Psalm 146 is the 146th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version, "Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul". In Latin, it is known as "Lauda anima mea Dominum". In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint version of the Bible, and in the Latin Vulgate/Vulgata Clementina, this psalm is Psalm 145. Psalm 146 is used as a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and other Protestant liturgies. It has often been set to music, paraphrased in hymns such as Paul Gerhardt's German "Du meine Seele singe" (You my soul sing), and used in cantatas such as Bach's early Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele, BWV 143 (Praise the Lord, my soul).

Text

Hebrew

The following table shows the Hebrew text of the Psalm with vowels alongside an English translation based upon the JPS 1917 translation (now in the public domain).

King James Version

Background

Psalm 146 is the first of five final concluding praise Psalms in the Book of Psalms. These psalms are not attributed to David; in the Septuagint, Psalms 145 (this psalm) to 148 are given the title "of Haggai and Zechariah". Psalms 146 and 147 are seen by some as twin Psalms. Both psalms draw on images from Isaiah 61 (which Jesus takes as applying to himself in Luke 4), such as setting captives free and opening blind eyes in Psalm 147, and healing the brokenhearted in Psalm 148. Besides Isaiah 61, the themes in this Psalm are also found on Leviticus 25 (the year of Jubilee). This is one of six Psalms involving preaching to self, with the evocative phrase "O my soul" being used. Preaching to self was highly recommended by Welsh Minister Martyn Lloyd-Jones as he said "Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself?"

Verse 2

The wording of Psalm 104:33 is "almost identical".

Uses

Judaism

Christianity

Book of Common Prayer

In the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer, this psalm is appointed to be read on the morning of the thirtieth day of the month.

Musical settings

Psalm 146 was paraphrased in Paul Gerhardt's hymn in German "Du meine Seele singe" (You my soul sing), published in 1667 with a melody by Johann Georg Ebeling in the collection Pauli Gerhardi Geistliche-Andachten (Spiritual devotions by Paul Gerhardt). Heinrich Schütz composed a four-part setting of a metric German version for the Becker Psalter, "Mein Seel soll loben Gott den Herrn (My soul shall praise God the Lord), SWV 251. Johann Sebastian Bach based an early church cantata, Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele, BWV 143 (Praise the Lord, my soul), on verses from the psalm. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach included a setting for voice and in his collection of 42 psalms, Psalmen mit Melodien, H. 733, completed in 1774. The psalm is titled "Es werde Gott von uns erhoben!" (God shall be exsultet by us). Alan Hovhaness set portions of this text, along with portions of Psalms 33 and 150, for his work Praise the Lord with Psaltery. Norma Wendelburg set the psalm to music in 1973, as Praise the Lord for mixed chorus and optional organ. Peter Heeren wrote a setting for mixed choir and piano in 2012, ''Der 146. Psalm''.