PSALMS LESSON 146
We will begin this lesson by giving the 146th Psalm in metre.
THE PSALMS OF DAVID IN METRE
Chapter 146
Verse 1. "Praise God, my soul! while I have breath, Until my voice is
lost in death, His praise shall all my powers employ. My
days of praise shall ne'er be past; While life and breath
and being last, My God I'll praise with songs of joy."
Verse 2. "In princes great put not your trust, Nor son of man, who
turns to dust; Vain is the hope which there shall bloom;
Their breath departs, their pomp and power And thoughts will
vanish in an hour, And all shall perish in the tomb."
Verse 3. "Happy the man whose hopes rely on Jacob's God: he made the
sky, And earth, and seas, and fulness all: His truth forever
stands secure; He saves th' oppressed; he feeds the poor;
And frees the captive from his thrall."
Verse 4. "The Lord gives eye-sight to the blind; The Lord supports
the sinking mind; God loves the just; the poor sustains; The
widow and the orphan's stay; God overturns the wicked's way:
Thy God, O Zion, ever reigns."
We will now begin the verse by verse study of the 146th Psalm.
Psalms 146:1 "Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul."
We have spoken before about the soul of man being the will of
man. God has given us a free will, that we can choose to do good or
evil with. David, in the verse above, is just stating that he has
decided that he will praise the Lord with everything within him, even
his soul.
Psalms 146:2 "While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing
praises unto my God while I have any being."
David is speaking of the frailty of the body of man in this.
There will be a time when there will be no physical body. He is
saying, while I have a mouth to speak with and the breath of life to
utter it with, I will praise the Lord. David was a singer. His voice
lifted in songs of praise was his ultimate way of praising his Lord.
Psalms 146:3 "Put not your trust in princes, [nor] in the son of
man, in whom [there is] no help."
It really does not make any difference how important a title they
have on this earth, people can not, and will not, help you. They will
ultimately let you down. Your trust should be in God, who will never
let you down. All people on this earth are sons of man, until they
receive Jesus as their Saviour and become sons of God.
Psalms 146:4 "His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth;
in that very day his thoughts perish."
The breath of man is the life that God placed in each of us when
He breathed the breath of life in us. When the breath of life {spirit}
leaves the body, the body is just a clay doll. That clay doll will
return to the dust from whence it came. Whatever had been the plans of
this clay man, they all go up as a puff of smoke when his spirit
leaves his body.
Psalms 146:5 "Happy [is he] that [hath] the God of Jacob for his
help, whose hope [is] in the LORD his God:"
The spirit of man is not going to die. The decision about where
this spirit body will live all of eternity, is entirely up to the
individual. Those who have placed their faith in God {the God of
Jacob}, will be happy indeed for their eternal life will be spent in
heaven with Him. The hope, spoken of here, is the hope of the
resurrection. He is our Resurrection and our Life. He is our God.
Because He arose, we shall rise. Heaven, to me, will be in the
Presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Psalms 146:6 "Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that
therein [is]: which keepeth truth for ever:"
John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God." John 1:2 "The same was in the beginning
with God." John 1:3 "All things were made by him; and without him was
not any thing made that was made." The Word of God is Truth. The Word
of God is Jesus Christ. I will put my hope in Him.
Psalms 146:7 "Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which
giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners:"
Jesus Christ is the Judge of all the earth. He will separate all
people into two categories. His sheep will be on His right hand and
will inherit eternal life in heaven with Him. The goats will be on His
left. They will inherit eternal damnation. This is the same Jesus that
fed the hungry, and set the captives free.
Psalms 146:8 "The LORD openeth [the eyes of] the blind: the LORD
raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous:"
LORD, in the verse above, is Jehovah. Jesus proved by the many
miracles that He did, that He was God. Whether the bowed down, in the
verse above, means in death or not, He certainly did raise the dead.
Not only did He raise the dead that we read about, but He raised all
of us who were bowed down in the death that sin brings. The righteous
are those who have received Jesus as their Saviour and Lord. They are
righteous, because they have been clothed in His righteousness.
Psalms 146:9 "The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the
fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside
down."
I was a stranger, and ye took me in. The LORD had a real
compassion for the stranger, and even promised to bless us, if we
would take the stranger in. The story of the good Samaritan is a story
of someone helping a total stranger. The Mosaic law made provision for
the fatherless and the widows. We are cautioned to take care of the
fatherless and widows. The wicked are those who will not help those
less fortunate than themselves. God has no tolerance at all for this
type of person.
Psalms 146:10 "The LORD shall reign for ever, [even] thy God, O
Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD."
Zion is symbolic of the church. We are the church who are
believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Look, with me, at heaven and the
eternal reign of our Lord there. Revelation 22:3 "And there shall be
no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it;
and his servants shall serve him:" Revelation 22:4 "And they shall see
his face; and his name [shall be] in their foreheads." Revelation 22:5
"And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither
light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall
reign for ever and ever."
PRAISE YE THE LORD.
Questions 146
1. Quote verse 1 of the 146th Psalm.
2. What is the soul of man?
3. What is David saying, in verse 1?
4. How long will he praise the Lord?
5. How will David praise the Lord?
6. What is David speaking of in verse 2?
7. Who did David warn them not to put their trust in?
8. How do the sons of men become the sons of God?
9. When do his thoughts perish?
10. What is the breath of man?
11. What is the body, when the breath leaves?
12. When the breath leaves, what becomes of the plans the man had?
13. Verse 5 says, that who is the happy man?
14. Why are they happy?
15. What is the hope spoken of here?
16. Quote John chapter 1 verses 1, 2, and 3.
17. Who is the Word of God?
18. Who is the Judge of the world?
19. How will He separate the people?
20. What is the reward of the wicked?
21. What did Jesus prove by the many miracles He did?
22. Who are the righteous?
23. What is the story of the good Samaritan about?
24. What law made provision for the widows?
25. Quote Revelation chapter 2 verse 25.
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