The Politics of Yahweh Text: Psalm 146:5-9
Introduction: The Only Help Worth Having
This psalm begins with a bracing dose of political realism. "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help." In our day, this is a message that lands like a bucket of cold water on a sleeping drunk. Modern man, having abandoned God, has nowhere to look for salvation but horizontally. He looks to Washington, to the United Nations, to the experts, to the charismatic candidate with the perfect slogan. He is perpetually searching for a prince who will not disappoint, a son of man who will not die and turn to dust, leaving all his grand five-year plans to rot with him.
But the psalmist tells us this is a fool's errand. All human saviors have the same fatal flaw: they are human. They breathe, and then one day, they stop breathing. And on that very day, their thoughts perish. Their political programs, their utopian schemes, their promises of a chicken in every pot, all of it evaporates. To place your ultimate hope in such a creature is to build your house on a sandbar during a hurricane.
The Scriptures do not leave us with this bleak cynicism, however. The point is not to have no hope, but to have the right kind of hope. The psalmist pivots from the horizontal to the vertical. He tells us to stop looking around at dying men and to start looking up to the living God. What follows in our text is not a list of pious platitudes. It is a political platform. It is the governing agenda of the true King of this world. It is a description of what God does, who He is, and consequently, what His people are to be about. This is the politics of Yahweh, and it is the only political program that will not ultimately perish.
The Text
How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
Whose hope is in Yahweh his God,
Who made heaven and earth,
The sea and all that is in them;
Who keeps truth forever;
Who does justice for the oppressed;
Who gives food to the hungry.
Yahweh sets the prisoners free.
Yahweh opens the eyes of the blind;
Yahweh raises up those who are bowed down;
Yahweh loves the righteous;
Yahweh keeps the sojourners;
He helps up the orphan and the widow,
But He bends the way of the wicked.
(Psalm 146:5-9 LSB)
The Foundation of True Blessedness (v. 5)
We begin with the fundamental contrast that sets up the rest of the psalm.
"How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, Whose hope is in Yahweh his God," (Psalm 146:5)
The word for blessed here is `ashre`, which means happy, fortunate, content. This is not the fleeting happiness of a good circumstance, but the deep, settled blessedness of a man whose foundation is solid rock. And what is that foundation? His help is the "God of Jacob."
Now, why Jacob? Why not the God of Abraham, the faithful patriarch, or the God of David, the kingly man after God's own heart? Because Jacob is the scoundrel. Jacob is the heel-grabber, the supplanter, the conniver who wrestled with God and man. He is the prime exhibit of a man who was saved and blessed by sheer, unadulterated grace. To say our help is in the God of Jacob is to say that our help is in a God who specializes in helping those who do not deserve it. He is a God for sinners, for wrestlers, for the weak and the striving. He is not a God for the self-sufficient who believe they have their affairs in order. This is covenant language, reminding us that God's help is a covenantal promise, not a wage earned by good behavior.
And because his help is the God of Jacob, his hope is in Yahweh his God. Hope is a directional virtue. It must be aimed at something. The world aims its hope horizontally, at princes and political solutions. The blessed man aims his hope vertically. His anchor is not in the shifting sands of human culture but is cast into the heavens, where Christ has gone as our forerunner. This is the great divide. Is your hope in the creature or the Creator? The answer to that question determines everything.
The Divine Resume (v. 6)
The psalmist then gives us the credentials of this God. Why should we place our hope in Him? What is His resume?
"Who made heaven and earth, The sea and all that is in them; Who keeps truth forever;" (Psalm 146:6 LSB)
The first item on His resume is this: He is the Creator of all things. This is the bedrock of reality, the ultimate Creator/creature distinction. Our God is not a part of the system; He spoke the system into existence out of nothing. He owns it all by right of manufacture. This is why His authority is absolute. He is not one king among many; He is the King over all other kings, because He made the dirt they stand on and the air they breathe. This single fact demolishes every competing worldview. If God created all things, then materialism is false, atheism is a delusion, and pantheism is nonsense.
The second item on His resume flows from the first. He "keeps truth forever." Because He is the Creator, He is the ultimate standard of all truth. Truth is not something that evolves. It is not a social construct. It is not "your truth" or "my truth." Truth is what corresponds to the mind and character of God. And unlike the promises of princes, which are riddled with lies and expire with the next news cycle, God's truth is eternal. His promises are yea and amen in Christ. His Word is utterly reliable. You can build your life, your family, your civilization on it, and it will not give way.
