{Disclaimer: these are my rough teaching notes I use in my Mishkan Katan weekly broadcasts. There will be "typos". Proceed at your own risk, lol.You can find all my Mishkan Katan video teachings on my YouTube channel: genahood2818 . Look on the playlist called Messianic LAMB TV Network.}
Boker Tov and welcome back to Mishkan Katan. Today we will head into the “home stretch” of our study of the Psalms, by beginning with Psalm 146. Turn there in your copy of the Scriptures. A relatively short psalm, only 10 verses, this psalm’s main theme is that when oppression comes, as it surely will, we can only hope in God, in Him alone. The psalm is also one of hope and encouragement for getting through those trying times.
Psalm 146 is the first of the five praise psalms that close out the psalter. It is not known who wrote it, as an author is not named. However, the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, from around 200 BCE) attributes these last five psalms to Zechariah and Haggai, claiming these two post-exilic prophets composed them for the dedication of the Second Temple. Jewish tradition also agrees with this interpretation. But, again, we can’t really know for sure.
Let’s read it together before we jump in. Notice that it begins and ends with HalleluYAH!
146 Halleluyah!
Praise Adonai, my soul!
2 I will praise Adonai as long as I live.
I will sing praise to my God all my life.
3 Don’t put your trust in princes
or in mortals, who cannot help.
4 When they breathe their last, they return to dust;
on that very day all their plans are gone.
5 Happy is he whose help is Ya‘akov’s God,
whose hope is in Adonai his God.
6 He made heaven and earth,
the sea and everything in them;
he keeps faith forever.
7 He secures justice for the oppressed,
he gives food to the hungry.
Adonai sets prisoners free,
8 Adonai opens the eyes of the blind,
Adonai lifts up those who are bent over.
Adonai loves the righteous.
9 Adonai watches over strangers,
he sustains the fatherless and widows;
but the way of the wicked he twists.
10 Adonai will reign forever,
your God, Tziyon, through all generations.
Halleluyah!
Verses 1&2, 4 - - The first verse, an exhortation, is a general one, to all the corporate body of believers. The next verse is an affirmation of the psalmist, that he won’t waste his life by withholding praise to the Lord Almighty, to whom all the praise is due. This second verse, and verse 4 also, reflect the belief of the ancient Jews, that after death there is “nothingness” for the soul, until after the bodily resurrection, which was believed would occur at the end of the earthly age, at the judgment. But, even the Tanakh itself gives evidence this belief is in error. For example, there are appearances of dead saints to those living on earth. One example of this was when the spirit of the prophet, Samuel, was conjured up by a medium to appear to King Saul. Then, in the New Testament, we see at the Transfiguration the spirits of Moses and Elijah appearing on the mountain top and speaking with Yeshua. The story of the rich man and Lazarus is yet a third example of the spirits of people being “conscious” and speaking, in the next world, whether they are in the underworld of Hades or in Paradise, with the Lord. So, while we should most certainly praise God with our every breath while living, we will also continue to praise Him after our physical death, after we traverse the portal into the next life, after the silver cord has broken, as the song says, and as Ecclesiastes 12:6 references.
Verse 3 is such a foundational verse for all of life, as well. It reminds us that we cannot put our trust in other human beings, because they cannot save us. Reminders:
While God can certainly use other human beings to rescue us from various trials and harm, it is ultimately He who orchestrates that, who is our Rescuer.
We cannot depend on the faith of our ancestors to make us right with God. One of life’s greatest blessings is to be raised in a God-knowing, God-fearing household. However, you can’t suck eternal salvation out of your baby bottle. Your parents’ faith, while providing for you an excellent “example of the believer”, cannot make you right with God. You have to take care of that one-on-one with the Father, through His Son, and only through His Son, Yeshua HaMashiach.
Jeremiah, the prophet, reminds us in chapter 17, verses 5 and 7 that the man who places his trust in other men, even in the most noble of men, is CURSED! That’s strong language, isn’t it? Here are the verses. “Cursed be the man who places his trust in man and makes mortal flesh his strong arm, and who removes his heart from Hashem…Blessed is the man who trusts in Hashem, then Hashem will be his reliance.” Elsewhere in the psalms, 49:8, we read: “no man can by any means redeem his brother.”
