Psalm 146

A Bible Devotion from Psalm 146

Put Not Your Trust in Princes

1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

3 Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
4 When his breath departs he returns to the earth;

on that very day his plans perish.

5 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 lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the sojourners;
he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

10 The Lord will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord!

Psalm 146, NKJV

I cannot give a better introduction to the 146th Psalm than Spurgeon does in his Treasury of David.

We are now among the Hallelujahs. The rest of our journey lies through the Delectable Mountains. All is praise to the close of the book. The key is high pitched: the music is upon the high sounding cymbals. O for a heart full of joyful gratitude, that we may run, and leap, and glorify God, even as these Psalms do.

Like David, our praise to God reaches down to the depths of our soul; this is not a simplistic acnowledgment of praise to God, but rather one that encompasses all of our being. We are reminded not to trust in princes - our leaders or those in authority over us. Our rulers, like us, are mere mortals; on the day they die, all of their plans will die with them.

Look at the reasons David gives in this Psalm to trust in God:

He is our help
He made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them
He keeps faith forever
He executes justice for the oppressed
He gives food to the hungry
He sets the prisoners free
He opens the eyes of the blind
He lifts up those who are bowed down
He loves the righteous
He watches over the sojourners
He upholds the widow and the fatherless
He brings the wicked to ruin
He will reign forever

Add this list from Psalm 146 to the list we made in Psalm 145 and you are beginning to grasp the eternal blessings we have in Christ! There is no one, from eternity past to the eternity yet to come like our God!

Pray today that, as encouraged in Psalm 146, you will not put your trust in princes, but will instead put your complete trust, clear to the depths of your soul, in God.

Next: Psalm 147 - He Heals the Brokenhearted

More Devotions on the 146th Psalm from my blog, Daily Bible Devotions.

Trust, verses 1-4

God Our Hope, verses 5-7

The Lord, verses 8-9

Reign Forever, verse 10