Psalm 146:1-10 Praise you the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul.… I. THE GRANDEST RESOLUTION (vers. 1, 2). 1. The author's belief in the existence of his soul. When this conviction comes, the whole universe is transfigured, and God is brought down from the region of debate and speculation into the realm of consciousness as the Reality of realities. 2. His belief in the duty of his soul to worship. This is to have the whole soul transported with the sense of His immeasurable love and the transcendent loveliness of His character, — to have the soul following Him as the planets follow the sun, drawing from Him harmony of movement, radiance, and life. The words imply — 3. His conviction that he must rouse himself to the work. "O my soul." No soul can worship unless it rouses. Man has the power of self-motion and self-resolve. We cannot be carried up the lofty heights of true devotion; we must climb the rugged slopes ourselves. Ten thousand voices from above are constantly saying to us, "Come up hither." II. THE UNRELIABILITY OF MANKIND (vers. 3, 4). 1. Men's bodies are dying. 2. Men's purposes are perishing. The great shores of destiny are crowded with the wrecks of purposes that have been broken, unfulfilled hopes, unrealized plans, etc. Wherefore, then, "put trust in princes" or in mankind? Sooner a house built on the sand, and in defiance of the laws of gravitation, to shelter you from the tempest, or the most fragile canoe to bear you in safety over the Atlantic billows. III. THE HAPPIEST CONDITION (vers. 5-9). 1. The "God of Jacob" is — (1) All powerful. (2) Absolutely truthful. (3) Infinitely merciful. 2. Here, then, is an Object on which to rely, "Trust in Him who liveth for ever." IV. THE WRONGDOER'S DESTINY (ver. 9). "The way of the wicked He turneth aside." 1. From what? From all that can render their existence worth having, — from pure friendship, from peace of conscience, from pure loves, from bright and unquenchable hopes. "He turns them aside." 2. How? Not by His will, not by the force of circumstances, not by the influence He exerts, no; but by their own free agency they turn themselves "upside down," they go of their own accord on the broad way that leads to destruction. (David Thomas, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul. |
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