Hallelujah! My soul, praise the Lord. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing to my God as long as I live. Do not trust in nobles, in man, who cannot save. When his breath leaves him, he returns to the ground; on that day his plans die. Happy is the one 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, executing justice for the exploited and giving food to the hungry. The Lord frees prisoners. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord raises up those who are oppressed. The Lord loves the righteous. The Lord protects foreigners and helps the fatherless and the widow, but He frustrates the ways of the wicked. The Lord reigns forever; Zion, your God reigns for all generations. Hallelujah! (Psalm 146 — Holman Christian Standard Bible)
This is the first of five psalms that round out the Book of Psalms, and all five begin and end with the word “Hallelujah!” They form a grand finale of praise as this one hundred and fifty chapter book comes to a close. All five speak about God’s greatness, and His mercy towards His people.
David begins by telling his soul to praise the Lord. He doesn’t wait for it to come naturally to his soul, he tells himself to praise God… to decide that the future is going to be great. True praise is not something we can leave to our feelings and emotions — they’re far too changeable. True praise comes from faith in God’s promises. And just like David ordered his soul to praise God, and made a strong vow to praise God for the rest of his life, we need to do the same. We can’t wait to feel like doing it, and the fact that we don’t “feel it” does not mean our praise is insincere. When we let go of our overdependence on emotions and determine things by faith, we will experience the greatest miracles of our lives, and will find true happiness.
God proves His greatness by always being ready to help the needy. The exploited, the hungry, the prisoner, the blind, the oppressed, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow can all expect justice, food, freedom, healing, victory, protection and help. On the other hand, God promises to frustrate the ways of the wicked. God’s different treatment of the righteous and the wicked is striking.
“Happy is the one whose help is the God of Jacob” communicates a sense of deep and lasting pleasure, an unmistakable joy. This is the proper description of a person who looks to God for help. God and church are not oppressive obligations that bore people to death, they’re meant to bring levels of victory, peace, and joy that are otherwise unattainable. And because our God made heaven and earth, the One we look to for help is more than capable of answering any prayer we make.
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