Lauda, anima. We are not to trust in men, but in God alone.
The Psalmist exciteth himself, and al others to praise God for his singular regard, and prouidence of al that trust in him: 3. shewing that neither princes, nor other men are able to helpe, 5. but God can and doth continually releue al sortes of necessities.
1Alleluia, of Aggeus and Zacharias.Alleluia. Di Aggeo, e di Zacharia.Alleluia,Alleluja, Aggæi et Zachariæ. 2Praise 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. Put not your trust in princes:Loda, o anima mia, il Signore: loderò il Signore, mentre avrò vita: canterò inni al mio Dio, finché io sarò. Non ponete vostra fidanza ne' grandi,of Aggaeus, and Zacharie. MY soule prayse thou our Lord, I wil praise our Lord in my •te: I wil sing to my God as long as I shal be. Put not confidence in princes:Lauda, anima mea, Dominum. / Laudabo Dominum in vita mea; / psallam Deo meo quamdiu fuero. / Nolite confidere in principibus, 3In the children of men, in whom there is no salvation.ne' figliuoli degli uomini, nei qual non è salute.in the sonnes of men, in whom there is no saluation.in filiis hominum, in quibus non est salus. 4His spirit shall go forth, and he shall return into his earth: in that day all their thoughts shall perish.Il loro spirito se n'andrà, ed e ritorneranno nella loro terra: allora andranno in fumo tutti i lor pensamenti.His spirit shal goeforth, and he shal returne into his earth: in that day al their cogitations shal perish.Exibit spiritus ejus, et revertetur in terram suam; / in illa die peribunt omnes cogitationes eorum. 5Blessed is he who hath the God of Jacob for his helper, whose hope is in the Lord his God:Beato chi ha per suo aiuto il Dio di Giacobbe, ha sua speranza nel Signore Dio suo,Blessed is he, whose helper is the God of Iacob, his hope in our Lord his God:Beatus cujus Deus Jacob adjutor ejus, / spes ejus in Domino Deo ipsius: 6Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all things that are in them.il quale fe' il cielo, e la terra, il mare, e tutte le cose, che sono in essi.who made heauen and earth, the sea, and al thinges, that are in them.qui fecit cælum et terram, / mare, et omnia quæ in eis sunt. 7Who keepeth truth for ever: who executeth judgment for them that suffer wrong: who giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth them that are fettered:Egli, che mantiene la verità in eterno: fa giustizia a que', che soffrono ingiuria: da cibo ai famelici. Il Signore scioglie gl' incatenati,Which keepeth truth for euer, doth iudgement for them that suffer wrong geueth foode to the hungrie. Our Lord looseth the fettered:Qui custodit veritatem in sæculum; / facit judicium injuriam patientibus; / dat escam esurientibus. / Dominus solvit compeditos; 8The Lord enlighteneth the blind. The Lord lifteth up them that are cast down: the Lord loveth the just.il Signore illumina i ciechi. Il Signore rialza i caduti, il Signore ama i giusti.our Lord illuminateth the blind. Our Lord lifteth vp the bruised, our Lord loueth the iust.Dominus illuminat cæcos. / Dominus erigit elisos; / Dominus diligit justos.
9The Lord keepeth the strangers, he will support the fatherless and the widow: and the ways of sinners he will destroy.Il Signore è il custode de' forestieri: difenderà il pupillo, e la vedova, e sperderà i disegni de' peccatori.Our Lord keepeth strangers, the pupil, and widow he wil receiue: and the wayes of sinners he wil destroy.Dominus custodit advenas, / pupillum et viduam suscipiet, / et vias peccatorum disperdet. 10The Lord shall reign for ever: thy God, O Sion, unto generation and generation.Regnerà pe' secoli il Signore: il tuo Dio, o Sionne, per tutte le generazioni.Our Lord wil reigne for euer thy God ô Sion, in generation and generation.Regnabit Dominus in sæcula; / Deus tuus, Sion, in generationem et generationem.
145:1
Worthington
Of, etc. This addition of the Septuagint intimates that these prophets would thus exhort the people to trust in Providence, and to prefer his service before worldly cares. See Psalm cxxxvi. (Worthington)
Calmet
They might compose this psalm after Cyrus had revoked the permission to build the temple, (ver. 2., and 1 Esdras 1:3., and 4:4.) as the following psalms seem all to have been sung at the dedication of the walls. (Calmet)
This might be the case, but the titles afford but a slender proof, and David might write this to excite himself and people to confide in God.
Berthier
In my. Hebrew begins here the second verse, with the answer of the soul to the prophet's invitation. It is immortal, and promises always to praise the Lord. (Berthier)
145:3
Haydock
Children. Hebrew, "sons of Adam." The greatest prince is of the same frail condition as other men. He is not always willing, nor able to save. He must die, and all his projects cease. (Haydock)
Calmet
If we could have depended on any, Cyrus seemed to be the person. Yet he has been deceived, and now forbids the building of a temple. We must, however, be grateful for the liberty which we enjoy by the goodness of God. (Calmet)
Worthington
In one Son of man (Christ) we may trust; not because he is the Son of man, but because he is the Son of God. (St. Augustine) (Worthington)
145:4
Forth. From the body, which shall be consigned to the earth from which it was taken, Ecclesiastes 12:7.
