Psalm 146 contains elements of Hebrew wisdom literature –  a tradition that includes works such as Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job and some other Psalms.  This kind of literature is characterized in part by teachings about the nature of trustworthiness (see, for example, a famous passage in Proverbs 3:5).  Whom, in other words, should Israel trust?  

 

In response to this underlying question, Psalm 146 admonishes its readers not to trust in “princes,” who “cannot save,” but rather to hope in “the God of Jacob.”  What follows is a litany of the salvific works of the LORD: creating (v. 6a), sustaining (v. 6b), liberating (v. 7a), redeeming (v. 7b), healing (v. 8).  The God of Jacob, proclaims the psalmist, has steadfastly wrought justice for the oppressed, the marginalized, the neglected, the forgotten and the poor.  And this God will reign forever.  The powers of this world, unjust as they may be, are fleeting.  

 

This psalm describes – in terms at once both universal and deeply personal – the character of Israel’s God.  What are the implications of such liturgy, of such public language used in worship?  Clearly, for the psalmist, to place one’s hope in such a God is more than platitude or simply wishing that things would get better.  Hope and trust in God involve here more than lip service to the Almighty, for to praise this God is to do the work of social justice.  In other words, to feed the hungry is to worship.  To open the eyes of the blind, lift up those who are bowed down is to join one’s voice, one’s life, with that of this ancient psalmist in praise of the God of Jacob.  Commenting on this psalm,

Walter Brueggemann observes that “Israel cannot praise Yahweh very long without embracing the core agenda of well-being for God’s beloved creatures.  In this psalm Yahweh gives that which Jesus in Matthew 6 removes from our zone of anxiety: food, clothing, and wherewithal for life  This theme keeps emerging in the midst of Israel’s most passionate praise of Yahweh” (The Psalms and the Life of Faith, p. 126-127).   

 

The beautiful vision of the psalmist is based in part on Israel’s “salvation history,” the many ways in which God acted with and for God’s people.  Yet, reading these ancient words as Christians, we cannot help but note that Jesus himself embodied the profound vision of Psalm 146.  He gave food to the hungry, he opened the eyes of the blind,

he lifted up those who were bowed down, he set the prisoner free, he embraced orphans, widows, and lepers, and indeed he thwarted the ways of the wicked.  Christ came not to abolish or even update the moral vision of the Hebrew Bible; he came to fulfill it, to live it to the full.  This particular psalm remembers in vivid language how the 

God of Israel – and Jesus the Messiah – have demonstrated abounding justice and love to all people through the centuries.  

 

BY CHRIS LIU BEERS, PROGRAM ASSOCIATE

NC COUNCIL OF CHURCHES