From the organ bench

Psalm 146
Lord, come and save us.

Almost every grandmother I know has a small photo album of the grandchildren. Some
albums are even called, Grandma’s Brag Book. While Psalm 146 is a simple hymn of praise,
the adulation is like a collection of snapshots of the Lord taken by the poet and put into ten
verses of the pure bragging language of a grandparent.
Psalm 146 is the first in a set of “Halleluyah Psalms” which close the Psalter in a grand
finale of praise. The Septuagint attributes this psalm to Aggaeus and Zacharias, perhaps
because of the its usage at the Second Temple in the post-exilic period. The Hebrew title is
simply, “ Praise the Lord” and parts of the psalm have a longer linguistic history in the liturgy
of the cultic community (Pss. 103,104, I Sam.2:3).

The first two verses reflect the thoughts of the psalmist who is completely overcome by the
awesomeness of the Lord:
Praise the Lord, my soul.
While I live, I will praise the Lord:
I will sing praises to my God as long as I have life.

Verse three and four contrast the poet’s sole trust in the Lord as opposed to placing one’s
trust in human leadership. The following verse serve as a reminder and a warning to the finite
nature of human beings. The advice is as timely today as it rang true in the ancient world:
Do not put your trust in princes,
In a son of man (adam)
In whom there is no salvation.

Adam( man) was created from the dust of the ground. Only when the breath of God (the Spirit
of God) “breathed into his nostrils” did Adam become a living being (Gen.2:7 fl.). The
psalmist instructs the reader on the vital importance of the Spirit of God as reason for faithful
trust:
His (Adam’s) breath shall go forth,
And he shall return to his earth;
In that very day, all his dialogues (thoughts/ words) shall perish (LXX).

From the Mosoretic Text, this verse paints the reality of the Lord’s life
support:
On the day she departs- the spirit of him,
 he returns to his ground.
His plans, they come to nothing.

All princes, civil or spiritual, are made of the stuff of Adam. If we are counting on them for our
happiness, we will surely be disappointed the poet notes. Personal happiness, self-fulfillment
comes by placing one’s trust in the Lord. When we hope in the Lord, we are happy. We are
blessed. Just look at the pictures in the brag book. Place your hope in The One who:
Made heaven and earth
(Watch the Discovery Channel for amazing pictures of these places.)
The sea and all that is in them
(Tune in to Animal Planet for video footage of God’s handiwork.)

Set your hope in:

The One remaining faithful forever.
A spouse can promise to love and honor another, but if the spouse does not live in a loving way
with the other, the promise reverberates with a hollow ring. The LORD is not merely a
promise of faithfulness but acts continuously in ways which reflect fidelity:
Upholding the cause of the ones being oppressed
Giving food to the hungry ones
Setting free the ones being prisoners
Giving sight to the blind ones
Lifting up the ones being bowed down
Loving the righteous ones
Watching over the homeless ones
The LORD caring for the fatherless ones
And sustaining the widow.
The psalmist uses the present tense in all the verbs describing the Lord’s faithfulness, including
the fate of the wicked:
But the way of the wicked ones the Lord brings to ruin (thwarts!)
The hymn ends and culminates with a summary statement of the Lord’s kingdom:
The LORD shall reign forever;
Your God, O Zion,
(shall reign) through all generations.

The poetry of this psalm has inspired musicians throughout the centuries. I’ll Praise My Maker,
by Isaac Watts (1674-1748) is a paraphrase of Psalm 146.
In the spirit of hopeful rejoicing, I offer to my high school parishioners pursuing the language of
the French, the following translation of Psalm 146 from the Latin Vulgate.

Psaume 146
 Mon ame, loue l’Eternel.
Je louerai l’Eternel Durant ma vie,
Je psalmodierai a mon Dieu tant que je vivrai.
Ne vous assurez point sur les principaux d’entre les peoples,
Ni sur aucun fils d’homme,
A qui il n’appartient point de delivrer.
Son esprit sort,
Ey l’homme retourne en sa terre,
Et en ce jour-la ses desseins perissent.
Oh! Que bienheureux est celui a qui le Dieu Fort de Jacob est en aide,
Et don’t l’attente est en l’Eternel, son Dieu,
Qui a fait les cieux et la terre,
La mer et tout ce qui y est,
Et qui garde la verite a toujours;
Quifait droit a ceux a qui on fait tort,
Et qui donne du pain a ceux qui ont faim!
L’Eternel ouvre les yeux aux aveugles;
L’Eternel redresse ceux qui sont courbes;
L’Eternel aime les justes;
L’Eternel garde les etrangers;
Maintient l’orphelin et la veuve,
Et renverse le train des mechants.
L’Eternel regnera a toujours.
O Sion!
Ton Dieu est d’age en age. Louez l’Eternel.

Delma Rouleau
3rd Sunday of Advent, 2010