August 5,2012
Lesson Focus:
Praise our faithful
and righteous God
Lesson Scripture:
Psalm 146
INTRODUCTION.This week’s lesson is the entire Psalms 146.It is part of the last five psalms which all begin and end with“Praise ye the Lord.”These last five psalms are sometimes called the “Hallelujah Psalms”primarily because the phrase “Praise ye the Lord” is “hallelujah” in Hebrew.This lesson will remind us that God is worthy of praise because He is eternal, He is the Creator, and He is trustworthy in His mercy and justice.Only God guarantees perfect justice and mercy and as such is worthy of our praise.
II. GOD DESERVES ENDURING PRAISE (Psalms 146:1-2)
A. The call to praise the Lord (Psalms 146:1). The author of this psalm is unknown, but he begins by saying “Praise ye the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul.”The psalmist not only exhorted others to praise God but he also urged himself to worship and praise Him.Praise must be in the soul, or inner being of every believer who claims to be a worshipper.
B. Continuous praise to the Lord (Psalms 146:2). In this verse, the psalmist follows his call to praise the Lord by saying “While I live will I praise the Lord: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.”Taking praise a step further, the psalmist vowed that he would praise God in every way, in every situation, and for all time.The phrase “while I have any being” literally means “while I yet am” or as long as I am alive.The psalmist was committed to continual praise.Too often our praise is limited to worship services once a week.We sing, pray and read the Bible but the rest of the week we rarely even think about God, therefore making continual praise a foreign idea. We must not divide our lives into secular and sacred parts. God will not be satisfied with just a part of our lives. He demands praise from all we are, all the time and throughout our entire lifetime.
III. TWO DISTINCTLY DIFFERENT OBJECTS OF TRUST (Psalms 146:3-6)
A. The futility of trusting men (Psalms 146:3-4).
1. (vs. 3). Here the psalmist said “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.” Regardless of how important human “princes” or leaders may be, they cannot solve all of life’s deepest problems.The word translated “help” means “salvation” or “deliverance.”The Lord is the only one who can provide true salvation or deliverance from our problems (see Psalms 118:8-9). The phrase “son of man” is another way of describing any human being.The Hebrew word for “man” is “adam” the name given to the first man, and comes from the word for “ground.”We are exhorted not to put our trust in “princes” or in any sons of Adam (any other human being).
2. (vs. 4). Continuing to present his argument for the futility of trusting in men, the psalmist said “His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.”One thing is for sure about our earthly existence, it will end. Unless the Lord comes in our lifetime, everyone will die. The psalmist describes death as “his breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth.”It is futile to trust in man whose breath of life will be removed, and the body will again become dust.The words, “his earth” implies that the earth is the appointed destiny of man. Just as man was formed from the dust of the ground (see Genesis 2:7), as a result of sin’s curse he will return to it (see Genesis 3:19).When man’s breath leaves him, the psalmist also said “in that very day his thoughts perish.” The idea here is that when we die our thoughts die with us. Whatever influence we may have had while alive may live on, but our thoughts and ideas will be replaced by others.
B. The satisfaction of trusting the Lord (Psalms 146:5-6).
1. (vs. 5).In this verse the psalmist describes the condition of those who put their trust in the Lord. He said “Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God.” The word “happy” is normally translated “blessed” (see Psalms 1:1; 2:12; 32:1-2; 33:12) for surely anyone who is happy enjoying God’s benefits is blessed.The fact that the one who trusts in the Lord is happy does not mean there won’t be sorrow or hardships.However, the happy or blessed person rejoices in these difficult situations because they realize that those situations have a purpose.The “happy” or blessed man also has “the God of Jacob for his help.”This emphasizes God’s power to help His own. The Lord is also identified as “the God of Jacob,” the father of the Israelites. The name “Jacob” is also used to refer to the entire nation of Israel. The fact that the Lord is identified with Jacob indicates that He is the only true God and the only One who is able to help His people. This makes it clear that if a person wants to be genuinely happy and blessed, it is necessary to come to Israel’s God. The psalmist ends this verse declaring that happy is the man “whose hope is in the Lord his God.” The word “hope” has the idea of waiting with expectation. The word “Lord” is Jehovah or “Yaweh” in the Hebrew, and is the covenant name for Israel’s God. Through His covenant with Israel, God has committed Himself to care for His chosen people (see Deuteronomy 7:6-7) so every Israelite could wait with confidence expecting God to meet his needs.
2. (vs. 6).The reason why we trust and have hope in Israel’s God is because He is the God “Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever.”The God of Jacob, our God is the Creator of all things.He made the heavens, the earth, the sea and everything that’s in them.This includes every living creature (see John 1:3).As the Creator of all things, the Lord “keepeth truth for ever.”The word “truth” here means “faithfulness.”Because of His faithfulness, God sustains His creation and He will keep all promises He has made and whatever work He has undertaken, He will complete. God can be trusted to do so because He is faithful forever.
