2 While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.
3 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.
5Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:
6 Which madeheaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepethtruth for ever:
7 Which executethjudgment for the oppressed: which givethfood to the hungry. The LORDlooseth the prisoners:
8 The LORDopeneth the eyes of the blind: the LORDraiseth them that are bowed down: the LORDloveth the righteous:
9 The LORDpreserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.
10 The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD.
World Behind This Chapter
Explore the people, places, language, history, and material world connected to Psalms 146.
QUESTIONS WORTH EXPLORING
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What stands out about a wisdom hymn warning against trust in princes and praising the God who helps the oppressed in Psalm 146?
Psalm 146 builds its movement around a wisdom hymn warning against trust in princes and praising the God who helps the oppressed. Tracking repeated words, parallel lines, changes of speaker, and image clusters shows how the poem develops before assigning a later interpretation.
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What world does Psalm 146 ask the reader to picture?
The poem evokes human society under mortal rulers. Those settings may be literal, remembered, ritual, or metaphorical; distinguishing those possibilities is part of reading Hebrew poetry carefully.
⌘Research PathsCurated links for exploring this chapter3
Scholarly overview of foreigners and resident immigrants in biblical society, including their frequent grouping with widows and orphans as people requiring special legal protection. This provides direct social context for Psalm 146’s celebration of justice for the oppressed and care for foreigners, orphans, and widows.
Explains how ancient Near Eastern kings claimed divine authorization and were expected to establish justice and order. This background sharpens Psalm 146’s warning not to place ultimate confidence in mortal rulers whose plans end when they die.
Presents the Hebrew poem beside an English translation. Useful for tracing its deliberate contrast between mortal princes and the enduring creator who gives justice, food, freedom, sight, support, protection, and permanent kingship.
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