Psalm 146:6

Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(6) Truth.—Or, faithfulness. The connection of this feature of the Divine character with the creative act is worthy of notice. That act alone was for the universe a promise and pledge, just as the covenant was a peculiar promise to Israel. Tennyson has put the same thought into verse:

“Thou madest man, he knows not why;

He thinks he was not made to die;

And Thou hast made him: Thou art just.”

In Memoriam.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

146:5-10 The psalmist encourages us to put confidence in God. We must hope in the providence of God for all we need as to this life, and in the grace of God for that which is to come. The God of heaven became a man that he might become our salvation. Though he died on the cross for our sins, and was laid in the grave, yet his thoughts of love to us did not perish; he rose again to fulfil them. When on earth, his miracles were examples of what he is still doing every day. He grants deliverance to captives bound in the chains of sin and Satan. He opens the eyes of the understanding. He feeds with the bread of life those who hunger for salvation; and he is the constant Friend of the poor in spirit, the helpless: with him poor sinners, that are as fatherless, find mercy; and his kingdom shall continue for ever. Then let sinners flee to him, and believers rejoice in him. And as the Lord shall reign for ever, let us stir up each other to praise his holy name.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Which made heaven and earth ... - Who is the true God, the Creator of all things. Happy is he who can address the God who called all this wondrous universe into being, and who sustains all by his power, as his God.

Which keepeth truth for ever - Who is always true to his promises. In this verse there are two reasons given why the lot of the people of God would be a happy one:

(1) That Yahweh is the true God, the Creator of all things, and, therefore, able to protect and provide for them.

(2) That he is faithful, and may always be relied on.

Idol-gods have no power, and every reliance placed on them is a vain reliance; people are often false and cannot be trusted, but Yahweh has infinite power, and every promise that he makes will be fulfilled; all that he says is eternally and unchangeably true. The reasons for trusting in him, or the reasons why they who trust in him are "happy," are further stated in the following verses.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

PSALM 146

Ps 146:1-10. An exhortation to praise God, who, by the gracious and faithful exercise of His power in goodness to the needy, is alone worthy of implicit trust.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Both because he liveth for ever to fulfil his promises, and because he is eternally and unchangeably faithful.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Which made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that therein is,.... This and the following verses are a description of that divine Person, even Christ, who is the help and hope of his people; and every character of him is a reason for faith and hope in him; all things are made by him, which are in the whole compass of creation, the heaven, earth, and sea, and all in them; the fowls of the airy heaven; the sun, moon, and stars, the hosts of the starry heavens; and the angels, the inhabitants of the third heaven; the beasts of the field, and cattle of a thousand hills; and man, the chief of God's works on earth; and the innumerable fishes of the sea, great and small; and he that made all these, what is it he cannot do? he must be the mighty God, and a mighty Saviour, and the proper object of trust and hope; see John 1:1;

which keepeth truth for ever; the truth of doctrine, who as Mediator is full of it, and by whom it came; and, as the Prophet of the church, concealed it not, from the great congregation, the law of truth being in his lips, as the antitype of Levi; the truth of the promises, which are all yea and amen in him; every promise being made to him, and being in him, as the promise of eternal life, with all others, which are safely kept by him, and he will see them performed; the truth of all his engagements with his Father, as the surety of his people; to take their nature, obey, suffer, and die for them, which he has truly and punctually made good, being faithful to him that appointed him; and the truth of all his sayings, concerning his presence with his church and ministers unto the end of the world, and of whatsoever should befall them, from his resurrection and ascension to his second coming.

Geneva Study Bible

Which made {d} heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:

(d) He encourages the godly to trust only in the Lord, both in his power's ability to deliver them from all danger, and for his promise sake, as his will is most ready to do it.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

6. The omnipotence and faithfulness of Jehovah are contrasted with the frailty and transitoriness of man (Psalm 146:3-4). For similar references to the power of Jehovah manifested in creation as a ground for trusting Him see Psalm 121:2; Psalm 124:8; cp. Nehemiah 9:6; Acts 4:24.

all that in them is] In heaven and earth and sea; all being wherever found. Cp. Exodus 20:11.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 6. - Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is. Who is, therefore, an omnipotent Help, the very opposite of "the son of man, in whom is no help" at all (ver. 3) Which keepeth truth for ever; i.e. who keeps all his promises, and has promised his help to all such as call upon him faithfully (Psalm 145:18). Psalm 146:6

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Man's help is of no avail; blessed is he (this is the last of the twenty-five אשׁרי of the Psalter), on the contrary, who has the God of Jacob (שׁאל like שׁיהוה in Psalm 144:15) as Him in whom is his succour (בּעזרו with Beth essentiae, vid., on Psalm 35:2) - he, whose confidence (שׂבר as in Psalm 119:116) rests on Jahve, whom he can by faith call his God. Men often are not able to give help although they might be willing to do so: He, however, is the Almighty, the Creator of the heavens, the earth, and the sea, and of all living things that fill these three (cf. Nehemiah 9:6). Men easily change their mind and do not keep their word: He, however, is He who keepeth truth or faithfulness, inasmuch as He unchangeably adheres to the fulfilling of His promises. שׁמר אמת is in form equivalent substantially to שׁמר חסד and שׁמר הבּרית. And that which He is able to do as being the Almighty, and cannot as being the Truthful One leave undone, is also really His mode of active manifestation made evident in practical proofs: He obtains right for the oppressed, gives bread to the hungry, and consequently proves Himself to be the succour of those who suffer wrong without doing wrong, and as the provider for those who look for their daily bread from His gracious hand. With השּׁמר, the only determinate participle, the faithfulness of God to His promises is made especially prominent.