I am writing this lesson on the cusp of the midterm elections here in the USA. I will be delivering this lesson “the morning after” the midterms. Regardless of the outcomes, we need to remember Psalm 146, verse 3!
Verses 6 through 9 describe some of the many various ways that God in His goodness and mercy cares for mankind.
Creator and Sustainer of all Life (vs. 6)
The Jerusalem Talmud tells a story of a ship full of people, caught in a mighty storm. All aboard were gentiles, except for one Jewish child. As things began to worsen weather-wise, the gentiles hauled out their idols and began to pray to them. The storm only worsened. In desperation they approached the Jewish child and said, “we have heard that the God of the Jews is very powerful and that He responds to those who pray to Him. Please pray to your God!” At this, the young child prayed, and the sea subsided. The gentiles were filled with awe at this and also filled with shame. They said to the child, “The gods of the gentiles are in one place and their idols are someplace else. But, you Jews are most fortunate! Wherever you go, your God is there with you and hears you!”
Of course, we believers in Yeshua serve that very same, all-powerful, everywhere-present God. The God of the Jews is our God, and He is One, the one, true God.
***Safeguarder of Truth (vs. 6)
He always preserves the truth, down through generations. He guards and controls His handiwork forever! He always preserves at least a remnant of those who seek and find truth. In our current age, it seems like truth is getting more and more rare. AI is making this even more challenging, to locate truth. But, we can be sure Hashem will never let His truth, which is the only truth, be completely extinguished.
***The Just and Fair God (vs. 7), particularly for the exploited.
Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? (Gen. 18:25)
***The Provider of all Nourishment
He “gives us this day our daily bread”, as Yeshua prayed. And, Isaiah 49:10 says, “They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor sun smite them, for He Who has mercy on them shall lead them, even by springs of water He shall guide them.”
***The One who sets captives free!
We find ourselves held captive my many things in this life…political oppression/imprisonment, our own horrible choices, addictions, chronic illnesses, regrets, and bitterness/unforgiveness.
He Sets the Captive Free is the name of a book written by concentration camp survivor and missionary, Corrie Ten Boom. One of the quotes from her book is this: “Forgiveness is setting the prisoner free, only to find out that the prisoner was me.” Think about that one for a moment…Corrie was released from the concentration camp, based on a clerical error. Was this an accident? No. It was part of God’s plan. She was released physically, but later she was given the gift of release from the emotional pain, the bitterness she held in her heart for her captors. She ended up sharing the gospel with some of them, even though her sister died in the camp. Her sister was released too, just not the way Corrie wanted.
I thank God I have been ultimately set free from the law of sin and death, through Jesus, my Lord!
***He opens the eyes of the blind
We are all blind to some things. We all have our “blind spots”. Most of the time, we are blind to our own shortcomings. Having our eyes opened to those is a blessing, because unless you can clearly see them, you have a really tough time correcting them. The Ruach haKodesh, living inside us, gives us sight and light. He also is the Source of power to become more like Mashiach, which is like what is described in the next descriptor.
***He makes the crooked things straight.
He straightens things out. Did your parents ever say that to you? “I’m a-gonna straighten you out!” LOL, that was generally a warning that if you did not straighten yourself out, your godly parent was perfectly willing to do it for you! The Ruach is like a godly parent! The sanctification process is a process of straightening out habits in our lives that are “crooked”. You might be interested in this connection to the morning Amidah prayer, which is prayed by many Jews and by many Torah-observant believers each morning. Tradition specifies that the praying person bow and straighten at various times during the prayer, which is always recited while standing. That is why it is called The Amidah. Amad is the Hebrew verb “stand”. At any rate, the tradition is that while bowing is done at various times throughout, the praying one always stands erect when uttering the Divine Name (Hashem), to illustrate that Hashem straightens the bent ones.
***Lover of the Righteous
This characteristic can cause us to ask the troubling question: “Does God have favorites? Great that He loves the righteous, but what about the rest of us poor souls? Right?” There is an excellent article pertaining to this question, on GotQuestions.org. I’m going to summarize some of the points here.
