Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord! (Psalm 146: 5-10 ESV)
In my last Victory Call I concentrated on the first 2 verses of this Psalm, which basically stated that if we are to receive God’s blessing, we are to always praise Him (146:1-2). Verses 3-4 remind us to always trust God over any human. Charles Simeon put it crisply (Expository Outlines on the Whole Bible [Zondervan], 6:499), “We cannot expect too little from man, or too much from God.”
I want to concentrate for just a moment on the rest of the Psalm. First the psalmist states his case (v. 5), that you will be blessed when you trust in the Lord. He comes full circle (v.10), showing that when you trust the Lord in your weakness, because He reigns forever, you will praise Him forever. In between he supports his case (vv. 6-9), showing that the almighty, faithful Creator comes to the aid of the weak who cast themselves upon Him. The psalmist makes four points here:
(1) The Lord is able to bless you because He is the almighty Creator of heaven and earth (146:6a). “Who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them” We have seen this theme repeatedly in the psalms. You can trust in God because, in contrast to the mortal “helpers” of verses 3-4, the Lord is the almighty Creator.
(2) The Lord is able to bless you because He is forever faithful (146:6b). He “keeps faith forever.” He never goes back on His covenant promises. So, as the writer of Hebrews (10:23) exhorts, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”
(3) The Lord is able to bless you because He delights to sustain the weak and needy (146:7-9). The psalmist gives a quick list of people in dire straits that the Lord sustains or delivers. He mentions eight things:
First, the Lord “executes justice for the oppressed” (146:7a). Often, wicked, powerful men oppress God’s people. In His inscrutable purposes, God often delays judgment, as the Book of Revelation shows (see Rev. 6:10). But that same book shows that although judgment may be delayed, it is 100 percent certain. All wrongs will be righted. No oppressor will escape.
Second, the Lord “gives food to the hungry” (146:7b). In Psalm 145:15-16, we learn that the Lord provides food for all of His creatures. Thus we can trust Him to provide for our needs.
Third, “the Lord sets the prisoners free” (146:7c). They may be imprisoned unjustly, or it also could refer to those who are imprisoned by various sins or guilt or troubling situations beyond their ability to break free. The Lord is able to deliver the prisoners, no matter how securely the enemy guards them.
Fourth, “the Lord opens the eyes of the blind” (146:8a). Although there are no cases of the blind being healed in the Old Testament, the Lord told Moses (Ex. 4:11), “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?”
Fifth, “the Lord raises up those who are bowed down” (146:8b). We saw this in Psalm 145:14. Whatever your burden, cast it upon the Lord and He will lift you up. Even if you are bowed down with sin and guilt, bring it to the cross and plead the blood of Jesus. He is the friend of sinners!
Sixth, “the Lord loves the righteous” (146:8c). Why is this in the midst of a list of people with overwhelming problems? Because the righteous are often oppressed and persecuted because they follow the Lord. But as Jesus said (Matt. 5:10), “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Seventh, “the Lord protects the strangers” (146:9a). Often, those who are foreigners are shunned or ridiculed or discriminated against. They feel lonely and as if no one cares for them. But the Lord cares for and protects them.
Eighth, “the Lord supports the fatherless and the widow” (146:9b). So the psalmist’s point is that when we are weak and needy, we should trust in the Lord to bless us. Charles Simeon (ibid., 6:501) wrote, “Let nothing, on the one hand, be deemed too great to carry to him; nor, on the other hand, account anything so small that you may engage in it without his aid.”
(4) The Lord is able to bless you because He thwarts the way of the wicked (146:9c). Or, as Isaiah (48:22) succinctly states, “‘There is no peace for the wicked,’ says the Lord.”
The psalmist has stated his case, that you will be blessed when you trust the almighty God as your help and your hope. He has supported his case by showing that you will be blessed when you trust in the almighty, faithful God, because He delights to sustain the needy who cry out to Him. Then he wraps up his case by coming full circle: The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord! (vs.10)
Victory Call 