Text -- Psalms 146:1-9 (NET)

Psalm 146

146:1 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! 146:2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live! I will sing praises to my God as long as I exist! 146:3 Do not trust in princes, or in human beings, who cannot deliver! 146:4 Their life’s breath departs, they return to the ground; on that day their plans die. 146:5 How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, 146:6 the one who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who remains forever faithful, 146:7 vindicates the oppressed, and gives food to the hungry. The Lord releases the imprisoned. 146:8 The Lord gives sight to the blind. The Lord lifts up all who are bent over. The Lord loves the godly. 146:9 The Lord protects those residing outside their native land; he lifts up the fatherless and the widow, but he opposes the wicked.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Psa 146:1

¹ sn Psalm 146. The psalmist urges his audience not to trust in men, but in the Lord, the just king of the world who cares for the needy.

NET Notes: Psa 146:3

¹ tn Heb “in a son of man, to whom there is no deliverance.”

NET Notes: Psa 146:4

¹ tn Heb “his spirit goes out, it returns to his ground; in that day his plans die.” The singular refers to the representative man mentioned in v. 3b.

NET Notes: Psa 146:6

¹ tn Heb “the one who guards faithfulness forever.”

NET Notes: Psa 146:7

¹ tn Heb “executes justice for the oppressed.”

NET Notes: Psa 146:8

¹ tn Perhaps “discouraged” (see Ps 57:6).

NET Notes: Psa 146:9

¹ sn God is depicted here as a just ruler. In the ancient Near Eastern world a king was responsible for promoting justice, including caring for the weak and vulnerable, epitomized by resident aliens, the fatherless, and widows.

² tn Heb “he makes the way of the wicked twisted.” The “way of the wicked” probably refers to their course of life (see Prov 4:19; Jer 12:1). God makes their path tortuous in the sense that he makes them pay the harmful consequences of their actions.