First, we have to anchor ourselves in the truth that, as stated in verse 7, God is completely fair and just. The God of all the Earth does right. Genesis 18:25 is completely true, always. Deuteronomy 32:4 and Psalm 7:11 reiterate this point.
When we think of favoritism, we often imagine higher status and less responsibility. But, it is just the opposite - - when God appoints us for His favor, this comes with more difficult challenges and greater responsibility. Think of the patriarchs, prophets, and even Jesus, who embodied God the Father’s favor more than any human who has ever lived! And, look how He was treated!
Romans 9:14-16 affirms God’s sovereign right to choose or not choose, to distribute spiritual gifts as He sees fit, to call whomever He calls, etc. His decisions in this regard are not capricious or arbitrary. For instance, Isaiah 66:2b testifies to the fact that people’s actions influence how much of God’s favor they receive.
“This is the one I will esteem:
he who is humble and contrite in spirit,
who trembles at My word.”
While every child of God who comes to Him through the finished work of His Son, Yeshua the Messiah, has God’s favor, as we fulfill the calling God has placed on our life, we find increased favor with with Him.
***Protector of the Stranger
Juxtaposed against the verse that declares God favors His children, which the Jews would have interpreted to mean that Jewish people were God’s favorites, He throws this verse into the mix. He does not hate the non-Jew who wishes to live according to Torah. Instead, he protects them and commands His chosen nation, the Jews, to protect them. The sages went on to add that when the chosen people of God throughout the generations have been strangers in a strange land, that is, in exile, God has preserved His people through that. This does not mean that many thousands have not been martyred for their faith. That is still going on today. The Muslims in Nigeria, for instance, have been murdering Christians by the tens of thousands. The martyrdom of the people of God will continue until Messiah returns.
***Encourager to the one who lost an immediate family member, a child or a spouse
This attribute of God is very precious to those who grieve every day the loss of someone close to them. He gives these precious souls joy, supernatural joy, so that they can continue to face life and fulfill their God-ordained purpose.
***Thwarter of the wicked and their evil plans
It may or may not seem to us that God thwarts the plans of the wicked. But, we don’t see or know everything. There is much going on in the spirit realm that we are not witness to. God has not ordained at this time that all wickedness should cease. That will not happen until the olam haba, the world to come, when the new heaven and new earth come down from heaven, after the 1000-year reign of Messiah.
Father Yahweh DOES keep the wicked under His control. He uses their misdeeds to fulfill His own purposes. Nothing is wasted, whether we can understand that or not.
Verse 10 goes on to express this related truth: From generation to generation, He reigns supreme. And, He will do so, “to eternity and beyond”. Zechariah 14:9 says, “And Hashem will be King over all the earth, on that day Hashem will be One and His Name One. “
On now to Psalm 147 - - - Like Psalm 146 before it, no author is given for this psalm either.
This psalm picks up where the last one left off. It concentrates on the city of Jerusalem being rebuilt as a center for praise to God, a city inhabited by those who had years earlier been cast out. This perfectly describes both the exiles who became prisoners of war and taken to Babylon in the late 500s BCE, as well as those who were dispersed by the Romans from Jerusalem in the 70s, CE. The commentators emphasize that, although the city is not longer in ruins, even though many descendants of exiles have returned, the city has not yet been returned to its former glory. The rebuilding of the city has returned over the last 75 years, and the world has seen the benefit of it. Jews have long been at the forefront of wonderful discoveries and innovation, as evidenced by the disproportionate number of Jews who have won Nobel prizes, for example. But, it seems that as more Jews return to the Holy Land, those accomplishments are multiplying. The world should be rejoicing because all its people are benefiting! However, … The Muslim holy sites still stand atop Mt. Zion, the area believed to have been the location of the First and Second Temples. When the city does reach the pinnacle of its former grandeur, its inhabitants will in harmony offer praise to Hashem with unprecedented unity and clarity.
In verse 3, we see a reference to the broken-hearted and how God is the One who has the power to bind up their sorrows for healing to take place. We can be in sorrow over many things, but the sages say this verse refers the exiles who, had they had godly sorrow for their sins would not have been cast out of the land. Since they did not, they then became broken-hearted and hopeless over their exile. This brokenheartedness continued even into their return, because the returning men brought with them the pagan wives with whom many of them had intermarried. In Ezra chapters 9 and 10 we see that the priests of the people made them divorce their pagan wives, in order to renew their commitment to living out the Torah as given to the nation by Moses. The sages maintain such a marital purge will be called for in the future redemption of the nation as well.
