Psalm for the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

Psalm 146:7-10

Our responsorial this week comes from Psalm 146, a hymn of praise proclaiming the LORD as the faithful God who acts with justice, lifts up the lowly, and remains trustworthy when human power fails.

The Lord keeps faith forever, secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry. 

The psalm opens by proclaiming God’s unwavering fidelity. Divine justice is not abstract but expressed in concrete acts of mercy toward those in need.

The LORD sets captives free.

This recalls the Exodus, the defining act of Israel’s liberation, and expresses God’s enduring pattern of rescuing his people.

The LORD gives sight to the blind; the LORD raises up those who were bowed down. 

God lifts up all who are burdened — whether by physical limitation, emotional distress, or social hardship. He restores strength, dignity, and hope.

The LORD loves the just; the LORD protects strangers.

“Strangers” (resident aliens) were among the most vulnerable in ancient society, lacking full legal protections. These vulnerable strangers are precisely the kinds of people the God of Israel chooses.

Israel itself is the prime example of this: it was when they were aliens in Egypt that God took them and made them God’s own people.

The fatherless and the widow the LORD sustains, but the way of the wicked he thwarts.

Widows and orphans lacked legal and economic standing in ancient Israel. Without a husband or father, they had no direct access to land inheritance, legal representation, or protection from exploitation.

The psalmist consistently portrays God as the defender of such marginalized lives. Rather than aligning with the powerful, God sides with the powerless, overturning conventional hierarchies and affirming that divine justice is not merely spiritual but also material and relational — restoring dignity, provision, and belonging to those most at risk.

The LORD shall reign forever; your God, O Zion, through all generations. 

The psalm culminates in praise of God’s eternal kingship.

This is not a God who is far off; he reigns forever from the very hill (Zion) that is at the center of the lives of the people.

Alleluia.

Alleluia, or Hallelujah in Hebrew, is a liturgical expression meaning “praise ye Yah” (“praise the Lord”).

Having proclaimed God’s indescribable graciousness, the psalmist summons the people to give praise. Alleluia!