I will praise the Lord while I live and then...

Psalm 146 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

The Lord an Abundant Helper.

Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
² I will praise the Lord while I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
³ Do not trust in princes,
In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.
⁴ His spirit departs, he returns to the earth;
In that very day his thoughts perish.
⁵ How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
Whose hope is in the Lord his God,
⁶ Who made heaven and earth,
The sea and all that is in them;
Who keeps faith forever;
⁷ Who executes justice for the oppressed;
Who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free.

⁸ The Lord opens the eyes of the blind;
The Lord raises up those who are bowed down;
The Lord loves the righteous;
⁹ The Lord protects the strangers;
He supports the fatherless and the widow,
But He thwarts the way of the wicked.
¹⁰ The Lord will reign forever,
Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord!

The psalmist says:  Do not trust in princes, In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.  His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; In that very day his thoughts perish.   How often do we put our trust, our hope and our faith in mortal man; in people? We trust in people and in human institutions; in our government, in our justice system and in our health care system. We trust in our educational system, we trust in counselors and on and on. All these people and all these human institutions are necessary, but as the psalmist says, there is no salvation from them.  Often our trust and confidence in them leads to disappointment not deliverance. It leads to poverty rather than abundant provision.

The psalmist says:   How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
Whose hope is in the Lord his God, Who made heaven and earth, The sea and all that is in them; Who keeps faith forever;  Who executes justice for the oppressed; Who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free.   The same God, Who made heaven and earth, The sea and all that is in them; created each one of us. In Jeremiah 1:5 God says:  “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.”  In Jeremiah 29:11 He says: “I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”   Those are promises we can trust. He Who keeps faith forever;  Who executes justice for the oppressed; Who gives food to the hungry; is the one we should have confidence in. Again, people and human institutions are necessary, but we should trust in God and seek His plans for our lives.

The psalmist says:  The Lord sets the prisoners free.  The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; The Lord raises up those who are bowed down; The Lord loves the righteous;  The Lord protects the strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow, But He thwarts the way of the wicked.   God is faithful to do all that the psalmist says and more. He is faithful to provide for our every need. Even more though than our physical provision; God has a plan for our spiritual lives and our eternal soul. John 3:16 says:  “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”   2 Peter 3:9 says:  The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.   Of all the good plans that God has for us; His plan for our salvation and redemption is His greatest plan and our most necessary provision.

The psalmist says:  The Lord will reign forever, Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord!   Human institutions are necessary; some are even good and noble, but they and those in them will come and go, they will rise and fall. The psalmist says:   their spirit departs and returns to the earth; In that very day their thoughts perish.   The Lord God has and will reign forever. He will remain when everything we know is gone. The psalmist says:  Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord while I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

I too will: Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord while I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.  Then, because of the plan God has for me, because of His great love and His provision of Jesus Christ, His Son as my Lord and Savior; my Redeemer, the one who reconciles me to the plans that God had and has for me, I will also praise Him forever.

May the declaration of the psalmist and the words of Amazing Grace be my declaration and my prayer.  Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord while I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. 

1. 1.   Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
   That saved a wretch like me!
   I once was lost, but now am found;
   Was blind, but now I see.
2. 2.   ’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
   And grace my fears relieved;
   How precious did that grace appear
   The hour I first believed.
3. 3.   Through many dangers, toils and snares,
   I have already come;
   ’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
   And grace will lead me home.
4. 4.   The Lord has promised good to me,
   His Word my hope secures;
   He will my Shield and Portion be,
   As long as life endures…
5. When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
   Bright shining as the sun,
   We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
   Than when we’d first begun.  Amen