“Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, oh, my soul. I will praise the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.”
– Psalm 146:1–2
I love that second verse of Psalm 146:1–2 in particular, “I praise the Lord, oh, my soul.” It’s like the Psalmist is just saying to himself, just rising up in him as he thinks about the greatness of God, the goodness of God, the grace of God, the mercy of God, that’s all over this chapter, the justice of God, the faithfulness of God, the provision of God. He just says to himself, “Praise the Lord, oh my soul.”
And then he says, “I will praise the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.” So just think about that. As long as you live, knowing that all who have put their faith and trust in Jesus will live forever. That even when we die, we live.
Praising the Lord for All Our Lives
John 11 makes clear Verse 25, “Jesus is the resurrection of life, he who believes in me,” Jesus says, “Even though he dies, he will live.” So when I think about Psalm 146 saying, “I will praise the Lord as long as I live,” my mind immediately goes to an old hymn written by Isaac Watts, and I just want to read it. It’s almost verbatim Psalm 146, and it is beautiful. And it reads, like many hymns do, like poetry. So I’m going to read it to you, and I want you to listen, especially to the first and last part where it repeats.
“I’ll praise my maker while I’ve breath. And when my voice is lost in death, praise shall employ my nobler powers. My days of praise shall ne’er be passed, while life and thought and being last or immortality endures. Why should I make a man my trust? Princes must die and turn to dust. Vein is the help of flesh and blood. Their breath departs their pomp and power and thoughts all vanish in an hour, nor can they make their promise good.
Psalm 146:1–2 Praises God for His Provision and Support
Happy the man whose hopes rely on Israel’s God who made the sky and earth and sees with all their train. His truth forever stands secure. He saves the oppressed, he feeds the poor, and none shall find his promise vain. The Lord hath eyes to give the blind. The Lord supports the sinking mind. He sends the laboring conscience piece. The Lord helps the stranger in distress, the widow and the fatherless, and grants the prisoner sweet release. He loves his saints. He knows them well, but turns the wicked down to hell. Thy God, o’ Zion, ever reigns. Let every tongue, let every age in this exalted work engage. Praise him in everlasting strains.”
“I’ll praise Him while He lends me breath. And when my voice is lost in death, praise shall employ my nobler powers. My days of praise shall ne’er be passed while life and thought and being last or immortality endures.”
Psalm 146:1–2 Cries Out in Praise for God
Is that not beautiful? That’s a powerful depiction of Psalm 146 that leads us to pray. Oh God, we praise you today. Our hearts cry, “Praise the Lord, oh my soul.” You are so good. You are so gracious. God, you are so worthy. You are so trustworthy. You are so majestic and mighty, holy, incomparable, beautiful beyond description. And You care for the oppressed. You give to the poor. God, you shelter those in need. You protect those who are hurting.
God, even as I look around my country right now in just all kinds of unrest, we need Your goodness. We need Your mercy. We need Your help. And we praise You. We do not put our trust in any prince, any president, any governor, any leader, any other chief in this world. You, alone, are the Lord who’s worthy of all of our trust and all of our praise, and we worship You. And we pray that as long as You lend us breath, You would be praised in our souls. You would be praised in our lives. You would be praised in our words and our thoughts and our desires and our actions.
Praise for God in Life and in Death
And when our voice is lost in death, we will still praise You, for You will give us life and we will praise You as long as we live. Indeed, our days of praise will never be passed while life and thought and being last or immortality endures for all of eternity. 10 trillion years from right now, we will still be praising You because You are worthy, and we are saved by Your grace, and we are created for your praise. So help us to live like this today. In all that we do, please, oh, God, be praised in us. In Jesus’ name, we pray, and we praise You. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
