Praise ye the LORD, or, Hallelujah. It is saddening to remember how this majestic word has been trailed in the mire of late. Its irreverent use is an aggravated instance of taking the name of Jehovah our God in vain.

While I live will I praise the LORD. I shall not live here for ever. This mortal life will find a finis in death; but while it lasts I will laud the Lord my God. I cannot tell how long or short my life may be; but every hour of it shall be given to the praises of my God.

Put not your trust in princes. If David be the author this warning comes from a prince. In any case it comes from the Spirit of the living God. Men are always far too apt to depend upon the great ones of earth, and forget the Great One above; and this habit is the fruitful source of disappointment.

His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth. His breath goes from his body, and his body goes to the grave. His spirit goes one way, and his body another. High as he stood, the want of a little air brings him down to the ground, and lays him under it.

Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help. Heaped up is his happiness. He has happiness indeed: the true and the real delight is with him. The God of Jacob is the God of the covenant, the God of wrestling prayer, the God of the tried believer; he is the only living and true God.

Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is. Wisely may we trust our Creator: justly may we expect to be happy in so doing. He who made heaven can make a heaven for us, and make us fit for heaven.

Which executeth judgment for the oppressed. He is a swift and impartial administrator of justice. Our King surpasses all earthly princes because he pays no deference to rank or wealth, and is never the respecter of persons.

The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind. Jesus did this very frequently, and hereby proved himself to be Jehovah. He who made the eye can open it, and when he does so it is to his glory.

The Lord preserveth the strangers. Many monarchs hunted aliens down, or transported them from place to place, or left them as outlaws unworthy of the rights of man; but Jehovah made special laws for their shelter within his domain.

The LORD shall reign for ever. Jehovah is King, and his kingdom can never come to an end. Neither does he die, nor abdicate, nor lose his crown by force. Glory be to his name, his throne is never in jeopardy. As the Lord ever liveth, so he ever reigneth. Even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations.

Praise ye the LORD. The word here used is Alleluia, and this is very proper to be constantly used by us who are dependent creatures, and under such great obligations to the Father of mercies.

While I live will I praise the LORD. Mr. John Janeway on his deathbed cried out thus,—"Come, help me with praises, yet all is too little. Come, help me, all ye mighty and glorious angels, who are so well skilled in the heavenly work of praise! Praise him, all ye creatures upon earth; let every…

Put not your trust in princes, etc. Through some kind of weakness, the soul of man, whensoever it is in tribulation here, despairs of God, and chooseth to rely on man.

He returneth to his earth. The earth—the dust—is "his." 1. It is "his" as that from which he was made: he turns back to what he was, Ge 3:19. "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." 2. The earth—the dust—the grave is "his", and it is his home—the place where he will abide. 3.

Happy is he. This is the last of the twenty-five places (or twenty-six, if Ps 128:2 be included) in which the word ashre, with which the psalter begins, is found.—Speaker's Commentary. Alas, how often do we trust when we should be afraid, and become afraid when we should trust!—Lange's Commentary.

Which keepeth truth for ever. Stored in his inexhaustible treasury as the most costly jewel ever there. And that because the truth which he so keeps, and which is the sustaining power which preserves the fabric of creation, is the Eternal Word, his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.—Dionysius the…

Giveth food to the hungry. We learn from this that he is not always so indulgent to his own as to load them with abundance, but occasionally withdraws his blessing, that he may succour them when reduced to hunger.

Openeth the eyes of the blind. Literally, "openeth the blind"—i.e., maketh them to see. The expression may be used figuratively, as a remedy applied either to physical helplessness, as De 28:29 Isa 59:9-10 Job 12:25 or to spiritual want of discernment, as Isa 29:18, 42:7,18, 43:8.

The LORD preserveth the strangers. God has peculiar love for wanderers and pilgrims (De 10:18), and Jacob was a stranger in a strange land when God showed himself to be the God of Jacob as his elect servant.—Thomas Le Blanc. The Lord preserveth the strangers.