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aise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul! 2 While I live I will praise the LORD; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. 3 Do not put your trust in princes, Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. 4 His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; In that very day his plans perish. 5 Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in the LORD his God, 6 Who made heaven and earth, The sea, and all that is in them; Who keeps truth forever, 7 Who executes justice for the oppressed, Who gives food to the hungry. The LORD gives freedom to the prisoners. 8 The LORD opens the eyes of the blind; The LORD raises those who are bowed down; The LORD loves the righteous. 9 The LORD watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and widow; But the way of the wicked He turns upside down. 10 The LORD shall reign forever— Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the LORD! New King James Version (NKJV) The psalmist will keep it going and praise the Lord all the way through he says not to put your trust in princes. The princes have their own plans which of course come first to them and then they might lose their high position or be outright vanquished from the power and ability to wield power that goes with it. By contrast, the Lord may be the only one around for the duration of your plans especially if they involve a long ranging pursuit. The Lord's watch on your plans can extend with them through the years as they unfold. Also, just because someone has the position to help in some way, it doesn't mean that they have your interests in the forefront and the later verses of this psalm show that the Lord advances the specific interests of people which do differ in like and kind. So even if the princely powers would help a certain range of people, they might not help others with a different range of issues. In Old Testament readings, we see the request for a King which at that point was displeasing to the Lord as he was present to the people and his help was enough. The relationship was to retain its direct format without a go between of a King. In today's views, anybody or many situations might take on the princely role at least temporarily, people want to get on the treadmill of or get in with the best corporation which is like the prince in some ways of scope and influence, the best group, the best reputed experts but it is good to keep in mind not to entrust to much to these organizations, these ideas of influence as whomever you are dealing with might not be reciprocating that personal element that you are ascribing to them. While you may be thinking, if I can only get through this door I'll be set and even it is works out that way, they still don't have all your interest in view and consideration and the full wide ranging view on your interests is unattended by them so seeing them as the paradise island of recourse may be errant even and if there is a large ring of success there that bell might be ringing for them only. Verse 5 says: 5 Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in the LORD his God, Certainly, in reading about the story of Jacob, he had a lot of moments where he needed help and an example of help was when he was being pursued by Laban for leaving without notice and the Lord told his pursuer in a dream not to harm him so the Lord came in the very specifics of the then and there needed help. Verse 6 says, 6 Who made heaven and earth, The sea, and all that is in them; Who keeps truth forever, This images the Lord as the overall keeper who also has all the creative power as the true keeper and in line with the common idea of the brother's keeper. " Who keeps the truth forever " means that the help is an endless and enduring help that will not wear out." The wells of his help run deep and the supply of it is never ending. The remaining verses of the psalm specify all types of help that the Lord gives. He supplies food and for example the manna from heaven showed up 6 days a week for 40 years with the supply at day 6 being for two days so they would not have to pick up the food on the Sabbath. He opens the eyes of the blind and this can include real spiritual blindness as well as physical blindness and is also symbolic of opening previously closed pathways and areas of your life. Those whom he is helping, are all commonly in a bind or a tight situation where they are to a matter or degree at least somewhat oppressed. He sets the prisoners free and of course literally being in prison strongly lessens comparative and commonly held freedoms and he is here for them to bring these freedoms back and increase them into his unfolding goodness. From this verse we might contemplate the possible ways the Lord may want to free us from more hidden forms of bondage, and this could be even from self imposed limitations or real limitations experienced from outside forces. Or some may need release from various forms of being held back, where they are shackled by say addictions or wrong beliefs that the Lord may free them from with his truth as expressed in verse 6. Healing, relief, being set free, finding sustenance, is all a matter of being uplifted. So with intercessory prayer for yourself or others, you know that this is a matter that needs to be uplifted. It may be a combination of all these things that are needed for the issue or problem. Such as a combination of relief, sustenance, new and emerging freedoms, the opening of the eyes of the spirit to see things in a new and different light and so on. The word uplift can be substituted for any other request such as for healing and the Lord will uplift in the ways in which the particular person to be uplifted which may include healing but also other areas that corresponding need to be uplifted. The scenes of uplift in this psalm were pointed to individual who also can be in a collective group of people that have similar problems. All that have these problems say all widows can be uplifted to the Lord in prayer. In this way, people that are within the umbrellas of similar types of trouble can be brought before the Lord to be uplifted in their troubles. So all people that are in financial distress can be brought before the Lord with the request that they be uplifted. The Lord loves the righteous and it is the love of the Lord that it to be called upon and looked for when help is needed rather than seeking the princely powers which do not necessarily act out of love but may be following their own self interests first. He watches over the fatherless and relieves the widows and fatherless. These are also people in a tight spot where they may feel trapped in this but the Lord brings them relief and watches over them. The idea of relief may be something that in certain cases is the significant matter of help, you may have problems that first and foremost need relief. Finally he turns the ways of the wicked upside down so that they will not continue to bring their evil ways upon others. If he is turning the way of the wicked upside down, it might be that the wicked is prospering and figures the road ahead will be smooth but the Lord can turn it upside down in many ways and is the expert in doing this. The concluding verse gives light that the Lord reigns forever, so any other source amounts to temporary by contrast. When it says the Lord loves the righteous, it may be that some of those mentioned here, might not be quite righteous or haven't been that way such as prisoners in prison. But the righteous do go to prisons to minister to prisoners and for example you have prison ministries. The Lord's love of the righteous extends into their righteous works which extend into helping those who are imprisoned. The orphan or wisdom may not have a relationship with the Lord but the but some that are righteous will help them in the name of the Lord and the love of the righteous comes to them from there help which is ordained of the Lord. The other major contrast of this psalm, besides contrasting princely help with the Lord's help, is the uplifting of those who are bowed down and the turning things upside down on the wicked. The Lord will uplift, out of his expertise in doing this, in many and varied situations. He is the expert for all these troubled situations, for all those who are bowed down with and beneath the towering presence of trouble and do need help. You might be overall doing well but dealing with one or two difficult areas that are overwhelming you. So you can ask the Lord that he uplift these difficult areas of your life and thank him for that and for the areas that otherwise are going well You can also check to see if you are involved or beginning to get involved in some wicked pursuit that is only going to ultimately turn the tide against you and you can check this brewing trouble before it becomes more entrenched and overbearing. Another major point of the psalm is to approach the Lord directly, and not to go somewhere else for help first, even though there can be an inclination to seek out the princes or those who seem to have it altogether right now and find a helping hand there somehow. That is not to be the point of reliance, as you don't need a king or a prince for your help as a point of trusted and reliable help. Another major point is that things can evolve into a difficult spot and circumstance and every type of situation mentioned in this psalm fits that bill so that Lord can and will handle all those situations and is the ultimate expert for each of these situations as they manifest or continue. Keep an eye also to the spiritual as we need to be helped and uplifted spiritually as well as in other ways and while the prince does have wide ranging influence the Lord's influence is on your side with surpassing and the majestic power that created the heavens according to verse 6..
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