#898 O, O, O My Soul

Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live;

I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

3 Put not your trust in princes,

in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.

4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;

on that very day his plans perish.

5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,

whose hope is in the Lord his God,

6 who made heaven and earth,

the sea, and all that is in them,

who keeps faith forever;

7 who executes justice for the oppressed,

who gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets the prisoners free;

8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.

The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;

the Lord loves the righteous.

9 The Lord watches over the sojourners;

he upholds the widow and the fatherless,

but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

10 The Lord will reign forever,

your God, O Zion, to all generations.

Praise the Lord! Psalm 146 ESV

A Psalm of Praise.

- Psalm 146 begins a series of five final songs in the Book of Psalms, and the five are known as the Hallelujah Psalms. “In the earlier psalms, we have studied the writers’ griefs, shames, sins, doubts, and fears. We have witnessed the people of God in their defeats and victories, their ups and downs in life. We have encountered rebellious words and struggling faith. All this is behind us now. In these final psalms every word is praise.” (James Montgomery Boice)

Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, O my soul - It is the height of reason, the peak of the mountain top for those seeking. It is not the way men are now born, for they are all born into sin and at enmity with a Holy God. No one desires to nor can they yield up praise from the heart, sincere and worthy of the Object, for to know Him is to be exposed. David and the other Psalmists have wrestled with fear, anguish, despair, questions beyond their present capacity, but it has all climaxed here in praise. The chief end and duty, but we are all born from Adam in sin, derelicts. 

…3“Why have we fasted, and You have not seen? Why have we humbled ourselves, and You have not noticed?” “Behold, on the day of your fast, you do as you please, and you oppress all your workers. 4 You fast with contention and strife to strike viciously with your fist. You cannot fast as you do today and have your voice be heard on high. 5 Is this the fast I have chosen, a day for a man to deny himself, to bow his head like a reed, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the LORD?… Isaiah 58: 3-5

…14 Why do I put myself at risk and take my life in my own hands? 15 Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. I will still defend my ways to His face. 16 Moreover, this will be my salvation, for no godless man can appear before Him.… Job 13: 14-16

Put not your trust in princes - We are not the great students of history that we proclaim to be, for so many kings and kingdoms have come to not, yet men still chase after messiahs of their own make up, dynamic speakers woo the multitude, self promoters rise up all the time. They promise an earthly utopia, present a common enemy, ignore the history of the same such failures in the past. The longer men live in prosperity, the more sure they think it's foundation, and become certain that it is of an unshakable nature. People have put their hope and faith in so many men throughout history, and even the best of them still dies, their rule ends, calamity beyond their power strikes.  

…3 For the vision awaits an appointed time; it testifies of the end and does not lie. Though it lingers, wait for it, since it will surely come and not delay. 4 Look at the proud one; his soul is not upright— but the righteous will live by his faith— 5 and wealth indeed betrays him. He is an arrogant man never at rest. He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and like Death, he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations to himself and collects all the peoples as his own.… Habakkuk 2: 3-5

…10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. The rising sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light. 11 I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. I will end the haughtiness of the arrogant and humiliate the pride of tyrants. 12 I will make man scarcer than pure gold, and mankind rarer than the gold of Ophir.… Isaiah 13: 10-12

…15 As a man came from his mother’s womb, so he will depart again, naked as he arrived. He takes nothing for his labor to carry in his hands. 16 This too is a grievous evil: Exactly as a man is born, so he will depart. What does he gain as he toils for the wind? 17 Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness, with much sorrow, sickness, and anger.… Ecclesiastes 5: 15-17

Who made heaven and earth - This men try to explain away from the rightful Owner, or suggest themselves the middle man rather than Christ as the High Priest, through Whom all things were created. They call their religion "science", yet they forsake what science makes plainly evident because it does not fit their doctrine. Watch these scientific observations that do not keep with the Darwinian faith.

…3 Now brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall inform Me! 4 Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. 5 Who fixed its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched a measuring line across it?… Job 38: 3-5

Who executes justice for the oppressed - God, Himself, when He came into this world to do all that we had not done, to walk in righteousness, to fulfill the law, He did not come to be served, but to serve. Blessed is the leader who builds up his people, who defends against the oppressor and does not become a tyrant himself. Blessed is the one who puts themselves under God's authority, who acknowledges his lack before an almighty God. 

…27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing good with his own hands, that he may have something to share with the one in need. 29 Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen.… Ephesians 4: 27-29

The Lord sets the prisoners free - Whom the Son sets free shall be free indeed. Men will sadly trade one form of slavery for another, but the one who puts his trust in God is free, death cannot hold him, his present dwelling is temporal indeed.

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? Certainly not! 16 Do you not know that when you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you once were slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were committed.…

…18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to escalating wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 For when you were slaves to sin, you were free of obligation to righteousness.

…21 What fruit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The outcome of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the fruit you reap leads to holiness, and the outcome is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.… Romans 6: 15-23

The Lord will reign forever - His sovereignty, and the knowledge of such, should cause His followers much peace, even in the greatest storms.

1“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe in Me as well. 2 In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and welcome you into My presence, so that you also may be where I am.… John 14: 1-3