Psalms 146:5
in Psalms 146Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in Jehovah his God:
KJV
Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God:
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This verse in Psalms 146
Commentary
11 notes on this verseBlessed is he whose helper is the God of Jacob. These trust in chariots, and these in horses: but we will call upon the name of the Lord our God. They have more helpers: but they are princes, but they are men, but they collapse. We have one, who is able to save. His hope is in the Lord his God. Let us see what the three young men say in the Babylonian furnace, when Nebuchadnezzar summons them, and compels them to worship Bel: what do they answer Nebuchadnezzar?
This site's exposition
whose help is the God of Jacob
on Psalms 146:5-6
The help that makes a man blessed is the God of Jacob, and the psalm gives his credential: Maker of heaven and earth. The Hebrew of the closing clause reads keeping faithfulness forever, set against the prince whose plans perish in a day. A maker outlasts what he made.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
What then must we do, if we are not to hope in sons of men, nor in princes? What must we do? "Blessed is he whose Helper is the God of Jacob" (ver. 5): not this man or that man; not this angel or that angel; but, "blessed is he whose Helper is the God of Jacob:" for to Jacob also so great an Helper was He, that of Jacob He made him Israel. O mighty help! now he is Israel, "seeing God." While then thou art placed here, and a wanderer not yet seeing God, if thou hast the God of Jacob for thy Helper, from Jacob thou wilt become Israel, and wilt be "seeing God," and all toil and all groans shall come to an end, gnawing cares shall cease, happy praises shall succeed. "Blessed is he whose Helper is the God of Jacob;" of this Jacob. Wherefore is he happy? Meanwhile, while yet groaning in this life, "his hope is in the Lord his God."
Hold most firmly and never doubt that the holy Trinity, the only true God, is the Creator of all things, visible and invisible—concerning which it is said in the psalms, "Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the …
Indeed God is able, both to give salvation in this life, to remove poverty, and to grant sufficiency to the Christian. And yet, if this were not so, what would you choose? To be that poor man, or to be that rich man? Do not be deceived. Hear the end, and observe the bad choice. For without a doubt, that poor man, because he was pious, placed in temporal troubles, thought someday that life would end, and eternal rest would be attained. Both died, but the thoughts of that poor man did not perish on that day. For it came to pass that the poor man died, and was carried by angels to Abraham's bosom. On that day all his thoughts were healed. And since Lazarus is interpreted in Latin as "helped" - in Latin "helped" is said who in Hebrew is Lazarus - the Psalm well reminded: Blessed is he whose helper is the God of Jacob. When his spirit departs, and his flesh returns to his own dust, his thoughts will not perish, because his hope is in the Lord his God. This is learned in the school of Christ the teacher, this is hoped for by the faithful listener's soul, this is the truest reward of the Savior.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Happy is the man that hopes in the Lord his God, and who is not offended in him. Let us take a view of the great encouragements here given us to hope in the Lord our God. He is the Maker of the world, and therefore has all power in himself, and the command of the powers of all the creatures, which, being derived from him, depend upon him (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help,....
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
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. The God of Jacob is Jehovah, who appeared unto Moses, and led the tribes of Jacob out of Egypt, and through the wilderness. Those are happy who trust him, for they shall never be ashamed or confounded.
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. The God of Jacob is Jehovah, who appeared unto Moses, and led the tribes of Jacob out of Egypt, and through the wilderness. Those are happy who trust him, for they shall never be ashamed or confounded. The Lord never dies, neither do his thoughts perish: his purpose of mercy, like himself, endures throughout all generations. Hallelujah! Whose hope is in the Lord his God. He is happy in help for the present and in hope for the future, who has placed all his confidence in Jehovah, who is his God by a covenant of salt. Happy is he when others are despairing! Happiest shall he be in that very hour when others are discovering the depths of agony. We have here a statement which we have personally tried and proved: resting in the Lord, we know a happiness which is beyond description, beyond comparison, beyond conception. O how blessed a thing it is to know that God is our present help, and our eternal hope. Full assurance is more than heaven in the bud, the flower has begun to open. We would not exchange with Caesar; his sceptre is a bauble, but our bliss is true treasure. In each of the two titles here given, namely, "the God of Jacob", and "Jehovah his God", there is a peculiar sweetness. Either one of them has a fountain of joy in it; but the first will not cheer us without the second. Unless Jehovah be his God no man can find confidence in the fact that he was Jacob's God. But when by faith we know the Lord to be ours, then we are "rich to all the intents of bliss."
Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help - While he that trusts in man is miserable, he that trusts in God is happy. In the son of man, בן אדם ben Adam, there is no help, תשועה teshuah, no saving principle. Every son of Adam naturally comes into the world without this, and must continue so till the Lord open the eyes of the blind, Psa 146:8; but a measure of light is given from that true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. This son of Adam returns to his earth, לאדמתו leadmatho, to the ground, from which he was taken; this refers directly to Gen 2:7; Gen 3:19. But he that has the God for his help who helped Jacob in his distress, and was with him, and sustained him in and through all adversities, can never be destitute; for this God changes not; he lives for ever, and his projects cannot perish. He has purposed that Israel shall be delivered from this captivity. Cyrus may change, but God will not; trust therefore in Him. He has all power; he made heaven and earth; he has them under his government and at his disposal; and should earth itself fail, heaven endures. And he keeps his truth for ever; and therefore his promises must be fulfilled to them that trust in him. Fear not.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help - Who may rely for protection on the God who defended Jacob in his travels and dangers. Or, perhaps the word Jacob is used here collectively to denote Israel - the Jewish people: the God whom they adore and worship, rather than the gods of the pagan. Compare Psa 144:15, note; Psa 54:4, note. Whose hope is in the Lord his God - In Yahweh, worshipped as his God. That is, who truly worships Yahweh, or makes Yahweh his God.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Praiseworthy is he in whose help is the God of Jacob, for the Holy One, blessed be He, promised him (Gen.:15): “Behold I am with you, and I shall guard You, etc., and I shall return you.” Now why is He praiseworthy?
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַשְׁרֵ֗י | ʾashrei | how blessed! | H835 → | 45 times |
| שֶׁ֤אֵ֣ל | sheel | [is one] whom [the] God of | H410 → | 241 times |
| יַעֲקֹ֣ב | yaako | Jacob | H3290 → | 350 times |
| בְּעֶזְר֑וֹ | beezro | [is] <in> help his | H5828 → | 21 times |
| שִׂ֝בְר֗וֹ | sivro | hope his | H7664 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | [is] on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהָֽיו׃ | ʾelohav | God his | H430 → | 2601 times |
אַשְׁרֵ֗יhow blessed!
ʾashreiH835 →45 times
שֶׁ֤אֵ֣ל[is one] whom [the] God of
sheelH410 →241 times
יַעֲקֹ֣בJacob
yaakoH3290 →350 times
בְּעֶזְר֑וֹ[is] <in> help his
beezroH5828 →21 times
שִׂ֝בְר֗וֹhope his
sivroH7664 →
עַל־[is] on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
יְהוָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהָֽיו׃God his
ʾelohavH430 →2601 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 33:12Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He has chosen as His inheritance!
it leads to
- Psalms 144:15
Blessed are the people of whom this is so; blessed are the people whose God is the LORD.
- 1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
- John 15:16
You did not choose Me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will remain—so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.
- Psalms 144:15
Through
Psalms 144:15Blessed are the people of whom this is so; blessed are the people whose God is the LORD.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 33:29
Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is the shield that protects you, the sword in which you boast. Your enemies will cower before you,…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 33:12
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He has chosen as His inheritance!
- Ephesians 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.
- Deuteronomy 33:29
Through
Psalms 71:5For You are my hope, O Lord GOD, my confidence from my youth.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 17:7
But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him.
- Jeremiah 17:7
Through
Psalms 46:11The LORD of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 33:27
The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He drives out the enemy before you, giving the command, ‘Destroy him!’
- Deuteronomy 33:27
Where this verse is studied
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1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 146; Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 33A.4; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 7; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Fulgentius of Ruspe, TO PETER ON THE FAITH 4:51; Jerome, Homily 55, on Psalm 145; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.