Are YOU a happy sort of human being?
Where do YOU find your hope in all that is happening?
The Psalmist points you (and me) to the LORD and away from mortals and empty promises for hope that can never satisfy.
Psalm 146:
הַלְלוּ־יָהּ הַלְלִי נַפְשִׁי אֶת־יְהוָה׃
As is the case with so many Psalms — songs of worship (from the original Hebrew) — Psalm 146 begins and ends with praise.
Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul!
Psalm 146:1 RSV
The LORD will reign for ever, thy God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the LORD!
Psalm 146:13
Who IS the LORD?
Before we get to the text of the Psalm and happiness promised, let’s clarify the focus of Who we worship in the LORD.
יְהֹוָה
יְהֹוָה Yᵉhôvâh, yeh-ho-vaw’; from H1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jeho-vah, Jewish national name of God:—Jehovah, the Lord. Compare H3050, H3069.
Source: BlueLetterBible.org
Yehovah is used for the LORD from the very beginning of Scripture:
These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. In the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens..
then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Genesis [בְּרֵאשִׁית] 2:4,7 RSV
LORD: Yehovah Eloheim
AND Yehovah is frequently used in conjunction with ‘אֱלֹהִים
- ʼĕlôhîym, el-o-heem’; plural of H433; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God
AND (in Psalm 146 and other poetic praise) Ya [יָהּ] – a contraction of LORD, God or Jehovah and meaning the same.
Source: BlueLetterBible.org.
Psalms uses:
- Ya (for LORD) 43x
- Yehovah (for LORD) 687x
- אֱלֹהִים – ʼĕlôhîym (for God) 387x
בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ׃
In the beginning God [ĕlōhîm] created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1
Like other Psalms, even when not expressing human reactions other than happiness and hope, Psalm 146 is written and sung for the express purpose of worshiping the LORD God.
I will sing praises to my God while I have being.
Worship of the LORD as long as you live is a given for EVERY believer — and Psalm 146 opens with our response to the LORD our God:
While I live will I praise the LORD:
I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.
Psalm 146:2 KJV
Then the Psalmist contrasts the futility of those who do NOT praise the LORD our God:
Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save.
When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.
Psalm 146:3-4 NIV
Can you think of some princes, presidents, premiers, prime ministers, popes, persistent politicians WE have trusted?
AND is it not so?
.. his thoughts and plans perish.
v. 4d- AMP
How blessed..
Blessed are…
Strong’s Definitions אֶשֶׁר ʼesher, – happiness; only in masculine plural construction as interjection, how happy!:—blessed, happy.
Happy are you..
Happy are you, O Israel!
Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD,
The shield of your help
And the sword of your majesty!
Your enemies shall submit to you,
And you shall tread down their high places.”Deuteronomy 33:29 NKJV – from Moses; blessings to the tribes who were captive in Egypt and before the Hebrews would follow the LORD conquering the promised land.
Now the Psalmist leads us in worship:
Happy is he who has the God [ēl] of Jacob for his help,
Whose hope is in the LORD [Yᵊhōvâ] his God [ĕlōhîm],Psalm 146:5 NKJV
Why Our Happy Hope?
The Psalmist outlines good reasons for worshipers of the LORD God to be happy. And it all points to CREATION, both in the beginning and in our everyday experience.
- He made heaven and earth,
- (He made) The sea,
- and (God made) all that is in them (the heavens, the earth and the seas);
- [it is He} Who keeps truth forever,
The LORD opens the eyes of the blind;
The LORD raises those who are bowed down;
The LORD loves the righteous.The LORD watches over the strangers;
He relieves the fatherless and widow;Psalm 146:8-9b NKJV
Consequence for those NOT blessed
WE don’t like to think about curse — only blessing (as if ALL receive blessing and are happy in the Lord our God).
The Psalmist, however, adds a brief contrast to happiness here — we all see it in many others.. or at times even in our own non-response to the blessings of God.
.. but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
Psalm 146:9c ESV
Do YOU choose to be HAPPY , that is: BLESSED in the LORD God?
A heading for PSALM 146 in the AUTHORIZED KING JAMES VERSION reads:
The blessedness of trusting God
Do YOU trust God?
.. but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.
Surely, you who trust God are not wicked.
Why then, would you not be happy?
The Psalmist closes singing with great joy and praise!
The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations.
Psalm 146:10 AKJV
Praise ye the LORD.
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