TEN POWERFUL VERSES
Psalms 146:1-10 NKJV
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,
7 Who executes justice for the oppressed,
Who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners.
8 The Lord opens the eyes of the blind;
The Lord raises those who are bowed down;
The Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the strangers;
He relieves the fatherless and widow;
But the way of the wicked He turns upside down.
10 The Lord shall reign forever—
Your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord!
I typically do not list an entire psalm for a devotional. However, in this case, I am making an exception. I enjoy writing these devotionals, but I am not under any illusion. Nothing supplants the word of God. I can share insights that hopefully help increase understanding, but God’s Word still reigns supreme.
This psalm is one that I am going to commit to memory. Many people have memorized Psalm 23, and it still is the most well-known and popular of all. I have quoted Psalm 23 at funerals and had pretty much everyone join in. Psalm 146 is worth memorizing as there is such impact in every verse.
The psalmist starts with the decision to praise God. I will sing praises is a conscious decision.
Verse 3-4 directs us as to where we should put our trust. Princes are powerful, but they are only men. When men die, so do their plans. Men are temporary; God is not.
Happy are the ones who have God as their help and who have their hope in God. And, not just any God but the One who made the heavens and the earth and everything in them. The never-changing God who keeps truth forever unmoved by culture or social norms.
The God of justice for the oppressed. The God who feeds the hungry and gives freedom to the prisoners. The psalmist is still talking about the God we trust. The One in whom we place our hope, our expectations.
The Lord God opens the eyes of the blind and raises up those who are bowed down. This sounds exactly like what Jesus declared that He was anointed to do when He spoke to the people in Luke chapter four. And this is exactly what Jesus did during His time on earth.
The Lord is aware of and helps those in the margins of life. The strangers, the fatherless, and the widows. The way of the wicked He opposes.
And the Lord shall reign forever. Never to become obsolete or fade away. This is our God. Praise the Lord!