Psalm 145: Overview

Psalm 145 (146) is said at  Saturday Vespers in the Benedictine Office, and, according to the Patristic commentators, is intended to orient us to the next world.

Cassiodorus, for example, commented that:

Alleluia. Once again divine authority resounds in our ears, and Alleluia knocks at the doors of our hearts, bidding us not to absorb ourselves vainly in empty thoughts, since it does not befit a soldier of Christ to be on furlough. The tongue too has its fruits, for a most abundant harvest is gathered if it is roused to the Lord's praise by an unsullied mind. The tongue is a spiritual member when it serves the Creator; it also commends the soul when it speaks the truth. So let us fill the air with the sweetest sounds, for this music of salvation not only charms mens' ears but also delights the understanding of angels. 

Division of the Psalm: The prophet is eager that the Lord's praises be sung wholeheartedly. Initially he says that we must put no trust whatever in men, to prevent our making lukewarm entreaty of the Lord through belief that some other can grant our request. Secondly, he proclaims that all our hope must be placed in the almighty Lord. Since He is our Lord, a most beautiful definition of Him is presented from His deeds, so that the Gentiles may be convinced by such reiterated reasoning, and may abandon their errors with faithful devotion... 

Conclusion Drawn From the Psalm: The prophet through the benefit of contemplation takes his position, so to say, in the earth's last days, when we know that the world's wantonness is to be condemned. He has taught the whole creation to busy itself with the Lord's praises to avoid seeking the transient desires which are undoubtedly soon to be ended. When that future time is proclaimed to us, he clearly refers to our own day. We are at the world's close when we abandon it, and embrace death after no long extent of time. All passing desires should leave us; worldly enticements must depart. We must instead desire what we know is eternal.

Pope John Paul II on the psalm

Pope John Paul II presented a General Audience on this psalm in July 2003:

Praise the Lord, O my soul! Psalm 146[145] that we have just heard is an "alleluia", the first of five which complete the entire collection in the Psalter. The Jewish liturgical tradition formerly used this hymn as a morning song of praise; it culminates in the proclamation of God's sovereignty over human history. Indeed, the Psalm ends with the declaration: "The Lord will reign for ever" (v. 10). From this follows a comforting truth: we are not left to ourselves, the events of our days are not overshadowed by chaos or fate, they do not represent a mere sequence of private acts without sense or direction. 

From this conviction develops a true and proper profession of faith in God, celebrated in a sort of litany in which the attributes of his love and kindness are proclaimed (cf. vv. 6-9).  God is the Creator of heaven and earth who faithfully keeps the covenant that binds him to his people; it is He who brings justice to the oppressed, provides food to sustain the hungry and sets prisoners free. It is He who opens the eyes of the blind, who picks up those who have fallen, who loves the just, protects the foreigner, supports the orphan and the widow. It is he who muddles the ways of the unjust and who reigns sovereign over all beings and over all ages. 

These are 12 theological assertions which, with their perfect number, are intended as an expression of the fullness and perfection of divine action. The Lord is not a Sovereign remote from his creatures but is involved in their history as the One who metes out justice and ranks himself on the side of the lowliest, of the victims, the oppressed, the unfortunate.

 Man, therefore, finds himself facing a radical choice between two contrasting possibilities: on one side there is the temptation to "trust in princes" (cf. v. 3), adopting their criteria inspired by wickedness, selfishness and pride. In fact, this is a slippery slope, a ruinous road, a "crooked path and a devious way" (cf. Prv 2: 15), whose goal is despair. Indeed, the Psalmist reminds us that man is a frail, mortal being, as the very word 'adam implies; in Hebrew, this word is used to signify earth, matter, dust. Man - the Bible constantly states - is like a palace that crumbles [to dust] (cf. Eccl 12: 1-7), a spider's web that can be torn apart by the wind (cf. Jb 8: 14), a strip of grass that is green at dawn but has withered by evening (cf. Ps 90[89]: 5-6; 103[102]: 15-16). When death assails him, all his plans disintegrate and he returns to dust: "When his breath departs he returns to his earth; on that very day his plans perish" (Ps 146[145]: 4). 

