Psalms

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Psalm 146

1 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. 2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God as long as I exist. 3 Do not trust in princes, or in human beings, who cannot deliver. 4 Their life’s breath departs, they return to the ground. On that day their plans die. 5 How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God. 6 The one who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them,⁠ who remains forever faithful, 7 vindicates the oppressed, and gives food to the hungry.⁠ The Lord releases the imprisoned. 8 The Lord gives sight to the blind.⁠ The Lord lifts up all who are bent over. The Lord loves the godly.⁠ 9 The Lord protects the resident foreigner. He lifts up the fatherless and the widow, but he opposes the wicked.⁠ 10 The Lord rules forever, your God, O Zion, throughout the generations to come. Praise the Lord!

Texts in conversation

Compare Deuteronomy 10:18 and Psalm 146:7

Hebrew Bible

Summary

Deuteronomy describes God providing for orphans, widows, and foreigners, language echoed in Psalm 146, which portrays justice through God’s care. Both reflect an ancient Near Eastern tradition of kings caring for the most vulnerable in their lands.

Passages

Deuteronomy 10:18

Hebrew Bible

16 Therefore, circumcise your hearts and stop being so stubborn! 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who is unbiased and takes no bribe, 18 who justly treats the orphan and widow, and who loves resident foreigners, giving them food and clothing. 19 So you must love the resident foreigner because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. 20 Revere the Lord your God, serve him, be loyal to him, and take oaths only in his name.

750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

Psalm 146:7

Hebrew Bible

5 How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God. 6 The one who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who remains forever faithful, 7 vindicates the oppressed, and gives food to the hungry. The Lord releases the imprisoned. 8 The Lord gives sight to the blind. The Lord lifts up all who are bent over. The Lord loves the godly. 9 The Lord protects the resident foreigner. He lifts up the fatherless and the widow, but he opposes the wicked.

600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

References

"... The Exodus is seen as the ultimate act of divine justice in the Hebrew Bible, because it is an act of God that overthrows the totalitarian rule of the Pharaoh (in respect of the Israelites) and frees them from slavery. For this reason, ‘the entire history of Israel under God is subordinated to one purpose—righteousness expressed in justice’ ... This is reflected in Psalm 146:7–9, a song of praise ... Justice is envisaged as a mighty, surging river, like the River Jordan in full flood. It illustrates that justice is not a static state (like the scales of Justicia) but an intervening power: it strikes and changes, restores and heals. It is dynamic, rushing onwards, bringing life to a parched land. Justice has transformative potential. Against this background, the treatment of the least favoured in society becomes the fundamental criterion for achieving justice. The triumvirate of ‘the alien, the fatherless and the widow’ are the object of God’s special concern (Deuteronomy 10:18). Accordingly, they are to be the people’s focus also ..."

Jonathan Burnside, “The Spirit of Biblical Law,” Oxford Journal of Law and Religion 1.1 (2012): 1–25.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Psalms150 psalms

Compare Deuteronomy 10:18 and Psalm 146:7

Summary

Passages

Deuteronomy 10:18

Psalm 146:7

References

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