Another similarity with Psalm 146 is that there is another list of Hashem’s mighty works or attributes. I’ll just touch on a few.
In verse 4 we find that not only does Hashem count all the stars in the universe, but that He also knows all of them by name. The commentators relate this to God’s promise in Genesis 15, where He compares the number of Abraham’s descendants to the number of stars in the sky. If He so tenderly knows and cares for these remote heavenly bodies, can He not also bring back the exile who has wandered the furtherest away? He sees, knows and will bring close every one of His chosen ones.
In contrast, verse 5, though He can number the stars, it is impossible for us to either number the stars or to calculate His understanding.
Verse 9 is interesting. Some of you may understand this verse differently, but if you are taking it literally the commentary says mother ravens will neglect their chicks because they are born white, and the mother does not recognize that they belong to her. So, she does not care for them, at first. God, then, provides insects for them. However, scientists say this is not true. Well, if you can believe the internet, that is.
Verse 10 seems a strange verse two, talking about God not liking men’s legs. But, what is being referred to here is that horses, particularly war horses, were often trusted in by the warrior, as opposed to him trusting in God. Since it is with his legs a warrior would control the steed, that is the meaning of the reference in this verse in this context. See Amos 2:14-15 for a similar misplaced confidence, in the strength of a man’s legs to flee from battle on foot.
Verse 13 cannot be taken literally, since in the future Jerusalem will have no bars on its gates. Isaiah 60:1 declares they will be permanently open.
Verse 14 - - wheat is a symbol of fertility and prosperity, which foster satisfaction and peace.
Verses 15 through 18 are good ones to pray when severe weather threatens. A forecast is just a forecast, but the Lord God controls all the weather.
Verses 19-20 emphasize the special relationship the people of Israel and Judah have with Hashem.
We won’t take time to read Psalm 147 but will instead move on.
Psalm 148 continues the theme of Psalm 147. Zion is viewed by Jews as “the navel of the earth”, that touch point where Heaven and Earth meet, where the vast celestial expanse that was created for mankind’s use and benefit, touches terrestrial limits. It is believed that through Israel, and Jerusalem in particular, Divine blessings spread throughout the globe. The prophetic books tell us it will certainly be that way during the latter years of this earth age, when Mashiach will rule and reign over the whole Earth, from Jerusalem.
Let’s read Psalm 148.
148 Halleluyah!
Praise Adonai from the heavens!
Praise him in the heights!
2 Praise him, all his angels!
Praise him, all his armies!
3 Praise him, sun and moon!
Praise him, all shining stars!
4 Praise him, highest heaven,
and waters above the heavens!
5 Let them praise the name of Adonai;
for he commanded, and they were created.
6 He established them forever and ever;
he has given a law to which they must conform.
7 Praise Adonai from the earth,
sea monsters and watery depths,
8 fire and hail, snow and mist,
storm-winds that obey his word,
9 mountains and every hill,
fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals and all livestock,
creeping reptiles, flying birds,
11 kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers on earth,
12 young men and women alike,
old men and children.
13 Let them praise the name of Adonai,
for his name alone is exalted;
his glory is above both earth and heaven.
14 He has increased the power of his people,
granted praise to all his faithful,
to the descendants of Isra’el,
a people close to him.
Halleluyah!
I don’t know if you noticed this or not, but I’ve gotten to where I can sniff out a chiastic structure in the Scriptures pretty well. Psalm 148 has one, a cosmos framework that mimics the movement from highest heavens down to earth and back upward. The overall chiasm is ABBA. The two As are the two HalleluYAHs that bookend the psalm. Next, the two B sections are verses 2-6 and 7-13.
But, the structure can be viewed as a reverse parallelism by further breaking it down. In addition to the ABBA I just mentioned, there are two C sections, C and C1, which contain the identical command: “Let them praise the name of Adonai!”
