Psalms 146:6-10
Verse 7. Which executeth judgment for the oppressed] For those who suffer by violence or calumny. This may refer to the Israelites, who suffered much by oppression from the Babylonians, and by calumny from the Samaritans, &c., who had prejudiced the king of Persia against them. Giving food to the hungry.] No doubt he fed the poor captives by many displays of his peculiar providence. The Lord looseth the prisoners] And as he has sustained you so long under your captivity, so will he bring you out of it. Verse 8. Openeth the eyes of the blind] He brings us out of our prison-house, from the shadow of death, and opens our eyes that we may behold the free light of the day. And it is the Lord only that can open the eyes of any son of Adam, and give him to see his wretchedness, and where help and salvation may be found. Raiseth them that are bowed down] Through a sense of their guilt and sinfulness. The Lord loveth the righteous] These he makes partakers of a Divine nature; and he loves those who bear his own image. Verse 9. Preserveth the strangers] He has preserved you strangers in a strange land, where you have been in captivity for seventy years; and though in an enemy's country, he has provided for the widows and orphans as amply as if he had been in the promised land. The way of the wicked he turneth upside down.] He subverts, turns aside. They shall not do all the wickedness they wish; they shall not do all that is in their power. In their career he will either stop them, turn them aside, or overturn them. Verse 10. The Lord shall reign for ever] Therefore he can never fail; and he is thy God, O Zion. Hitherto he has helped you and your fathers; and has extended that help from generation to generation. Therefore trust in him and bless the Lord. ANALYSIS OF THE HUNDRED AND FORTY-SIXTH PSALM The subject of this Psalm is the same with the former. It is divided into four parts:- I. An exhortation to praise God, Ps 146:1. Which the psalmist resolves to do, Ps 146:2. II. A dehortation from confidence in man, Ps 146:3, 4. III. He pronounces them happy who trust in God, Ps 146:5. IV. And to persuade to this he uses every reason, Ps 146:6-10. I. He begins with a dialogism. 1. "He speaks to all: "Praise ye the Lord." 2. Then by an apostrophe he turns to himself: "Praise the Lord, O my soul." 3. And his soul answers: "While I live," &c. While I am, while I shall be. II. But the prophet, for fear men should trust too much in the great, and not rely wholly upon God, exhorts them: "Put not your trust in princes," &c. He gives his reasons for the warning:- 1. Because of their impotency: "There is no help in them," &c. 2. Because of their mortality: "Their breath goeth forth," &c. III. If a man will be happy, the prophet shows him that he must rely upon God alone; for, 1. "Happy is he that hath," &c. Him in whom Jacob trusted. 2. "And whose hope," &c. Not in short-lived man. And this he confirms by many reasons:- I. From his omnipotence: "He is God the Creator," &c. II. From his veracity: "Who keeps truth for ever," &c. His word is passed for our protection, and he can and will keep it. III. From his justice: "He executeth judgment," &c. IV. From his mercy. 1. "He giveth food," &c. Relieves men in their necessities. 2. "The Lord looseth the prisoner." Another act of grace, again. 3. "The Lord openeth the eyes," &c. Whether spiritually or corporeally. 4. "The Lord raiseth them that are bowed down," &c. By sin or misery. V. From his love: "The Lord loveth," &c. Of which the effects are:- 1. "The Lord preserveth," &c. 2. "He delivereth the fatherless," &c. 3. But the ungodly find a far different effect: "But the way of the wicked," &c. He makes their glory to perish utterly.
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