Psalm 146:1-6 - Put Your Trust in the LORD!

Put Your Trust in the LORD! Psalm 146:1-6 1 Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul! 2 While I live I will praise the LORD; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. 3 Do not put your trust in princes, Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. 4 His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; In that very day his plans perish. 5 Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in the LORD his God, 6 Who made heaven and earth, The sea, and all that is in them; Who keeps truth forever, Psalm 146 is the first of the last five psalms of the book of Psalms that are called the “Hallelujah Psalms”. The very first verse uses the word “praise” four times. When we praise the LORD, we are acknowledging that He is worthy of our adoration, love, and worship. In verse 2, the psalmist declares that as long as he is alive and has “his being”, and breath in his body, he is going to praise the LORD! And so should we!!!! Now in verses 3-6, the psalmist is encouraging us that as long as we are alive, we should put our trust in Jehovah God! Far too often, we trust in "flesh and blood," ourselves and others, instead of trusting the Lord. We try to use our own strength and wisdom to accomplish His will (Psalms 118:5-9; 44:4-8). But my friend, we need to always remember, what nobody else can do, God can do for us and through us. These verses also suggest that the psalmist was concerned that Israel's leaders not enter into ungodly alliances, but that they turn to God for help. Beginning with Abraham (Gen. 12:10ff) and the exodus generation (Ex. 14:10-14; 16:1-3; Num. 14:1-10), the people of Israel turned to Egypt for help instead of trusting the Lord, and this was true even during the days of Isaiah (Isa. 31) and Jeremiah (Jer. 2:18; 37:1-10; 42-43). To trust in human wisdom and strength is to depend on that which cannot last, for all people die, and the brilliant ideas of one leader are replaced by the not-so-brilliant ideas of a new leader. In the Hebrew text, "man" is adam, which comes from the word adamah which means "earth." We came from the earth and return to the earth (v. 4; Gen. 3:19). "But will the Lord help me, as weak and failing as I am?" many believers might ask. Well, He is "the God of Jacob" (v. 5), a title used at least a dozen times in The Psalms. (See 20:1; 24:6; 46:7, 11.) Jacob was far from being perfect, yet God honored his faith and helped him in times of need. Jacob trusted God's promises, for his hope was in the Lord, but too often he depended on his own schemes to see him through. The beatitude in verse 5 is the last of twenty-five in the book of Psalms, starting with 1:1. But Jehovah is not only the God of Jacob, He is also the "God who made heaven and earth" (v. 6; Psalms 115:5; 121:2; 124:8; 134:3; Ezra 5:11) and has the power to act on behalf of His people. When we pray, we come to the throne of the universe to ask our Father for what we need. Israel knows Him as the God of the covenant. But today, believers and followers of Jesus know Him as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who initiated a new covenant by giving His life on the cross. His resurrection proves He is alive, and that Jehovah is a God who can be trusted to keep His Word. We have the “new covenant” promise that “if God be for us, who can be against us and if God spared not His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” Finally, He is the God who "keeps truth or faith forever" (v. 6). Yes! You can always trust Him with everything because “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).  God bless!