise and pledge, just as the covenant was a peculiar promise to Israel. Tennyson has put the same thought into verse:
“Thou madest man, he knows not why;
He thinks he was not made to die;
And Thou hast made him: *Thou art just...
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42-43. In this providential government, good men will rejoice, and the cavils of the wicked will be stopped (Job 5:16; Is 52:15), and all who take right views will appreciate God's unfailing mercy and unbounded love.
Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Which executeth judgment for the oppressed</strong> (עֹשֶׂה מִשְׁפָּט לַעֲשׁוּקִים)—The Hebrew <em>mishpat</em> denotes both justice and judgment; God actively vindicates (<em>ashuqim</em>) those crushed by exploitation. This isn't passive sympathy but divine intervention in earthly affairs.<br><br><strong>Which giveth food to the hungry</strong> (נֹתֵן לֶחֶם לָרְעֵבִים)—God's <em>lechem</...
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(7) Comp. Psalm 103:6; Psalm 104:27; Psalm 107:9; Psalm 136:25; Isaiah 55:1.
Here follow five lines, each beginning with the Divine name, and each consisting of three words, the rhythm prominent in the book of Job.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
42-43. In this providential government, good men will rejoice, and the cavils of the wicked will be stopped (Job 5:16; Is 52:15), and all who take right views will appreciate God's unfailing mercy and unbounded love.
The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous.</strong> The triple repetition of <em>Yahweh</em> (יְהוָה) emphasizes that God Himself—not human intermediaries—performs these saving acts. <em>Poqeach ivrim</em> (פֹּקֵחַ עִוְרִים) "opens the eyes of the blind" includes both physical healing and spiritual enlightenment (Isaiah...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **Openeth.—**Here, and through the verse, the verbs are participles. The elliptical “open the blind” is easily understood.
Blindness is sometimes figurative of distress and helplessness (Deuteronomy 28:29; Isaiah 59:9, &c), sometimes of want of mental or spiritual discernment, as Isaiah 29:18; Isaiah 42:7, &c. Here, most probably, the former.
**Raiseth.—**See Psalm 145:14.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
PSALM 108 Psa 108:1-13. This Psalm is composed of Psa 108:1-5 of Psa 57:7-11; and Psa 108:6-12 of Psa 60:5-12. The varieties are verbal and trivial, except that in Psa 108:9, "over Philistia will I triumph," differs from Psa 60:8, the interpretation of which it confirms. Its altogether triumphant tone may intimate that it was prepared by David, omitting the plaintive portions of the other Psalms, ...
Read full commentary →The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.</strong> God's special care for society's most vulnerable—<em>shomer gerim</em> (שֹׁמֵר גֵּרִים) "guards strangers/sojourners"—those without tribal protection or land rights. <em>Yatom ve'almanah</em> (יָתוֹם וְאַלְמָנָה) "orphan and widow" were defenseless without ma...
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(9) The stranger, the widow, and the orphan are constantly presented in the Law as objects of compassion and beneficence. The orphan and widow are mentioned as under God’s care (Psalm 68:5).
**Relieveth.**—Or rather, *restoreth, *by taking up their cause and seeing justice done. Certain forms of the verb are used of bearing witness, and possibly here there is allusion to a court of justice, in whi...
Read full commentary →The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD.
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KJV Study Commentary
The final verse of Psalm 146 expands scope and declares eternal praise: 'The LORD reigneth for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD.' The assertion 'The LORD reigneth for ever' (YHWH malach le'olam) makes the theological claim that God's kingship is eternal and unchanging. 'Even thy God, O Zion' personalizes this universal principle to Israel's identity - Zion (Jeru...
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(10) Comp. Exodus 15:18; Psalm 99:1.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
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