A Commentary of Psalm 146: Trusting the God of Creation, Truth and Love

 

Psa 146:1  Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul.

Psa 146:2  While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.

Praise starts with the Word of God filling the mind. Christianity is a thinking religion and is not a mindless religion. Religion is a devotion of the mind to certain doctrines and therefore the Christian religion is the mind’s devotion to the doctrines of the Bible. Those say that Christianity is not a religion but a relationship, is talking nonsense. He does not understand what he is saying and speaks without defining his own words. A relationship with Christ without the mind’s devotion to all the doctrines of the Bible (i.e. religion) is no relationship with Christ at all.  A practical religion is useless without a doctrinal religion.

Emotions play zero part in Christianity. The belief in Christ which leads to salvation only involves the mind thinking of Soteriology and Christology. God commands the saved to continue thinking biblically all the days of his life because the opposite is irrationality, a workshop for the devil. A controlled emotion and a rational mind are commanded of the Bible. The Bible is against every movement that emphasizes the emotions over rational thinking of God’s doctrines.

Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. (2 John 9)

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; (2 Corinthians 10:5)

 

To praise God with all of our being is to think with all of our mind which produces godly action. Contrary to what many say, the heart is the mind. The heart is no different from the mind. For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 23:7). The heart is not the emotion, neither it is a core of our being or soul that is separate from the mind. The heart is not mindless. The heart is one and the same as the mind. To love the Lord your God is first of all thinking rationally and biblically before it produces a godly action. If one claims that he understands the doctrines of Christ, and yet has no godliness in his life and repentance, his mind does not truly understand anything at all.

 

Psa 146:3  Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.

Psa 146:4  His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

Psa 146:5  Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:

There is no objective and perfect trustworthiness in man. I  trust my friends, family members and the government (whom the Lord has placed in my life), but that trust is relative to my limited and superficial judgment and experience of them. There is no objective and absolute trust in me towards any man because I don’t know man’s hearts except that they are deceitful above all things.

Men always have the potential to fail. The wife, pastor, parent, or friend that you trust so much may one day betray or disappoint you with their foolish actions. You may cry because of that betrayal and disappointment, but a Christian knows that this shouldn’t be a surprise and he can only objectively trust in God, hence he should save his tears and continue to trust in God. Even when I am alone, I am not lonely because the Lord is my everlasting company, and His words keep my mind sane. While we continue to trust in men relative to our limited and superficial judgment and experience of them, a Christian must go back to his objective trust, the Word of God, which neither can die nor fail us. All men’s words and actions must be under the scrutiny of God’s Word. Happiness is trusting God who can never fail.

 

Psa 146:6  Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:

The biblical God is the only true eternal, infinite, uncaused (not externally caused but self-caused), self-existent (He has the power of being in and of Himself), and self-sufficient creator of literally all of existence. You name it. Literally everything, things that are physical, spiritual and ideological, both good and evil. He created literally everything and therefore has the right to destroy them. God is not only the God of creation, but He is also the God of destruction.

However, some will say God created everything except evil. Where did evil ultimately come from then? Is man so powerful that he can create his own evil out of nothing (ex-nihilo) like how God created the universe ex-nihilo? Most will choose intentional ignorance, while maintaining their illogical position that God created everything except evil. Whereas for me, I believe God has revealed in the Scripture the ultimate origin of evil. This is not a place to elaborate on the defence of this view as I have written it somewhere else in my blog. Is God the author of evil? It depends on your definition. People keep asking that without defining it. I refer you to my blog post on the origin of evil (https://biblicalogic.blogspot.com/2023/10/a-brief-thought-on-origin-of-moral-evil.html). But consider the verses below from biblical revelation:

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. (Isaiah 45:7)

The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. (Proverbs 16:4)

Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not? Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good? (Lamentations 3:37-38)

Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it? (Amos 3:6)

But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him. (1 Samuel 16:14)

And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul's hand. (1 Samuel 18:10)

But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the LORD thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day. (Deuteronomy 2:30)

 

God is truth. He is the definition of truth. Things are right and wrong because God says so and they are unchanging truths. He reveals some truths (the existence of God and morality) to everyone without exception through their innate knowledge (natural revelation) which makes the wicked reprobates inexcusable for rejecting God and He revealed more of His truths specially for His elect people through written Scripture (special revelation). These truths God will preserve in all ages and forevermore and man will have no excuse in their rejection or indifference of these truths because God will judge every man.

 

Psa 146:7  Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners:

Psa 146:8  The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous:

Psa 146:9  The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.

Being physically oppressed, weak and poor do not bring salvation. There are many wicked reprobates who are poor, sickly, fatherless, widowed, and not as privileged as those prosperous wicked reprobates, but they are far from salvation. There are many oppressed, weak, poor, fatherless and widowed who are covetous and greedy, refusing to believe in Christ for his salvation. God sees the hearts. Status in life does not define the true state of men.

Salvation is about God causing a person to know that he is spiritually bankrupt and thus in need of Christ. Such a person is an elect from eternity whom God loves and justifies in time. He is imputed with the righteousness of Christ that he may appear righteous in the eyes of the Father. He loves His elect not because of any good works he has done, but simply because He is pleased in Himself to love. But towards the wicked reprobates, be it physically poor or prosperous, God does not love, and He hardens their hearts. The good things God does to the elect; He turns it upside down for the wicked reprobates. Blessings of God is in the house of the elect, but the curse of God is in the house of the wicked reprobates.

It ought not to be difficult to understand that rain and sunshine, gifts and talents, name and position, wealth and prosperity, floods and droughts, sickness and suffering, reproach and shame, and poverty and adversity are in themselves neither grace nor wrath, neither a blessing nor a curse, but that whether they serve as a blessing or as a curse depends on God's purposes with them and his works through them. God may curse through prosperity, and he may bless through adversity. Yet this is exactly what the defenders of common grace refuse to accept. They propose the strange doctrine that God is graciously disposed in time toward those on whom he eternally curses. This is maintained on the ground of the clearly Arminian principle that God intends to bless them, but they turn God's blessing into a curse. God's gracious purposes are frustrated. (Herman Hoeksema)

 

Psa 146:10  The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD.

God reigns for eternity and all the generations of His elect will have a taste of His majesty, even forevermore.