Trusting My Whole Life
OPENING PRAYER:
Loving Lord, I need perspective in perplexity, patience in trial, and strength in adversity. I pray for grace equal to today’s challenges.
1 Praise the Lord.[a]
Praise the Lord, my soul.
2 I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
3 Do not put your trust in princes,
in human beings, who cannot save.
4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.
5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God.
6 He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them—
he remains faithful forever.
7 He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
8 the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the foreigner
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
10 The Lord reigns forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord.
Footnote
[a] Hebrew Hallelu Yah; also in verse 10
Psalm 146
REFLECT:
Take the time to thank God for the ways in which you’ve seen him at work recently. What has that shown you about his character?
Written for public worship, Psalm 146 begins with a shout of praise: Hallelujah! (v 1a).
Switching to the first person singular, a soloist testifies that they intend to make their whole life an expression of praise (vs 1b,2). God’s people are invited to consider doing the same; the rest of the psalm is taken up with reasons to put our hope in the faithful God of Jacob.
These reasons are given either side of a blessing sung over the congregation in verse 5. Beforehand, we’re told of the pointlessness of trusting in human rulers who pass away (vs 3,4). After the blessing, which celebrates the hope and the help God brings, lots of positive testimonies to God’s presence, faithfulness and power are almost piled up, reminding us how God works: providing sustenance (v 7b), empowering those who are broken and bowed down (v 8), caring for the vulnerable (v 9a) and resisting those who do evil (v 9b).
This is how your God reigns, being both the ‘your’ of the assembled congregation and also of Zion, the place where the Temple stands. God’s people – whether the congregation then or ourselves now – are invited to join together in summing up our own trust in God in the final acclamation, the same shout of praise with which the psalm began (v 10b): Hallelujah!
APPLY:
Verse 2 speaks about us trusting the Lord in all our journeys throughout life. Where might God be calling you to a deeper trust?
CLOSING PRAYER:
Lord, whose every word is good and true, let the words from my mouth be the overflow from a good and true heart, a heart surrendered to your will.
WORSHIP:
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