There is a touch of fall in the air this morning, this last Sunday of August,
enough to give my overworked air conditioner a needed break!
Praise the LORD, O my soul!
Image courtesy/The Gardener's Magazine
PSALM 146
Hallelujah! Praise the LORD, O my soul.
I will praise the LORD all my life.
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
Put not your trust in princes,
in mortal man, who cannot save.
When his spirit departs, he returns to the ground;
on that very day his plans perish.
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD his God,
the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them.
He remains faithful forever.
He executes justice for the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets the prisoners free,
the LORD opens the eyes of the blind,
the LORD lifts those who are weighed down,
the LORD loves the righteous.
The LORD protects foreigners;
He sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but the ways of the wicked He frustrates.
The LORD reigns forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
If it is our delight to praise the Lord while we live, we shall certainly praise Him to
all eternity. With this glorious prospect before us, how low do worldly pursuits seem!
There is a Son of Man in whom there is help, even Him who is also the Son of God, who
will not fail those who trust in Him. But the other sons of men are like the man from whom
they sprung, who, being in honor, did not abide.
God has given the earth to the children of men, but there is great striving about it. Yet, after a
while, no part of the earth will be their own, except that in which their dead bodies are laid. And,
when man returns to his earth, in that very day, all his plans and designs vanish and are gone;
what then comes of expectations from him?
The psalmist encourages us to put confidence in God. We must hope in the providence of God
for all we need as to this life, and in the grace of God for that which is to come. The God of heaven
became a man that He might become our salvation. Though He died on the cross for our sins, and
was laid in the grave, yet, His thoughts of love to us did not perish; He rose again to fulfill them.
When on earth, His miracles were examples of what He is still doing every day.
He grants deliverance to captives bound in the chains of sin and Satan. He opens the eyes of
the understanding. He feeds with the bread of life those who hunger for salvation; and He is
the constant Friend of the poor in spirit, the helpless; with Him poor sinners, that are fatherless,
find mercy; and His kingdom shall continue forever. Then let sinners flee to Him, and believers
rejoice in Him. As the Lord shall reign forever, let us stir up each other to praise His holy name.
-Matthew Henry's Commentary
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