Yahweh's Governing Agenda (vv. 7-9)
Having established who God is, the psalmist now lays out what God does. This is His active, governing agenda in the world. And as you read this, you should see the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ in high definition.
"Who does justice for the oppressed; Who gives food to the hungry. Yahweh sets the prisoners free." (Psalm 146:7 LSB)
First, He does justice for the oppressed. This is not the counterfeit "social justice" of our day, which is little more than institutionalized envy and resentment. Biblical justice is righteousness. It is rendering to each his due according to God's unchanging law. God is the defender of the person who has been wronged, defrauded, or crushed by the powerful. And in the ultimate sense, the oppressed are all those who are held captive by sin, and Jesus Christ is the great vindicator who crushed the head of our oppressor.
He gives food to the hungry. This is true of His daily providence; He opens His hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing. And it is supremely true in Christ, who is the Bread of Life. Man shall not live by bread alone, and our deepest hunger is for righteousness, which only Christ can provide.
He sets the prisoners free. When Jesus began His public ministry in Luke 4, He read from Isaiah, declaring that He had come to proclaim liberty to the captives. The ultimate prison is the prison of sin and death, and the gospel is the key that unlocks the door. The Christian faith is a great jailbreak.
The platform continues, detailing a ministry of total restoration.
"Yahweh opens the eyes of the blind; Yahweh raises up those who are bowed down; Yahweh loves the righteous;" (Psalm 146:8 LSB)
He opens the eyes of the blind. Jesus did this literally, spitting in the dirt and giving sight. But more profoundly, He does it spiritually. Apart from His grace, we are all born blind, unable to see the truth or glory of God. Regeneration is the great miracle of sight. God says, "Let there be light" in our hearts, just as He did in Genesis 1.
He raises up those who are bowed down. Sin, shame, and sorrow weigh us down. The world crushes people. But the gospel lifts the head. It restores dignity. It takes the broken and makes them stand tall, not in their own strength, but as beloved children of the Most High.
He loves the righteous. This is not a sentimental, universal affection. This is a covenantal, familial love. And who are the righteous? Not those who are morally flawless in themselves, but those who have been clothed in the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. God's love is fixed upon His people, His chosen, those who are in His Son.
Finally, His agenda includes a special concern for the vulnerable and a terrifying opposition to the wicked.
"Yahweh keeps the sojourners; He helps up the orphan and the widow, But He bends the way of the wicked." (Psalm 146:9 LSB)
He keeps the sojourners, the orphan, and the widow. These are the classic examples in Scripture of those who are without a natural protector. They are vulnerable. And God declares that He is their protector. This is the foundation of true religion, as James tells us. And notice, this is the work He gives to His people, the church, to carry out. This is diaconal ministry. It is not the job of the secular state to be the husband to the widow and the father to the fatherless. When the state usurps this role, it becomes a tyrannical idol. God's welfare system is His people, ministering in His name.
And then comes the great reversal: "But He bends the way of the wicked." God's government is not neutral. He is not simply "for" the righteous; He is actively, powerfully, and effectively "against" the wicked. The path of the wicked may seem straight, prosperous, and successful to them. But God intervenes. He frustrates their plans. He introduces twists and turns they did not anticipate. He bends their path until it leads to the ruin it was always destined for. The wicked will not triumph. Their way is a dead end.
Conclusion: Our Hope is a Person
This entire psalm is a portrait of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the God of Jacob, who came to save sinners. He is the Creator through whom all things were made. He is the truth incarnate. His entire earthly ministry was the fulfillment of this divine political platform. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, proclaimed liberty to the captives, and gave sight to the blind.
And now, having been raised from the dead, He is enthroned as King of kings and Lord of lords. He is currently reigning and putting all His enemies under His feet. He is still carrying out this agenda, and He does it through us, His body, the church.
Therefore, we do not put our trust in princes. We do not despair when earthly kingdoms rage and the wicked seem to prosper. Our help is in the God of Jacob. Our hope is in Yahweh. He made everything, He owns everything, and He is setting everything right. He is bending the way of the wicked and He is raising up His people. Blessed, happy, and secure is the one who is on the right side of that great reversal.