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
We often think of "Love thy neighbor" and "Love one another" as uniquely New Testament themes. However, the God of the New Testament is also the God of the Old Testament. As a beloved seminary professor taught me, "God can't help but love God's people." The psalms of praise, like Psalm 146, remind us of this. We see how God not only provides abundantly, as was the case with yesterday's story, but how everything about God is abundant! The hope God provides, the freedom God provides and, of course, the love God provides stretch far beyond anything our imaginations could ever grasp. The psalmist compares the limitless power of God with the limitations of human rulers. The juxtaposition is all the more astounding when you consider that God uses that power to love God's people.
Prayer
Good and gracious God, we become frustrated by human limitations, and we call on you to remind us what you are capable of. Inspire us to love like you love, and to offer hope to all we meet. In Jesus' name. Amen.