Then, there are two D sections, D and D1, which give the reasons for this praise of Hashem. In D, vs. 5, the reason is “for He commanded and they were created”. In D1, vs. 13 the reason is “for His name alone is exalted”.
The two E verses, 6 and 14 revolve around God establishing eternal decree for nature and in E1 establishing strength and salvation for His people.
Allright, I imagine you all have had quite enough of that.
Let’s move on to Psalm 149.
This next-to-last song in the Bible’s songbook, the Psalter, continues the praise theme, which began with Psalm 145. It begins in verse 1 by encouraging God’s devout ones to sing Him a new song. In every generation, the people of God face new challenges, dilemmas, problems. However, He is always there to provide them Divine assistance in solving them. Each generation has its own voice. Therefore, it is perfectly fine and even desirable for younger generations to sing Hashem new songs that reflect their unique challenges and callings. To sing His praise is the destiny of His people, and as long as this age continues to unfold new songs will arise.
Note that this singing may be group singing, whether in a traditional congregational gathering, or it might be individual singing in the privacy of one’s own bed. In other situations, the praise might occur in a gathering that is devoted to a specific purpose, such as when going out to war. Note the mention of weapons of warfare in the latter half of the psalm. God asks us to praise Him as we join Him in establishing His kingdom on the earth.
Let’s read Psalm 149 together.
149 Halleluyah!
Sing to Adonai a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.
2 Let Isra’el rejoice in their maker,
let Tziyon’s children take joy in their king.
3 Let them praise his name with dancing,
make melody to him with tambourine and lyre;
4 for Adonai takes delight in his people,
he crowns the humble with salvation.
5 Let the faithful exult gloriously,
let them sing for joy on their beds.
6 Let the high praises of God be in their throats,
but a two-edged sword in their hands
7 to carry out vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
8 to bind their kings with chains
and put their nobles in irons,
9 to execute the judgments decreed for them;
for this will glorify all his faithful.
Halleluyah!
And now, friends, we find ourselves at the end of the mighty, glorious book of Psalms, with Psalm 150. In this psalm the psalmist summarizes the purpose of the entire collection. The psalms were composed to give worshippers of God the opportunity to deepen their relationship with Him by reflecting on His attributes, His mighty works and then to give Him praise through song. Oh, how I wish the original melodies of the psalms had endured!
The psalms make it clear that this practice of the devoted follower of God should endure throughout all generations, regardless of the challenges of life. Sometimes the greatest challenge is to praise and thank Him when things are idyllic and tranquil, because at such times of ease and luxury we humans are prone to forget or neglect Him.
This psalm references a broad spectrum of musical instruments, each suited to a particular mood or situation. We might even nickname this “The Orchestra Psalm”. You may have noticed (I hope you have!) that, depending on the situation for which a particular psalm was written, certain instrumentation was specified. Now, like the lost melodies, we can only hazard a guess as to what a particular instrument was like, based on the meager clues we have been given. But, let’s begin our study of this short psalm by looking at the various instruments mentioned therein. Their many timbres reflect the wide range of human emotions.
The 9 instruments mentioned are: (and some of these you have encountered in earlier psalms)
Shofar
Nievel
Kinor
Tof
Machol
Minnim
Ugav
Tziltzelei Shama
Tziltzelei Teruah
Let’s look at the characteristics of each instrument in this biblical “orchestra”.
The shofar is likely the most familiar instrument in the group. Its sound is made by blowing into the small end of the horn of a ram. These curved horns can be a mere 12” long, or as long as 2-3’. The word shofar is also translated at times in Scripture to refer to metal “trumpets”, which produce a similar sound and were often blown in tandem with the ram’s horn. The shofar’s blast is loud and powerful.
The neivel is an instrument we encountered earlier in Psalm 33. It’s longer name is the neivel ossor, the latter word being a form of the Hebrew word for “ten”. This leads commentators to believe that the instrument produced ten musical notes. The Targum, though, interprets this to mean it had ten strings. Still others believe it was a wind instrument with 10 holes along the length of the instrument. It is commonly held that this instrument symbolizes the theme of this psalm, which is the ten levels of Creation, that is 10 pronouncements with which God created the world. These ten levels are symbolized by the ten times the word Hallelu and its variation Halleluhu appear in this psalm. 10 times in these brief six verses, the people of God are called on to praise God. It has also been noted that the psalms, the Tehillim, record 10 outstanding men as their composers (David,
Adam, Malkizedek, Abraham, Moses, Solomon, Asaph and the 3 sons of Korach). Other sages draw connections between the number 10 in this psalm and the 10 Commandments.
