Psalm 146
1 Praise the Lord.
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.
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.
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.
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord..
The last 5 Psalms, 146-150, are called the Hallelujah Psalms because they all begin with Halal and end with it. Halal compounded with Ja means Praise God. Praising God is mentioned 44 times in these Psalms so I thought I would look up Halal in the Hebrew dictionary and see what it means since after all according to the Westminster Confession, the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. What does that mean to "glorify God"? What does that mean to "Praise God". According to the Hebrew dictionary, Halal means - to be bright, to shine; to be splendid, to boast; to cause to shine, to make bright, to give light... When I read that, I get the picture of taking the spotlight off ourselves that we are born desiring, and turning it on God. Instead of taking credit or boasting in ourselves, we point all the glory to Him. This is what the Psalmist is commanding people to do, in verse one until He says, "Wait a second, I need to do this too and not just from my lips but from my innermost being and not just today but for the rest of my days here on Earth and then for all eternity." Our pastor gave a message on revival and I was thinking, "I wish so and so was here", until it hit me - what was I thinking, that message was for me. I believe this is what is going on with the Psalmist in the first two verses.
I am reminded of this clip from The Mummy where Brenden Frazier walks into a dark room, sees a mirror directed at him and turns it to direct it to the light and the whole room lights up bringing awe and wonder to the faces of the people in the room.
The Psalms that we have been looking at have all been pointing to the fact that if we live a life of surrender and worshipping the Lord, there are riches in life available to us that the world can't experience. We see some of these in Psalm 146. First of all it says in verse 3 that we will have salvation. If we trust in ourselves or anyone other than God to save our souls, we are trying to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. How can anyone who is mortal bring immortality? Only the eternal, immortal God can save us and give us eternal life. However, what we have to do is bow the knee, redirect the mirror - so to speak, and surrender our lives to Him. Once we were God of our own lives but now we have redirected our center.
Not only is Salvation the benefit of a redirected light but verse 5 says we are blessed or happy. The Hebrew implies that we have been put on a straight path headed to blessing and happiness due to the hope we have found in a life surrounded by and helped by an Eternal God who has entered into a personal relationship with you. If we are going through life in a "woe is me manner" or griping in circumstances, you have somehow forgotten that God is surrounding you with His presence and leading and guiding you in a path that He has mapped out for you that leads to happiness. You need to quit focusing on yourself and redirect the light on God. This life isn't about you, it's about Him. When you are living a life to glorify Him it will have joy, meaning, purpose, and hope.
Another blessing of living a life redirected on God is the cofidence we can have. Verse 6 says God is faithful to his word. We all have been lied to scammed and gone through life with broken promises. It leads us to wonder if we can trust anything or anyone which leads to uncertainty, anxiety, walls, trusting in self, isolation. God says, "I can be trusted. I guard my word like a Shepherd watches over His sheep." God promises salvation so we don't have to wonder if we are going to Heaven. God promises that He has a plan for you and it is for your good, so you don't have to be angry when things aren't going the way you think they should - you are on His path which is headed toward blessing. When you feel like God isn't there you can claim His promise, "never will I leave you or forsake you". God is faithful. Man isn't, but God is. Lean against Him. He is a rock that doesn't move, a firm foundation.
Lastly in verse 8 the Psalmist says that we are loved by the creator of the universe, the one true God. The Hebrew word is Ahav which means to love, desire, delight, like, be fond of... We throw around the word "love" so much that it almost means more to me to be liked by God. In marriage, I have had times where I have loved my wife but not liked her (never more than 24 hours). To think that the God who hung the Earth in place and knows so much that 6000 years later scientists get Nobel prizes for figuring out something He did - that God is fond of me and actually likes me. So I would say is the blessing of a redirected life is that Someone really awesome is your friend. When you think no one likes you, you are wrong. And not only that, whether you are poor, an alien, a prisoner, homeless, foodless - it doesn't matter who you are or what you bring to the table, you can't lose or earn that Ahav.
So please, live your life for God, not yourself. And I'm not talking just about unbelievers. We as believers miss out on all the blessings available to us because we start taking the light off God. Redirect the glory on Him.
Lastly in verse 8 the Psalmist says that we are loved by the creator of the universe, the one true God. The Hebrew word is Ahav which means to love, desire, delight, like, be fond of... We throw around the word "love" so much that it almost means more to me to be liked by God. In marriage, I have had times where I have loved my wife but not liked her (never more than 24 hours). To think that the God who hung the Earth in place and knows so much that 6000 years later scientists get Nobel prizes for figuring out something He did - that God is fond of me and actually likes me. So I would say is the blessing of a redirected life is that Someone really awesome is your friend. When you think no one likes you, you are wrong. And not only that, whether you are poor, an alien, a prisoner, homeless, foodless - it doesn't matter who you are or what you bring to the table, you can't lose or earn that Ahav.
So please, live your life for God, not yourself. And I'm not talking just about unbelievers. We as believers miss out on all the blessings available to us because we start taking the light off God. Redirect the glory on Him.
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