"The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous: The LORD preserveth the strangers; He relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked He turneth upside down."
Psalm 146:8-9
Yesterday – “Love’s focus is the other person’s need.”
Today:
The last five of the 150 Psalms are songs of praise to Jehovah! Our psalm (146) today begins with the words “HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH, O my soul!” How we need to remember to give praise to the Lord from the depths of our souls! Here’s how this psalm is laid out for us.
In verses 1-2, I will proclaim praise to the LORD (Jehovah)!
Verses 3-4 remind me not to put my trust in people!
Verses 5-7, but I will keep my faith in the LORD (Jehovah)!
Verses 8-9, I will remember the LORD’s (Jehovah’s) loving power and attention!
Verse 10, I will praise the eternal LORD (God, Jehovah)! [1]
Today let’s focus a few moments on verses 8-9 and think about the LORD’s love and power as He cares for His people. We can see that “He defends the cause of Israel’s most vulnerable citizens” [2] (CSB). As we think through these verses, let’s keep in mind how these words about Jehovah parallel the Lord Jesus’ life and ministry on earth.
“The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind.”
Two types of blindness are mentioned in the Bible. There are many cases of literal, physical blindness because of some issue with a person’s organs of sight. Then there is metaphorical blindness in which people are blind spiritually, blind to their sin, and in spiritual peril.
“All these classes of afflicted persons are meant to be regarded literally, but all may have a wider meaning and be intended to hint at spiritual bondage, blindness, and abjectness” [3] (Maclaren – EWC).
In the Old Testament, where both spiritual and physical blindness cases are seen, there is no record of the prophets ever healing physical blindness. They provided food, they healed bodies, they could raise sunken ax-heads, and even raise the dead. But none of them ever healed a blind man of his blindness.
Our verse tells us that the LORD (Jehovah) “openeth the eyes of the blind.” And He does, just not in the Old Testament. However, in the Gospels, we see Jesus heal the blind several times – Matthew 12:22; Matthew 20:30; Mark 8:22-23; Mark 10:46; Luke 7:21; John 9:1-12. Hold that thought about Jesus. We will come back to it…
“The LORD raiseth them that are bowed down.”
We do see Jehovah raising up those who were bowed down in the O.T. I think of the children of Israel during their time in Egypt toiling miserably under their taskmasters. Later, as they struggled through the wilderness to the Promised Land, they were never out from under the LORD’s loving watch-care. And He also encouraged His children in exile while they were being punished.
Jesus also was good to lift up the fallen, those whose faces were down. The most notable was perhaps the woman He met when he taught at a synagogue one Sabbath day.
“A woman was there who had an evil spirit inside her. It had made the woman crippled for 18 years. Her back was always bent; she could not stand up straight” [4] (Luke 13:11, HSB).
Her condition was such that she was “bent over” [5] (Mounce) and could not stand up straight. She was “bent completely forwards” [6] (Thayer). Jesus, in His concern for her, called her to Himself and said, “Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity” (v. 12). What joy she must have experienced at hearing those words! And then, “… He laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God” (v. 13).
Yes, Jehovah and Jesus lifted those who were bowed down.
“The LORD loveth the righteous.”
Jehovah loves those righteous who know Him, they know what is right, and they do right! So does Jesus Christ love those who are righteous!
“For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil” (1 Peter 3:12).
“Then [after the judgment of the wicked] shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 13:43).
“And these [the wicked] shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal” (Matthew 25:46).
“The LORD preserveth the strangers.”
In Israel, under the Kingdom, those who were travelers to Israel and those not knowing their religion and did not worship their God were “preserved” by Jehovah. He protected them from those who might do them harm or mistreat them because of their differences. Jesus did this too. He cared for and healed the Roman Centurion’s servant (Matthew 8:5-13). Jesus healed the daughter of the woman from Canaan (Matthew 15:21-28). And Jesus saved the “woman at the well” and many Samaritans (John 4:1-30).
“He relieveth the fatherless and widow.”
The Old Testament speaks of “the fatherless” at least 42 times and “widows” 54 times. It should be plain to us that the LORD has special attention for the orphans and widows. Jesus was also concerned for the widows (Luke 4:24-25; Luke 7:11-17; Matthew 23:14; Mark 12:42-43).
Today our Lord has planned for us, the Church of the Living God, to care for the fatherless and widows! Each believer can help do their part.
“Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27).
Jehovah and Jesus
Isn’t it interesting that the list of works that Jehovah does for God’s people is the same as the list of things that Jesus did for God’s people?! Jesus is Jehovah!
“Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me” (Matthew 11:4-6).
As we read the list, “We instantly connect this list with the work of Jesus the Messiah” [7] (EWC). “The logical conclusion is that Jesus is Yahweh, the LORD” [8] (EWC).
“But the way of the wicked He turneth upside down.”
Jesus is the holy, spotless Lamb of God, and He hates sin! Every time He confronted sin, He always came down on His Father’s side of every issue.
“And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves” (Matthew 21:12-13).
Sinners cannot prosper forever! God will see to it that “the way of transgressors is hard” (Proverbs 13:15b).
Soon God will have all those living sinners and those who have lived rounded up to stand before Him at the Great White Throne Judgement. Those who love their sin and hate God’s way of salvation will be cast into Hell with the devil and his angels for eternity (Revelation 20:11-15).
But “the righteous,” whom He loves, will spend eternity together with Him doing righteousness. Believers, we are not righteous by our own merits, but we are standing in His righteousness alone. Aren’t you looking forward to standing in Jesus’ presence face to face? Amen!
“Love loves the righteous, those who love and do right!”
Quote: “God bestows His blessings without discrimination. The followers of Jesus are children of God, and they should manifest the family likeness by doing good to all, even to those who deserve the opposite” [9] (F.F. Bruce).
[1] I have borrowed the breakdown of Psalm 146 from EWC. The outline I have edited for our use.
[2] CSB, Kevin R. Warstler, “Psalms,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 941.
[3] EWC – David Guzik. Enduring Word Commentary, the electronic version in eSword.
[4] HSB is the Harvest Study Bible from Harvest Ministries in Guam.
[5] MCD, Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary, the electronic version in eSword.
[6] TGD – J.H. Thayer. Thayer’s Greek Definitions, the electronic version in eSword.
[7] EWC, ibid.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Bruce’s quote Downloaded: February 15, 2022. From: https://www.christianquotes.info/top-quotes/17-amazing-quotes-about-gods-love/.