Worthington
And he. Man, (Calmet) or each of the princes, (Haydock) with respect to the body. (Worthington)
Calmet
It does not refer to the spirit, which in Hebrew is feminine. (Calmet)
St. Augustine
It is the want of faith, which causes people to confide in great ones, rather than in Providence. (St. Augustine)
Calmet
Thoughts. Projects of ambition, etc. (Calmet)
145:7
Haydock
Truth. Houbigant, "his truth," and promises. (Haydock)
The disposition of Cyrus towards the Jews had changed, in consequence of some false insinuations of their enemies.
Wrong. The Babylonians have been, and the Samaritans will be, punished.
Calmet
Fettered. We may hope to be freed from the dominion of the Persians. (Calmet)
145:8
145:9
Berthier
Strangers. He charges his people to be compassionate towards such, Exodus 22:21., and James 1:27. (Berthier)
We have been captives, Psalm 112:9.
Calmet
Sinners, who have calumniated us, ver. 7. (Calmet)
145:10
Berthier
Sion. Figure of the true Church. God is now more attached to Sion than to any other place. (Berthier)
Calmet
He lives for ever, and therefore alone deserves our confidence. (Calmet)
Haydock
Generation. Hebrew adds, "Alleluia," which we have in the next title, as the psalm also begins with the same word. (Haydock)
145:1
The Septuagint added •he names of these tuo Prophetes, for the like reason as they added Ieromie, Psal. 136. because Aggaeus and Zacharias prophecying in the reduction of the people from captiuitie, exhorted them, as here the Psalmist doth, to trust in Gods prouidence, and preferre his seruice before vvorldlie cares.
145:3
In one Sonne of Man [Christ] is saluation (saith S. Augustin) and in him, not because he is the sonne of man, but because he is the Sonne of God.
145:4
He saith not, that the spirit or soule shal turne into the earth, but the soule shal depart from the bodie, and so euerie one (in whom worldlie men put their trust) shal according to the bodie, returne into his earth.
145:1
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 146.1
1. …Behold the Psalm soundeth; it is the voice of some one (and that some one are ye, if ye will), of some one encouraging his soul to praise God, and saying to himself, “Praise the Lord, O my soul” (
145:2
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 146.2
… it is, as it were, dazzled with brightness; it has not strength to abide there. Therefore it gathers itself, as it were, into a sound state, and saith, “Praise the Lord, O my soul.”…And then the soul, weighed down, as it were, and unable to stand up as is fitting, answereth the mind, “I will praise the Lord in my life” (
145:3
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 70.6
… whosoever confesseth himself to have been made whole, confesseth himself to have been sick. Not their own saving health, as if they could save themselves of themselves: not as it were the saving health of a man, as though by him they could be saved. “Do not,” he saith, “confide in princes, and in the sons of men, in whom there is no safety.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 146.4
… thou art promised that Liberator, who needeth none to free Him, and thou despairest, as though it were but a fable. Woe to such thoughts: they wander far; truly there is sad and great death in them. Approach, begin to long, begin to seek and to know Him by whom thou wast made. For He will not leave His work, if He be not left by His work.
Anonymous Martyrdom of the Holy Confessors Shamuna, Guria, and Habib, from Simeon Metaphrastes 1
… “Trust not in princes—in the sons of men, in whom is no safety.”
145:4
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 127.11
… Then behold God blew and the tempest passed away; so that the prediction of the prophet was fulfilled, “thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. In that very day his thoughts perish,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 49.2.3
… Be not in haste, thou shalt reign, but “in the morning.” “And the help of them shall grow old in hell from their glory.” Now they have glory, in hell they shall grow old. What is “the help of them”? Help from money, help from friends, help from their own might. But when a man shall be dead, “in that day shall perish all his thoughts.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 73.12
… he doth menace as if he were alway to live: his thought doth transcend earthly frailty, he knoweth not with what sort of vessel he is enwrapped; he knoweth not what hath been written in another place concerning such men: “His spirit shall go forth, and he shall return unto his earth, in that day shall perish all his thoughts.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 146.5
5. …“His breath shall go forth, and he shall return to his earth: in that day shall all his thoughts perish” (
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Letters of the Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyprus 147
… and one Lord by whom are all things and we by Him.” And the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of God and so also is the soul of man, for, it is written, “His breath goeth forth,”
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Letters of the Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyprus 181
But I am wasting words. The poor fellow is silent whether he will or no, “his breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth, in that very day his thoughts perish.”
