Psalm 146:4 Komentář

This and all the rest of the psalms that follow begin and end with Hallelujah, a word which puts much of God's praise into a little compass; for in it we praise him by his name Jah, the contraction of Jehovah. In this excellent psalm of praise, I. The psalmist engages himself to praise God (Psa 146:1, Psa 146:2). II. He engages others to trust in him, which is one necessary and acceptable way of praising him. 1. He shows why we should not trust in men (Psa 146:3, Psa 146:4). 2. Why we should trust in God (Psa 146:5), because of his power in the kingdom of nature (Psa 146:6), his dominion in the kingdom of providence (Psa 146:7), and his grace in the kingdom of the Messiah (Psa 146:8, Psa 146:9), that everlasting kingdom (Psa 146:10), to which many of the Jewish writers refer this psalm, and to which therefore we should have an eye, in the singing of it.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 146 This psalm is entitled by the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Ethiopic, and Arabic versions, "hallelujah", of Haggai and Zechariah; and by Apollinarius, the common hymn of them: and the Syriac inscription is still more expressive, "it was said by Haggai and Zechariah, prophets, who came up with the captivity out of Babylon.'' Theodoret says this title was in some Greek copies in his time; but was not in the Septuagint, in the Hexapla: nor is it in any other Greek interpreters, nor in the Hebrew text, nor in the Targum; though some Jewish commentators, as R. Obadiah, take it to be an exhortation to the captives in Babylon to praise the Lord: and Kimchi interprets it of their present captivity and deliverance from it; and observes, that the psalmist seeing, by the Holy Spirit, the gathering of the captives, said this with respect to Israel; and so refers it to the times of the Messiah, as does also Jarchi, especially the Psa 146:10; and which, though they make it to serve an hypothesis of their own, concerning their vainly expected Messiah; yet it is most true, that the psalm is concerning the Messiah and his kingdom, to whom all the characters and descriptions given agree.

His breath goeth forth,.... That is, the breath of a son of man, of any and everyone of the princes; it goes forth continually, and is drawn in again as long as a man lives; but at death it goes forth, and returns no more till the resurrection: the breath which the Lord breathed into man, and which is in his nostrils while he lives, and is very precarious. And when it is taken away, he dies, and he returneth to his earth; from whence he was taken, and of which he was made; upon which he lived, where he dwelt, and in which he took delight and pleasure, minding earth and earthly things, and which is now all he has; who, though he may have had many large estates and possessions, nay, have ruled over many kingdoms and countries, yet his property of earth is now no more than the length and breadth of a grave; he returns to earth as soon as he dies, becoming a lump of clay; and particularly when he is interred in it, and when by corruption and worms he is turned into it; in that very day his thoughts perish; in the day, hour, and moment he dies: not that the soul ceases, or ceases to think at death; it is immortal, and dies not; and, as it exists in a separate state after death, it retains all its powers and faculties, and, among the rest, its power of thinking; which it is capable of exercising, and does, as appears from the case of the souls under the altar, Rev 6:9. But the meaning is, that at death all the purposes and designs of men are at an end; all their projects and schemes, which they had formed, and were pursuing, now come to nothing; whether to do good to others, or to aggrandize themselves and families; and therefore such mortal creatures are not to be depended upon, since all their promises may fail; nay, even their good designs may be frustrated; see Job 17:12.

To these were added the sons of Maximin, with whom he had already shared imperial honors and whose features he had displayed publicly in portraits. Those who previously had boasted that they were related to the tyrant and tried to lord it over others endured the same sufferings and disgrace, for they did not accept correction or understand the precept in the sacred books:Put not your trust in princes, In the sons of men who cannot save. His breath shall depart and he shall return to his earth. In that day all his thoughts shall perish. When the impious were thus removed, the rule that belonged to them was preserved secure and undisputed for Constantine and Licinius alone. They had made it their priority to purge the world of hostility to God, and, acknowledging the blessings he had conferred on them, they showed their love of virtue and of God, their devotion and gratitude to the Deity, through their edict in behalf of the Christians.

