Psalm 146: A Worship Psalm

Here is a psalm that will help us in worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ. Psalm 146 begins with a fourfold praise to the Lord (verses 1, 2). The psalmist says he will praise the Lord all his life. That is what is meant by “I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.”

The psalmist contrasts faith in man with faith in God. What is there to glory in man? He is mortal; at any time he can die and become dust. He may have great thoughts and plans, but suddenly they will perish with him because his very life is not in his hands. On the other hand, we have the Eternal and Almighty God – He is the God of Jacob, a gracious and loving God. Jacob had no merit in himself, and yet the Lord God chose him. We have the Creator God (verse 6), a True and Faithful God (who keeps faith forever). His promises will never fail.

Then comes a section (verses 7-9) that should gladden the hearts of every believer. Seven comforting thoughts are mentioned, centred around the thought that ‘the Lord loves the righteous’ (8b). The righteous are none other than those who have received the righteousness of Christ by faith in the Lord Jesus and His finished work on the cross. The Lord executes justice for the oppressed. Like the Israelites in Egypt, we too have been oppressed by Satan in this world; but the Lord has delivered us. We have been saved by the Blood of the Lamb. The Lord has set us free from the prison of sin and death. We have been brought out of bondage, to enjoy the glorious liberty of being the children of God. He gives food to the hungry; we remember how our Lord fed the 5000 in Galilee. The Lord satisfies our hearts, even as He supplied food to the Israelites by showering manna from heaven every day during their forty year march through the wilderness. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind, 8a. It is true; we have been brought out of darkness into His marvelous light, 1 Pet 2.9. He has given us eyes to see the spiritual and heavenly things. Once I was blind, but now I see – thanks to His amazing grace.

The Lord raises up those who are bowed down. We are weighed down with cares and worries, even as earlier we were crushed by the burden of sin. But the Lord says, Cast all your cares upon Me, for I care for you (1 Pet 5.7). He raises us up, out of the miry clay and establishes our feet upon a Rock (Ps 40.2). He raises us up, by making us to ‘sit in the heavenly places’ in Christ, Eph 2.6. The Lord protects the strangers. We are strangers and pilgrims in this world; but the Lord is watching over us, and He will not allow the wicked to ‘touch His anointed ones’. He supports the fatherless and the widow. The Lord is utterly compassionate; He cares for the weakest of the weak, the poorest of the poor, those who have no shelter or support in society – like the orphans and widows. We have a gracious and loving God. We can rest safely in His love, and His grace is always available to His children.

The God of grace is also the God of judgment. The wicked will not stand, but on the day of judgment they will be like the chaff that the wind blows away, Psalm 1:4. The Lord is fully in control of the world and all its happenings. He is seated on the Throne of the universe; He will reign forever and ever, 10a.

He is our God, the God of His called-out and chosen ones, the believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. I do not know whether you have noticed that that comforting portion in Psalm 146:7-9 echoes our Lord Jesus’s words in the synagogue in Nazareth: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me…to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed…” Those are words from Isaiah’s famous prophecy in Isaiah 61:1-3. This psalm is a psalm extolling the grace and mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and that is why we should reflect upon such psalms in order to worship the Lord.

© Pratonix