The kinor, mentioned in verse 3, likewise is subject to interpretation, although most commentators agree that it was some kind of harp. The Sea of Galilee is commonly called The Kinneret, in Israel, because it is shaped like a harp. Kinneret is a derivative of kinor. This instrument was said to soothe and was suitable for praise in times of meditative quiet and in peaceful times.
Verse 4 introduces us to the tof. This may have referred a type of hand drum, or tambourine. It is sometimes called a timbrel. Other sages believe it referred to a flat piece of metal, think cymbal or gong. However, according to both descriptions the instrument produced a loud, exciting sound, a rhythm instrument that was suitable to spur on rhythmic movement in worship, such as in dancing. It was suitable to periods of life when a whirlwind of activity was going on, hectic times, busy-ness. Yet, we should never be too busy to praise God.
Next, also in verse 4, which contains 4 instruments, we meet the machol, the word to refer to a circular dance. You can find references to this type of dance in Jeremiah 31:3 and in Judges 21:21. The root of the word machol is Khah-LAHL, which means hollow. For this reason, commentators speculate this instrument was a type of hollow tube, like a flute. It is believed that this instrument produced a mournful sound because a similar word in Hebrew, Khahl-Kah-LAH, means agony and fear. Therefore, perhaps this instrument would have been appropriate for occasions when the person is sad or frightened. This instrument follows the very joyful tof, to show that no matter the occasion, praise of God is warranted.
Minnim is a plural word in Hebrew, due to the “im” ending. The singular is the word, mah-NAH, which means “one part”. Minnim, then, would be “many ones”. This instrument was said to be an instrument of many parts, producing a wide range of sounds and tones. This could have been something like the clavichord, a precursor to our modern-day piano, or some sages say it could have been more like an organ. The former is a keyboard string instrument, and the latter is likewise a keyboard instrument, but it is powered by wind tubes.
The ugav, our next instrument in the Psalm 150 “orchestra”, is one of the first instruments mentioned in Scripture. We find it mentioned with the kinor, in Genesis 4:21, where the sage Radak comments that we find the ancient man Yucval originating the art of music. Interestingly, Yuval is recorded as using these instruments for idol worship. The sages believe the ugav was another type of wind instrument, similar to the flute.
In verse 5, we have two instruments which sound related, at least at first glance. They are the Tziltzelei Shama and the Tziltzelei Teruah. You may recognize “shamah” as the word commonly translated as “year”, but no, that word is “shanah”; and, you might recognize “teruah” the word commonly translated as “trumpet”, as in Yom Teruah. Well, the Tziltzelei Shama is said to have been two copper plates that were clashed against each other to produce a loud, crashing sound. If you are thinking of our modern-day cymbal, you are right! This was a biblical precursor to that instrument. The Talmud says that in the Temple orchestra there was never more than one cymbal, and that a special musician was appointed to play it. That Bryson was called the Ben Arza. We see reference to this instrument in1 Chronicles 15:19 and 16:5. By contrast, the Tziltzelei Teruah were much smaller disks, strapped to the thumb and middle finger. It is said that these produced a clicking sound similar to the Spanish castanet.
The psalmist, having listed all these instruments used in the “praise band”, concludes in verse six that none of these can compare with the praise that the human soul can offer to God. Moreover, throughout all the psalms, the writers have lauded and praised the Almighty One in every conceivable verbal way. The book contains 2527 verses of praise. However, none of these have meaning unless they issue from the depths of the soul to express its sincerest, innermost feelings of praise.
Keeping that in mind, in this last “Praise God” at the end of the last verse of this last psalm, we see a command. This is an imperative. Every living soul is commanded to Praise Yah, from now and through eternity! HalleluYAH!
And, here, we end our study of this mammoth, magnificent collection of praise songs. We have now “sung every song in the hymnal”. I look forward to being with you next week as we begin a new study together. Shalom!
