Please, browse the many free commentaries available on https://www.katrinapearls.com/blog
1 Hallelujah! [Praise Yah!]
Praise Yahweh, O my soul! *
[2] I will praise Yahweh as long as I live;
I will sing praises lelohay while I have my being.
2 [3] Put not your trust in rulers, nor in any child of earth, *
for there is no help in them.
3 [4] When they breathe their last, they return to earth, *
and in that day their thoughts perish.
4 [5] Happy are they who have se-el of Jacob for their help! *
whose hope is in Yahweh elohaw;
5 [6] Who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them; *
who keeps his promise for ever;
6 [7] Who gives justice to those who are oppressed, *
and food to those who hunger.
7 [8] Yahweh sets the prisoners free;
Yahweh opens the eyes of the blind; *
Yahweh lifts up those who are bowed down;
8 [9] Yahweh loves the righteous;
Yahweh cares for the stranger; *
he sustains the orphan and widow,
but frustrates the way of the wicked.
9 [10] Yahweh shall reign forever, *
elohayik, O Zion, throughout all generations.
Hallelujah! [Praise Yah!]
-------------------------
This is the accompanying Psalm that will be read aloud in unison or sung by a cantor, if an individual church is following the Track 2 path set for the Ordinary after Pentecost season. As a Track 2 accompaniment, it will follow the reading from First Kings, where it is written: “Elijah said to [the widow woman], “Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. For thus says Yahweh elohe of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.” That pair will precede a reading from Hebrews, where Paul wrote, “Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” All will accompany the Gospel reading from Mark, where the Apostle wrote: “[The scribes] devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
Psalm 146, as I have stated before, is an important Psalm of David. In the Year B schedule, it is read on the fifteenth, the twenty-sixth and the twenty-seventh Sundays after Pentecost [Proper numbering]. It is also read twice in the Year B schedule, and partially once in Year A. As this is Proper 27, this same Psalm 146 was read last Sunday. The difference is last week it was Track 1, while now (and on Proper 15) it is Track 2. All of the changes made in the above text were presented the two times before, so nothing has changed there. The only difference now is this same Psalm of praise is applied to the story of Elijah and the widow woman who Yahweh promised would provide for Elijah.
When this is seen as an accompaniment for First Kings seventeen, this is the first chapter where Elijah is mentioned in the Holy Bible. While Elijah is identified as “Elijah the Tishbite,” a name that says “Elijah the Returnee,” it should be seen that Elijah was a judge returned to Israel, at a time when famine was great upon the land. Seeing this in that Old Testament reading makes it clear that David was prophesying by song about all who were judges [as was David] and prophets [as was Elijah], because all would have their souls married to Yahweh and praise Him mightily. This is relative to the first and last words of this song being “Hallelujah!” which means, “Praise Yah!”
In verse two the aspect of “life” or “living,” from the transliterated “bə·ḥay·yāy,” meaning “while I live,” sings praise to the eternal life promised a soul by divine marriage. It is this presence of Yahweh within, One with one’s soul, that makes a soul be experiencing the eternity of heaven while in a body of flesh. Because one is giving life to such dead matter, one has become one of Yahweh’s elohim. Thus, David sang the same praise as would Elijah, where the Hebrew word “lelohay” says “to my [being one of the] elohim.” The “my” becomes a statement of divine possession, which means a soul has fully submitting itself [a “self” is a “soul”] to Yahweh. Thus, “while I have my being” is a statement that says one will serve Yahweh as one of His elohim “for as long as my soul inhabits a body of flesh.” This must be seen as how Elijah could hear the voice of Yahweh speak to him, telling him to go to Zarephath.
Verse three then sings, “not to put your trust in nobility,” because those are only “sons of man,” not immortal or divinely married to Yahweh. In First Kings, Elijah confronted Ahab in the third year of drought. Ahab seems at times to see the divinity of Elijah, but his position as king and his marriage to Jezebel kept him from listening to Elijah. Ahab was merely a “son of man,” who would die in time, leaving no lasting legacy of merit. Thus, those who do not have souls possessed by Yahweh are unable to do anything more then shuffle matter around, usually only in ways that are only beneficial to themselves (temporarily).
