Psalm 146 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 146 on biblegateway.com
Verse 1Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!
Verse 2I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my life long.
Verse 3Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help.
Verse 4When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish.
Verse 5Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God,
Verse 6who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever;
Verse 7who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free;
Verse 8the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous.
Verse 9The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
Verse 10The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord!
Devotion
On a visit to Israel in 1985, each night when we returned from various holy land sites, our tour guide Malcolm would say to us, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.” He meant that when peace comes to Jerusalem the Messiah will have come. For Malcolm, Mt. Zion was God’s place.
Psalm 146 concludes by declaring the eternal reign of God. Throughout it speaks about living out God’s values of truth, justice, and responsiveness to those in need. God is always giving to those in need. Vulnerable human beings are the recipients of God’s special attention. I’ve always felt I meet God present in the weak, outcasts, and vulnerable of our society. At Crossroads’ ELCA ministry, at Mankato State University, we reach out daily to help those with food insecurities. I feel like I am meeting God in the recipients of our ministry there.
Prayer
Gracious God, continue to open our eyes and ears to see and hear you coming to us in the vulnerable and those in need in our walks of life. Your eternal reign is lived out amongst us in your care for them. Amen.