Psalm 146: Life’s blessedness, purpose, and future
August 25, 2023 - Friday, 20th Week in Ordinary Time
Psalm 146:5-6ab, 6c-7, 8-9a, 9bc-10
We have already reflected on Psalm 146 on our podcast. The poet gives a beautiful testimony about our God, the Creator of the whole universe and the one who acts on behalf of the most vulnerable ones in our societies. Jesus’ ministry presented in the Gospel fits well this description. “The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them” (Luke 7:22). In imitating our Lord, the Church has become the biggest volunteer organisation in the world. We engage in feeding the hungry, visiting the sick and those in prison, helping the poor and fighting injustice in the world.
In the fragment of Psalm 146 that we hear today, we can identify several important themes. The first one highlights the benefit of putting our trust in the Lord. The psalmist says: “Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD, his God” (Ps 146:5). Biblical blessedness embraces contentment, well-being, and fulfilment in life. It comes as a fruit of faith in God and obedience to God’s will.
The next themes have been already discussed in our previous podcasts. The psalmist presents God as the one who created and sustains the world in being, who is committed to administering justice and cares for the vulnerable in the world. The psalmist is convinced that the future belongs to the righteous ones who imitate their God in restoring the lives of the most vulnerable in our society and making this world a better place.
Finally, the last theme that the psalmist brings to our attention is the eternal reign of God. In the world of the psalmist, ruled by a powerful and cruel empire, the thought that “the LORD shall reign forever” (Ps 146:10) was a message of defiance and hope. The psalmist could not accept the world where the wicked oppressed the just and the arch of the universe was bending towards injustice. The psalmist believed that God’s providence extends to every aspect of our life. This faith sustained his hope in the time of adversity. Our God is the Lord of the universe and the Lord of history. God’s eternal reign directs our imagination to the fulfilment of God’s plan, namely the restoration of the world in the new heaven and the new earth.
Psalm 146 invites us to put our trust in God and imitate his concern for creation, justice, and the needy. It shows us how to live in this world and offers us a vision of a future that goes beyond this world. By anchoring our life in the Lord we find true happiness. By upholding justice in this world we find purpose in life. By anticipating God’s eternal reign we are filled with hope and assurance that at the end all shall be well.