“Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul. Praise ye: Heb. Hallelujah”
Alleluia. In some editions of the Septuagint (Haydock) and in Syriac, Arabic, &c., the same inscription occurs, as in the former psalms. Many ascribe this to the same authors, and to the same occasion. Hebrew and Chaldean have no title. Yet the psalm seems to be a thanksgiving (Calmet) for the permission to build the temple and walls of Jerusalem, (Origen) which had been neglected, till God visited the people with a famine, ver. 8., 2 Esdras v. 1., and Aggeus i. 6. (Bossuet) — Zorobabel, &c., urge the people to build. (Syriac) (Calmet) — Still David might compose this psalm, as he was a prophet, (Berthier) and he may allude to the beginning of his reign, when the people were all united. (Jansenius) — Good. Agreeable and advantageous for us. — Praise. This consists in purity of life, rather than in the sweetest accents. (Calmet)
“While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.”
Jerusalem. After the captivity, (Worthington) or at the beginning of David’s reign, when he had taken Sion, and Israel acknowledged his dominion, 2 Kings v. It may also allude to the Church, (John xi. 51.) and to heaven, Hebrews xii. 22., and Apocalypse xxi. (Berthier)
“Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. help: or, salvation”
Bruises. God delivered the captives, after chastising them, Deuteronomy xxxii. 39. (Calmet) — He gives life to the penitent, as Christ healed the sick, &c., Isaias lxi. 1. (Berthier)
“His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.”
Stars. Which to man are innumerable. Though some have counted 1022 with Ptolemy, yet the discovery of telescopes has shewn that many more are discernible, (Calmet) and none would dare at present to fix their number. (Berthier) — Cicero (Of. i.) treats this as a thing impossible. See Genesis xv. 5. (Calmet) — Ptolemy could only ascertain the number of the more notorious. (Worthington) — Kimchi admits 1098 created to shine, besides innumerable others, which have influence over plants, &c. God has the most perfect knowledge of all. They are like his soldiers, whom he knows by name, (Isaias xl. 25.) as the good shepherd does his sheep, John x. 3. (Calmet) — We read that Cyrus knew the name of all his officers, (Cyrop. v.) and that Adrian, and Scipio, the Asiatic, could even name all the soldiers in their armies.
“Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:”
Power. God the Son. Earthly monarchs are forced to depend on others for the execution of their orders. But God is infinite. (Calmet) — Number. He knows innumerable things: (Worthington) or rather, (Haydock) the divine wisdom hath no parts, Jeremias x. 6. (Berthier)
“Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:”
Ground. As he has done to the Egyptians, &c. (Calmet)
“Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners:”
Praise. Literally, “confession,” (Haydock) including both compunction and praise. (Berthier)
“The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous:”
Clouds. This is represented as something wonderful, (Job v. 9., and xxxvii. 6.) though conformable to the laws of nature. The preservation of things is like a new creation. (Calmet) — And the herb, &c. Herbam, (Psalm ciii. 14.; Haydock) is now wanting in Hebrew, as it was in the days of St. Jerome and the Chaldean, though the Septuagint, Aquila, &c., read it, and it is not probable that they would borrow it from another psalm. (Berthier) — Their copies must therefore have varied. (Haydock) — The herb, may denote corn, and all vegetables for food. These productions evince the goodness and wisdom of God, (Berthier) as well as his power. (Worthington)
“The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.”
Young. Literally, “the sons of ravens,” which may denote those birds in general, as well as their young. God provides for all. Many fables have been recounted concerning ravens, as if they neglected or forgot their young ones; and the Hebrews seem to have entertained some of these opinions, to which the sacred writers conform themselves, Job xxxviii. 41. (Calmet) — St. Luke (xii. 24.) specifies ravens, though St. Matthew (vi. 26.) has the birds, when relating the same speech. — Upon him, must be understood in Hebrew. See Psalm ciii. 21., (Berthier) and Joel i. 20. (Calmet) — If God take such care of the neglected ravens, how much more will he provide for his servants? (St. Chrysostom) (Worthington)