Verse four then sings of reincarnation, when “departs” one from his or her body of flesh. Then the “spirit” or “soul” [“ruach”] “returns to the earth,” where “earth” equates to more flesh to be born. David sang this return ends any “plans” that might have been put in place prior to death. Keep in mind here how the Egyptians believed their nobility could return and pick up where they left off. In the case of Elijah, he died under a broom tree and then returned in the same body, without any need for mummification or special priestly chants or embalming fluids. Jesus did the same. This shows how David was led to see reincarnation as not being something mortals can control. Only souls married to Yahweh can return, as He sees fit.
Verse five then sings of those who have followed in the steps of Jacob, who wrestled with himself [a “self” equals a “soul”] and defeated the demon possessing spirit within him. His victory meant his soul was renamed “Israel” [a name meaning “He Who Retains Yahweh – as one of His elolhim”]. Thus, David sang the reward was the “hope” that comes from being one of “Yahweh’s elohim.” David was one, as a judge of the people of Israel [also named king], and so was Elijah.
Verse six then sings of Genesis 1, where thirty-two times is written that “elohim” made everything. The lack of Moses naming “Yahweh” in Genesis 1 was purposeful, as the “elohim” who made everything in the material realm were first created by Yahweh, in order to do the acts of His plan. This verse does not play directly into the Elijah story; but, Elijah, like David and all Yahweh elohim, are the creations of Yahweh. The “elohim” do not create divine wives of Yahweh; although they are the ones who demonically possess human souls, as Jacob knew.
Verse seven then makes a direct link to the First Kings story, where the famine in effect when Elijah was sent by Yahweh relates to the widow woman and her son being “hungry.” While “food” was scarce, the same word [“lechem”] means “bread.” This becomes metaphor for spiritual “bread,” which symbolizes the famine that was under the reign of Ahab and Jezebel. When David sang Yahweh “gives freedom to the prisoners,” this is the story of Elijah meeting the widow woman, who was picking up sticks to burn and make her and her son’s last meal. They were prepared to die and then release their souls from the prison of the flesh and the earthly realm. Elijah was sent by Yahweh to meet her needs, as her soul was one of Yahweh’s faithful.
Verse eight then sings of the “blind,” where this is less about not having physical sight, and more about refusing to see the lures of the material realm as the carrots on a stick or bait on a hook that attempts to steal souls for Satan. They are “blind” because their eyes are looking down, while they are “bowed down in worship of Yahweh.” This is metaphor for those who submit their souls in marriage to Yahweh, which is why David sang of “love.” It is that marriage that makes one be “righteous;” and, Elijah and the widow woman were in this classification of people.
Verse nine then sings of the rescue of the widow woman and her son, which tightly fits the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 17. As for the “wicked,” whose “ways will be turned upside down,” that will be found in the priests of Ba’al, who were imported by Jezebel and Ahab. Because Elijah would put them to shame and then death, Ahab and Jezebel swore to have Elijah killed. That did not work out the way they expected.
Verse ten then sings of the righteous being the ones who will always praise Yahweh and make sure His presence on earth is maintained through a line of “elohim.” Elijah would pass this Spirit onto Elisha, who Elijah would go find and tell. This verse sings praise for the lineage that keep judges remaining on earth to fight Satan.
As a Psalm that will be sung on the twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s own personal ministry for Yahweh should already be well underway, the lesson is the same as before, when this Psalm of praise has been sung. It sings of faith that comes from a soul being married to Yahweh and acting as His servants on earth. This is the purity of ministry, which is not a position of nobility, where someone is from a bloodline of wealthy who go to the best schools and wear the finest robes after graduation from the most elite seminaries (after multiple degree of education prior). Elijah, like David, was a true teacher because his soul praised Yahweh by doing whatever He led him to say and do.
Comments