145:5
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 146.5
What then must we do, if we are not to hope in sons of men, nor in princes? What must we do? “Blessed is he whose Helper is the God of Jacob” (
145:6
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 146.5
… his hope is in the lord his god, who worshippeth Neptune or Mercury; yea more, I add, who worshippeth his belly, of whom is said, “whose god is their belly.” The one is the god of the one, the other of the other. Who is this “blessed” one? for “his hope is in the Lord his God.” But who is He? “Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them” (
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Sermons 42
… although absolutely nothing that exists is evil, nor is anything in nature included in the actually bad. For the good Creator made all things good and the Maker of the universe is one, “Who made the heaven and the earth, the sea and all that is in them
St John of Damascus † AD 749 An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 2.5
Our God Himself, Whom we glorify as Three in One, created the heaven and the earth and all that they contain
145:7
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 146.6
6. “Who keepeth truth for ever.” What “truth for ever”? what “truth” doth He “keep,” and wherein doth “He keep it for ever”? “Who executeth judgment for them that suffer wrong” (
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 3.15
… No strength of ours, but the Lord “raiseth them that are fallen:” no diligence in reading, but “the Lord enlightens the blind:” where the Greeks have κύριος σοφοῖ τυφλούς , i.e., “the Lord maketh wise the blind:” no care on our part, but “the Lord careth for the stranger:” no courage of ours, but “the Lord assists (or supports) all those who are down.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 13.10
… “The Lord looseth them that are bound:” and “Thou hast broken my chains: To Thee will I offer the sacrifice of praise.”
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Sermons 34
… because so long as life remains in the body no man’s restoration must be despaired of, but the reform of all desired with the Lord’s help, “who raiseth up them that are crushed, looseth them that are chained, giveth light to the blind
145:8
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 8.15
… For to the beautiful promise to the righteous “though he fall, he shall not be utterly broken,” has been added one more recent, “though he be utterly broken, he shall speedily be raised up and glorified.”
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Against Eunomius 2.15
… “Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall, but the Lord was my help ,” and “Though he fall, he shall not be cast away, for the Lord upholdeth him with His hand ,” and “The Lord helpeth them that are fallen
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 11.31
… Let him who understandeth confess unto Thee; and let him who understandeth not, confess unto Thee. Oh, how exalted art Thou, and yet the humble in heart are Thy dwelling-place; for Thou raisest up those that are bowed down,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Of Holy Virginity 43
… hath it not been most openly said, “And when I knew that no one can be continent unless God give it, this also itself was a part of wisdom, to know whose gift it was?” But perhaps continence is the gift of God, but wisdom man bestows upon himself, whereby to understand, that that gift is, not his own, but of God. Yea, “The Lord maketh wise the blind:”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 106.5
… except that we may not remain blind, as those unto whom it is said, “But now ye say we see: therefore your sin remaineth.” For the Lord giveth sight to the blind,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 146.7
… Let us first enquire what their hunger is, and then we shall find their food. “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.” We ought to be God’s hungry ones.…“The Lord looseth them that are fettered; the Lord lifteth up them that are dashed down; the Lord maketh wise them that are blind” (
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 13.9
… “Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow?” What is it that is said to us: “Enlighten yourselves with the light of knowledge;” and this which is said of God: “Who teacheth man knowledge;” and: “the Lord enlightens the blind,”
145:9
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Concerning Widows 2
… This is mentioned as the only cause which will mitigate the wrath of God against their sin, if they honour the widow, and execute true judgment for minors, for thus we read: “Judge the fatherless, deal justly with the widow, and come let us reason together, saith the Lord.” And elsewhere: “The Lord shall maintain the orphan and the widow.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 146.7
… Whereby then have we been fettered? whereby dashed down? Our body was once an ornament to us: now, we have sinned, and thereby have had fetters put on us. What are our fetters? Our mortality.…“The Lord loveth the righteous.” And who are the “righteous”? How far are they righteous now? Just as thou hast; “the Lord, guardeth proselytes” (
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Letters of the Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyprus 14
… The strife now ended, he waits for his reward. Grieve not overmuch for orphanhood and widowhood. We have a greater Guardian whose law it is that all should take good care of orphans and widows and about whom the divine David says “The Lord relieveth the fatherless and widow, but the way of the wicked He turneth upside down.”
145:10
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 146.8
… This “way the Lord will root out.” And, when “the way of sinners” has been “rooted out,” what remaineth for us? “Come, ye blessed of My father, enjoy the Kingdom;” “The Lord shall reign for ever” (
145:4
I. DOGMATIC THEOLOGY. - In Sacred Scripture death is described as a dissolution (Phil. 1:25; II Tim. 4:6), as laying aside one's tabernacle (II Pt. 1:14), a going out from the body: the body returns to the earth, whence it had come (Gen. 3:19; Ps. 145:4; Eccles. 12:7); the soul, before the Redemption, was gathered to those who had previously departed this life in Sheol, as is said in the Old Testament (Gen. 15:15; 25:8; 49:29; v. LIMBO. …
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.