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
Psalm 146 tells of the Lord's providential care for creation. In this Psalm, we praise God for what he has done and is doing now. God is faithful as creator and sustainer. It is better to place our trust in God "who keeps faith forever," unlike mortals "in whom there is no salvation."
Psalm 146 declares that the Lord gives food to the hungry, especially for the most vulnerable members of society. So, how do we account for the treatment of the most vulnerable members of society: the homeless and the hungry?
As Christians, our hope is in Jesus' complete identification with humankind and his complete self-giving. God’s activity is lived out in our activity as the Spirit of the living Christ flows through vocations that benefit the neighbor. The praise of God sometimes starts in small ways but has the potential of becoming praise proclaimed and heard throughout the universe.
Prayer
Help us, Lord, to serve those throughout the world who live and die in poverty and hunger. Give them, through our hands, their daily bread. Amen.