Introduction
As part of Book Five of the Psalms, Psalm 146 and is a Hallelujah Psalm and shows a great deal of exuberance. The Psalm praises the Lord for creating the sky, earth and sea and all the creatures that exist in creation. Praise the Lord, too, for giving justice to the oppressed, food to the hungry, freedom to the imprisoned, and sight to the blind, not to mention a few other items, such as protecting strangers and supporting widows and orphans. Scholars believe that Psalm is from Israel’s post-exilic period. To indicate psalm’s historical setting, as referenced by its location to 147.
Application to the Ancient Israelites
The theme of the Psalm, is to no put your trust in any form government, those that ruled Israel and those that ruled the Jews during the exile. The Jewish liturgical tradition formerly used this hymn as a morning song of praise; it culminates in the proclamation of God’s sovereignty over human history. Indeed, the Psalm ends with the declaration: “The Lord will reign forever”
Structure
Ps. 146:1–2 The whole congregation receives the invitation, Praise the Lord, and then each member applies it to himself (Praise the Lord, O my soul).
Ps. 146:3–4 It is useless to put one’s trust in princes, who are mortals. Governments and armies have their proper place, but their merely human power is not ultimately decisive in the world that God rules.
Ps. 146:5–9 Yahweh, the God of Jacob, is the one who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them (words from Ex. 20:11). Verses7–9 of Psalm 146 list groups of weak people (oppressed, hungry, prisoners, the blind, bowed down, sojourners, widow, fatherless), probably God’s own faithful.
Ps. 146:10 Because the Lord will reign forever (Ex. 15:18; Ps. 29:10), God’s people should praise him now.
Application for the Church
Jesus states in the Gospel of Mathew: “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them” (Matthew 11:4-6). The allusion to Psalm 146 signals that, in Christ, God is doing a new thing: healing the people and setting them free. The Magnificat is related to the psalm. The connection between God’s deeds praised here in Psalm 146 and God’s deeds praised by the teenaged Mary of Nazareth can been seen. But the Magnificat appears to notch things up a level. In the Magnificat, God is praised not only for lifting up the lowly and satisfying the hungry, but also for putting down the mighty and sending the rich away empty-handed. Meanwhile, Psalm 146:5-10 appears content to thank God for bringing the wicked “to ruin” regardless of socioeconomic rank. The Catechism references Psalm 146 when it states:
CCC 150 Faith is first of all a personal adherence of man to God. At the same time, and inseparably, it is a free assent to the whole truth that God has revealed. As personal adherence to God and assent to his truth, Christian faith differs from our faith in any human person. It is right and just to entrust oneself wholly to God and to believe absolutely what he says. It would be futile and false to place such faith in a creature.
God is the Creator of heaven and earth who faithfully keeps the covenant that binds him to his people; it is He who brings justice to the oppressed, provides food to sustain the hungry and sets prisoners free. It is He who opens the eyes of the blind, who picks up those who have fallen, who loves the just, protects the foreigner, supports the orphan and the widow. It is he who muddles the ways of the unjust and who reigns sovereign over all beings and over all ages.
Pope John Paul stated in his audience commentary on the Psalm that there are 12 theological assertions in the Psalm which reflect the perfection of Divine Action. He states that the Lord is not a Sovereign remote from his creatures but is involved in their history as the One who metes out justice and ranks himself on the side of the lowliest, of the victims, the oppressed, the unfortunate. He goes on to say that man therefor has two “radical choices” between two contrasting possibilities: on one side there is the temptation to “trust in princes” adopting their criteria inspired by wickedness, selfishness and pride whose goal is despair or to trust in God. And in highlighting these choices he states that the Psalm reminds the reader that the Psalm indicates the frailty of man. The higher choice the Psalmist suggest is to trust the Lord:
“Happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God”
This is the path of trust in God, eternal and faithful. The amen, which is the Hebrew word for faith, precisely means being based on the steadfast solidity of the Lord, on his eternity, on his infinite power. Above all, however, it means sharing his choices, on which the profession of faith and praise described above has shed light. The pope goes on to remind us that we must live in consistency with the divine will, offer food to the hungry, visit prisoners, sustain and comfort the sick, protect and welcome foreigners, devote ourselves to the poor and the lowly. In practice this corresponds exactly to the spirit of the Beatitudes; it means opting for that proposal of love which saves us already in this life and will later become the object of our examination at the last judgment, which will seal history. Then we will be judged on our decision to serve Christ in the hungry, the thirsty, the foreigner, the naked, the sick, the prisoner. “As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” (Mt 25: 40): this is what the Lord will say at that time.
This election cycle highlights our need to “not trust in princes.” With our recent president, as well as with the current cast of characters that are vying for the position of “leader of the free world” and that is grossly misapplied blasphemous title that tends toward idolatry, whomever gets elected this fall will un-doubtable be a failure to many people. As the Psalm indicates the very problems with America currently, and there are many, is the very fact that this country has completely misplaced its trust for a long time now. The euphoric frenzy that young people feel for this or that candidate promising this or that free thing, imagine for a second if that enthusiasm and worship, yes I did say worship, was actually directed toward the person that could save them, Jesus Christ. If we could get young people as excited about God as they are about the candidate du jour, we might be living in a very different country, a very different world. The words and lessons of Psalm 146 are more imperative, more gravely necessary today than at any time, if you doubt this for a moment turn your television, to any channel, for 5 minutes if you can, and see what has become of America and the World. Saul, David, Solomon, though godly men, let down both God and the people of Israel. Anyone for even the faintest knowledge of history can see clearly, that every prince and president has failed its people in some fashion, and some worse than others. And so the words of Psalm 146 have proven to be true as history has taught us over and again. So when we talk with students, parishioners, friend, family or strangers and they ask your opinion about this leader or that leader, Democrat candidate or Republican, lets gently, lovingly remind them the lesson that Psalm 146 teaches us;
I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
Do not put your trust in princes,
in human beings, who cannot save.