Psalm 146: Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! 2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. 3 Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. 4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. 5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, 6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; 7 who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free; 8the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. 9 The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. 10 The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord!
Over the last year, and especially in the last few months and weeks, we have seen innumerable commercials and reports about the upcoming election. It seems that you cannot turn on the TV, watch or read the news, or even go on various social media sites without hearing about the candidates or election. We keep hearing about the flaws and past behaviors of every candidate. We keep hearing all of the promises and policies that they plan on doing. We keep being told how this or that candidate will fix our country, and how this candidate is better than that one. It will be nice when all of this craziness will end!
The Psalmist reminds us to “put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.” Despite all of the promises we hear from our leaders, and the trust that they encourage us to have in them, the Psalmist reminds us to do something different. He points us to trusting in the Lord above all things and people. He points us to the everlasting God, who made the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them. He points us to the One Who is faithful and true; both to us and to His promises.
The Psalmist reminds us that the Lord gives justice to those who are wronged and oppressed. He reminds us of the Lord’s abundant care for us and all people, and of His love and faithfulness. Whether we are widows, fatherless, or normal people, God cares for us all. He doesn’t do this for a vote. Rather, He does it all out of His fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in us.
In the upcoming weeks, months, and years, we can put our trust in our faithful God who not only saves us, but Who also looks out for us as well. He is the One that we can truly and safely put our trust, hope, and future in. Praise the Lord!
~Pastor Nick Kooi
(Originally published in Emmaus Footprints, Vol. XVIII, Number 4, November 2016)