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
Labor Day marks the acceleration of the election season. Politicians stand ready with promises that our lives will be better if they are elected. It is easy to imagine that, with the right person, party or style of government, all would be better.
Elected officials can make a difference. God uses them as instruments for good. However, the psalmist reminds us that leaders die and governments and civilizations come to an end.
The psalmist sings of a different hope, pointing to the Lord as our ultimate hope for our lives now and forever. The Lord is the only one whose faithfulness lasts beyond our lives and even beyond our graves. The Lord is the only one who can make promises about the future and always keep them.
The psalmist challenges us to make the words that appear on our money the story of our lives: “In God we trust.”
Prayer
Lord, we trust in you alone. You are our hope. Amen.