1Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2While I live I will praise the Lord;
I will sing praises to my God
while I have my being.
3Do not put your trust in princes,
Nor in a son of man, in whom
there is no help.
4His spirit departs, he returns to his earth;
In that very day his plans
perish.
5Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help,
Whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6Who made heaven and earth,
The sea, and all that is in
them;
Who keeps truth forever,
7Who executes justice for the oppressed,
Who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners.
8The Lord opens the eyes of
the blind;
The Lord raises those who are bowed down;
The Lord loves the righteous.
9The Lord watches over the
strangers;
He relieves the fatherless and
widow;
But the way of the wicked He
turns upside down.
10The Lord shall reign
forever—
Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord!
Commentary
Vs.
1-2 1Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2While I live I will praise the Lord;
I will sing praises to my God
while I have my being.
The Psalm opens with a personal declaration to praise the Lord! Which the Psalmist then answers in the affirmative by saying that he will praise the Lord, and that they (I) will sing praises to my God while I have my being. This Psalm then is an encouragement for us all to do the same, to praise the Lord here and now, and sing praises to our God as long as we also have our being. For believing in the Lord Jesus Christ isn’t an intellectual exercise whereby one learns doctrine about the Lord, and then can recite it back to another in a catechism etc. No believing in the Lord Jesus Christ is first and foremost a heartfelt thing, for He must first captivate you through His Words and deeds before He can take a lasting hold in your heart and life. Again, intellectual knowledge of the Lord is good, and sound doctrine is essential to believing in Him, but if it is not mixed with a heart of faith then it profits you nothing (Heb. 4:2).
Vs. 3-4 3Do not put your trust in princes,
Nor in a son of man, in whom
there is no help.
4His spirit departs, he returns to his earth;
In that very day his plans
perish.
The Psalm now moves into the realm of one’s trust. Some people trust in princes; men in authority, politicians, or other powerful figures who captivate them. Others just a son of man in general; maybe a husband, or a father, or some strong figure whom they admire and adore. Nonetheless they are all mere mortal men, they are all fallible, they all have weaknesses and limitations, they all have a sin nature, and ultimately, they cannot deliver or save you from yours. Therefore, you should never put them on a pedestal so as to place your trust in them. For soon enough their lives come to an end, and their spirit departs from them on that day, and then their body returns to the dust from which it came, and on that very day all of their plans perish, for again they cannot save themselves on that day, much less you.
Vs. 5-7 5Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help,
Whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6Who made heaven and earth,
The sea, and all that is in
them;
Who keeps truth forever,
7Who executes justice for the oppressed,
Who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners.
In contrast then to men of power and privilege of this world are us all who have the God of Jacob as our trust, who look to Him for our help, for our hope is in the Lord God. For it is He who created the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them; not Darwin, not evolution, but the Lord our God. Therefore, it is the Lord our God who keeps truth forever, whose moral and ethical standards never change, for He is now swayed by public opinion, nor is He moved by lust for money. For He is Most Just, therefore He doesn’t honor nor favor the rich, nor the tyrant, nor the greedy, rather He gives justice to the oppressed and food for the hungry. Indeed, the Lord gives freedom to prisoners; to anyone who turns to Him in faith He hears their cries, and He releasees them from their chains and bondages (vs. 7).
Vs. 8 “The Lord opens the eyes of the blind;
The Lord raises those who are bowed down;
The Lord loves the righteous.”
It is the Lord who opens the eyes of the blind, who helps them see Him in His Word and in all His ways. Obviously, these passages are speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ who does this all, both literally and spiritually, for He cares for us all, therefore He raises those who are bowed down…, yes, He raises us to new heights! For the Lord loves the righteous, He always stands with them. This then is just another example of His righteous and ongoing Work in this world.
Vs. 9 “The Lord watches over the strangers;
He relieves the fatherless and
widow;
But the way of the wicked He
turns upside down.”
Where the affluent turn a blind eye, there the Lord excels in doing justly, for He watches over the stranger; He relives the fatherless and the widow, in His Law there are many statutes that declare His heart and mind towards them all (consider Exodus 22:21-24; 23:9, 12; Lev. 19:10, 33-34; 23:2; 24:22; 25:6-7; Num. 35:15; Deut. 1:16; 10:18-19; 14:29; 16:11, 14; 24:17, 19-21; 26:10-13; 27:19). Those then who mistreat or wrong them are only setting themselves against God (consider Ezekiel 7:5-7; 22:1-7; 29-31; Malachi 3:5 etc.).
Vs. 10 “The Lord shall reign forever—
Your God, O Zion, to all
generations.
Praise the Lord!”
This finial verse then foresees and celebrates the Lord’s eternal Reign, for our God shall Reign out of Zion to all generations, “Praise the Lord!”
New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.
No comments:
Post a Comment