However, there is another possibility open to man, and the Psalmist exalts it with a beatitude: "Happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God" (v. 5). This is the path of trust in God, eternal and faithful. The amen, which is the Hebrew word for faith, precisely means being based on the steadfast solidity of the Lord, on his eternity, on his infinite power. Above all, however, it means sharing his choices, on which the profession of faith and praise described above has shed light. We must live in consistency with the divine will, offer food to the hungry, visit prisoners, sustain and comfort the sick, protect and welcome foreigners, devote ourselves to the poor and the lowly. In practice this corresponds exactly to the spirit of the Beatitudes; it means opting for that proposal of love which saves us already in this life and will later become the object of our examination at the last judgment, which will seal history. Then we will be judged on our decision to serve Christ in the hungry, the thirsty, the foreigner, the naked, the sick, the prisoner. "As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me" (Mt 25: 40): this is what the Lord will say at that time.  

Let us conclude our meditation on Psalm 146[145] with an idea for reflection which is offered to us by the Christian tradition that followed. When Origen, the great third-century writer, reaches verse 7 of our Psalm which says: "[the Lord] gives food to the hungry, the Lord sets the prisoners free", he finds in it an implicit reference to the Eucharist: "We hunger for Christ and he himself will give us the bread of heaven. "Give us this day our daily bread'. Those who say these words are hungry; those who feel the need for bread are hungry". And this hunger is fully satisfied by the Sacrament of the Eucharist, in which man is nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ (cf. Origene-Gerolamo, 74 Omelie sul Libro dei Salmi, Milan 1993, pp. 526-527). 

The text of the psalm

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Alleluja, Aggæi et Zachariæ
1  Lauda, ánima mea, Dóminum, laudábo Dóminum in vita mea: * psallam Deo meo quámdiu fúero.	Praise the Lord, O my soul, in my life I will praise the Lord: I will sing to my God as long as I shall be.
2  Nolíte confídere in princípibus: * in fíliis hóminum, in quibus non est salus.	Put not your trust in princes: 3 In the children of men, in whom there is no salvation.
3  Exíbit spíritus ejus, et revertétur in terram suam: * in illa die períbunt omnes cogitatiónes eórum.	4 His spirit shall go forth, and he shall return into his earth: in that day all their thoughts shall perish.
4. Beátus, cujus Deus Jacob adjútor ejus, spes ejus in Dómino Deo ipsíus: * qui fecit cælum et terram, mare et ómnia, quæ in eis sunt.	5 Blessed is he who has the God of Jacob for his helper, whose hope is in the Lord his God: 6 Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all things that are in them.
5. Qui custódit veritátem in sæculum, facit judícium injúriam patiéntibus: * dat escam esuriéntibus.	7 Who keeps truth for ever: who executes judgment for them that suffer wrong: who gives food to the hungry.
6  Dóminus solvit compedítos: * Dóminus illúminat cæcos.	The Lord loosens them that are fettered: 8 The Lord enlightens the blind.
7  Dóminus érigit elísos: * Dóminus díligit justos.	The Lord lifts up them that are cast down: the Lord loves the just.
8  Dóminus custódit ádvenas, pupíllum et víduam suscípiet: * et vias peccatórum dispérdet.	9 The Lord keeps the strangers, he will support the fatherless and the widow: and the ways of sinners he will destroy.
9  Regnábit Dóminus in sæcula, Deus tuus, Sion, * in generatiónem et generatiónem.	10 The Lord shall reign for ever: your God, O Sion, unto generation and generation.

Scriptural and liturgical uses

NT references	Acts 4:24, 17:24 (4); Lk 4:17-31 (5-6); Mt 9:30; Jn 9:7 (6) Lk 13:13, (7)
RB cursus	Sat Vespers+AN 3583 (2)
Monastic feasts etc	AN 3413 (10)
Responsories	-
Roman pre 1911	Saturday Vespers
Roman post 1911	1911-62: Wednesday Lauds. 1 970: Wednesday lauds wk 4
Mass propers (EF)	Eastertide3, OF (1); Pent Ember Fri OF (1)