IV. THE LORD’S RIGHTEOUS WORKS (Psalms 146:7-9)A. The Lord cares for the needy (Psalms 146:7-9).
1. (vs. 7).After confirming God’s power and faithfulness, the psalmist now says that the Lord is He “Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry.The Lord looseth the prisoners.” In this verse the psalmist gives three characteristics of God.
a. First, the Lord “executeth judgment for the oppressed.”The Lord takes the side of those who are oppressed and sets Himself against the oppressors (see Psalms 103:6).We saw God do this when He delivered His people from Egyptian bondage,rescued them from numerous oppressors during the days of the judges, and turned away foreign oppressors even when Israel turned away from Him.
b. Second, the Lord “giveth food to the hungry.”We should not take this to mean that God will always miraculously put food on our tables.What He usually does is provide rain and fertile soil to grow food as well as the physical strength to work and earn money to buy food. Note: The presence of sin has complicated this situation. Because of sin, man has to toil the cursed ground in order for it to bear fruit (see Genesis 3:17-19). Sin has also brought famine as a divine judgment leading to hunger. These are some of the reasons people do go hungry but we can’t blame God for this. What we should understand is that sometimes He provides food through others who have plenty. Therefore, we should give just as generously as God does (see II Corinthians 9:7-11).
c. Third, “The Lord looseth the prisoners.”The Lord also sets prisoners free as a demonstration of His power and justice. Of course this refers to those who have been imprisoned unjustly.How often have we seen people jailed only to be released later due to more evidence being provided?The Scriptures also tell us that part of the Messiah’s prophesied work is to free prisoners (see Isaiah 42:7; 61:1). We can’t overlook the fact that the Lord also frees those who suffer the spiritual imprisonment of sin and fear of death (see John 8:33-36; Hebrews 2:14-15).
2. (vs. 8). In this verse, the psalmist gives more characteristics of our powerful and faithful God. He says “The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind: the Lord raiseth them that are bowed down: the Lord loveth the righteous.”
a. “The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind.” It’s interesting that there are no instances of the blind receiving their sight in the Old Testament. When the Old Testament refers to opening the eyes of the blind, these healings point to the future messianic blessings (see Isaiah 29:18; 35:4-5; 42:7). Jesus did heal many blind people during His ministry (see Matthew 9:27-30; 15:30; John 9:6-7), but other cases await His return. Note: The Bible also uses blindness to illustrate spiritual darkness and lack of understanding (see Isaiah 59:10; Matthew 15:14; II Corinthians 44; Revelation 3:17). However, God is eager to provide spiritual enlightenment to those who acknowledge their need for it (see John 9:39-41; Acts 26:18; Revelation 3:18).
b. “The Lord raiseth them that are bowed down.” The Lord takes note of those who fall under the weight of heavy burdens and He lifts them up (see Psalms 145:14).
c. “The Lord loveth the righteous.” God also loves those who are righteous. Not only does God love those who are righteous, He is delighted when He sees righteousness in those whom He has created. The word “righteous” does not mean sinless. In the Old Testament righteousness refers to one’s actions in harmony with his or her relationship with God. The New Testament has the same idea, but a person is made righteous as a result of Christ’s finished work (see Romans 5:19; II Corinthians 5:21). In point of fact, whether Old Testament or New Testament, it is only the believers’ faith in the Lord that permits God to treat them as though they were righteous. As Scripture says of Abraham “Abram believed the Lord and he counted it to him as righteousness” (see Genesis 15:6).
B. The Lord thwarts the wicked (Psalms 146:9).Here the psalmist completes his characteristics of our faithful, loving God. He said “The Lord preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.” This means that the Lord protects and watches over “strangers” or foreigners. He also “relieveth” or remedies the plight of the fatherless and widows. The “fatherless,” or orphans, and “widows” are among the most helpless members of our society. Our God, the God of Jacob is compassionate toward them. They don’t have family connections or wealth to give them influence. It is therefore not surprising that the Lord directed the Jews to care for strangers, orphans and widows (see Exodus 22:22; Deuteronomy 14:29; 24:17, 19-21; 26:12; 27:19). The New Testament also encourages believers to pay special attention to widows and orphans (see I Timothy 5:3, 16; James 1:27).
V. FINAL DOXOLOGY (Psalms 146:10).The psalmist ends our lesson and this psalm by declaring “The Lord shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the Lord.” The same Lord that the psalmist described as being powerful, the Creator, faithful and a protector of the weakest of our society, “shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations.” The kingdoms of the world, as do their leaders will have their day, but they will soon pass away. However, the Eternal One, “even thy God” will never cease to reign. Note: The psalmist now appears to turn his attention to those of “Zion.” The word “Zion” means “fortification” but is used in place of “the city of David” and “the city of God.” The meaning of the word “Zion” underwent a distinct progression of its usage throughout the Bible. The first mention of Zion in the Bible is in II Samuel 5:7 where it is also called the city of David. Over time, the name Zion became a name for Jerusalem, the land of Judah, and the people of Israel as a whole (see Isaiah 40:9; Jeremiah 31:12). The spiritual meaning of Zion is seen in the New Testament where it is given the Christian meaning of God’s spiritual kingdom, the church of God, and the heavenly Jerusalem (see Hebrews 12:22; revelation 14:1). At this point, the psalmist ends his praise for the Lord fittingly by declaring “Praise ye the Lord” or “HALLELUJAH!”
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