"His breath shall go forth, and he shall return to his earth: in that day shall all his thoughts perish" [Psalm 146:4]. Where is swelling? Where is pride? Where is boasting? But perhaps he will have passed to a good place, if indeed he have passed. For I know not whither he who spoke thus has passed. For he spoke in pride; and I know not whither such men pass, save that I look into another Psalm, and see that their passage is an evil one. "I beheld the wicked lifted up above the cedars of Libanus, and I passed by, and, lo, he was not; and I sought him, and his place was not found." The good man, who passed by, and found not the wicked, reached a place where the wicked is not. Wherefore, brethren, let us all listen: brethren, beloved of God, let us all listen; in whatsoever tribulation, in whatsoever longing for the heavenly gift, "let us not trust in princes, nor in sons of men, in whom is no salvation." All this is mortal, fleeting, perishable.

A Christian sees this, poor, proletarian, moaning and groaning at his daily drudgery, and perhaps he says to himself, "What's the good of my having become a Christian? Has it made me any better off than that fellow who isn't, than that guy who doesn't believe in Christ, than that so-and-so who blasphemes my God?" That psalm warns him, "Do not put your trust in princes." Why do you take pleasure in the flower of the field? "All flesh is grass," says the prophet. He does not merely say it, he shouts it. The Lord shouts to him: "Shout," he says. And he answers, "What shall I shout? All flesh is grass, and all the honor of the flesh as the flower of the field. The grass has withered, the flower fallen." So has everything perished then? Heaven forbid! "But the word of the Lord abides forever." Why take pleasure in grass? Look, the grass has perished. Do you want to avoid perishing? Hold fast to the Word.So too in this psalm. Perhaps a poor, lowly Christian had his eyes fixed on a pagan, rich and powerful perhaps, had his eyes fixed on the flower of the field, and was perhaps halfway to choosing him for a patron rather than God. The psalm has a word for this person: "Do not put your trust in princes and in the sons of people, in whom there is no help." He immediately replies, "It cannot be speaking of this person, can it? He was very well off. Look how healthy he is. This very day I see him flourishing. It is me, rather, who am constantly and miserably ill." Why are you obsessed with these things as the only means of pleasure and satisfaction? That is not well-being. "His spirit will go out, and he will return to his earth."

"I am afraid," says the apostle, "that just as the serpent led Eve astray by his cunning, in the same way your minds too may be corrupted from the chastity that is in Christ." Now the minds of these people are corrupted by that sort of conversation, "Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die." Those who love these things, who pursue these things, who assume this is the only life there is, who hope for nothing further, who either do not pray to God or pray to him for this life alone, who find any talk of diligence very tedious, will be very downcast when they hear me saying all this. They want to eat and drink, for tomorrow they die. If only they would give genuine thought to the fact that they are going to die tomorrow! Can there be any, after all, so mindless, so perverse, so hostile to their own souls, that they do not reflect, when they are about to die the next day, on how everything they have worked for has come to an end? That, you see, is what is written: "On that day shall all his schemes come to nothing."

There are many uses of the word spirit in general in the sacred Scriptures, and a person could easily become confused from ignorance, if he did not know to what sort of spirit the particular text refers. Therefore, we must be sure of the nature of the Holy Spirit according to Scripture. For example Aaron is called Christ (anointed), and David also, and Saul and others are called Christs, yet there is only one true Christ; similarly since the name of spirit has been given to many things, we must determine what in particular is called the Holy Spirit. Many things are called spirits; our soul is called spirit; this wind that is blowing is called spirit; great valor is called spirit; impure action is called spirit; and a hostile devil is called spirit. Take care, therefore, when you hear such things, not to mistake one for another because of the similarity of name. Scripture says of the soul, “When his spirit departs he returns to the earth”; and again of the soul, “Who forms the spirit of a person within him.” It says in the Psalms of the angels, “Who make your angels spirits”;16 it says of the wind: “With a vehement spirit you shall break in pieces the ships of Tharsis”; and “As the trees of the woods are moved with the spirit”;18 and “Fire, hail, snow, ice, spirit of storm.” Our Lord says of his blessed teaching: “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life,” that is, they are spiritual. The Holy Spirit is not an utterance of the tongue; he is living, granting wise speech, speaking and discoursing himself.