Pilgrim Worship: Thursday Psalms: Trust In Tension

Today's psalm is Psalm 146, most certainly a psalm of praise to and for the Lord. But there is another important message here for us, especially during this season of Advent, a season of waiting. We are living in Advent tension; waiting again to celebrate the first Advent of Jesus, while also waiting for Him to come again on the Last Day, His second Advent.

There is a related tension in this psalm, and we live in this tension, too. In whom do you put your trust and hope?

PSALM 146

¹Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

²I will praise the Lord as long as I live;

I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

³Put not your trust in princes,

in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.

⁴When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;

on that very day his plans perish.

⁵Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,

whose hope is in the Lord his God,

⁶who made heaven and earth,

the sea, and all that is in them,

who keeps faith forever;

⁷who 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.

⁹The Lord watches over the sojourners;

he upholds the widow and the fatherless,

but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

¹⁰The Lord will reign forever,

your God, O Zion, to all generations.

Praise the Lord!

The psalmist presents this tension between verses three and five. It is pretty clear how the psalmist desires you to answer this question, with only a few words about the failings of mankind and many verses about what glorious things the Lord his God does.

When you find yourself trusting in princes, in yourself or in any other human thing more than God...watch out! Be on guard! There may be temporary benefits, but they are only fool's gold with no eternal benefit. Only the Lord will reign forever, ...to all generations. Only the Lord sets you free from sin. Only the Lord makes you righteous!

O Lord, help us not to put our trust in people, but in You alone. AMEN.