Today’s Reading:
Psalm 146
“Praise ye the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. While I live will I praise the Lord: I will sing praises unto my God while I have my being. Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day, his thoughts perish. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God. Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is which keepeth truth for ever. which executeth judgement for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth, the prisoners: the Lord openeth the eyes of the blind, the Lord raiseth them that are bowed down: the Lord loveth the righteous. The Lord preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down. The Lord shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the Lord.” (Psalm 146, AKJV)
A call to both individual or corporate praise of God with our soul, our whole being and with our last breath guides us against false confidence and folly. The psalm ends with a blessing for all those who put their hope and trust in the Lord (vv. 5-7). Help from man is temporal and insatiable, but the help from God is complete and lasts forever.
‘Praise ye the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. While I live will I praise the Lord; I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.’ (vv. 1-2). Praise here is more than lip praise. It is deep praise from the bottom of the heart, from the spirit, from the source of our thoughts, from the root of our faith, from where our theology originates, from where our priorities are decided. We are to give God our totality when we praise Him. But this is not so most of the time when we praise God. We praise God with our moods. In whatever situation we find ourselves in, we are to praise God because God designed life above circumstances. This psalm is very appropriate to those who hope and need help. Praise is the answer to many things but not the result. We should learn to give praise to God at all times, and in all situations, even when it seems impossible. Praising God is often conspicuously absent from our prayers, especially when we are in any trouble or facing difficult times. Praising God is a therapy for our souls even under these conditions. According to the psalmist, man is an inadequate saviour to one another, a false hope, even the princes and the wealthy (v. 3). The princes here may refer to the influential people, the politicians and those who hold an important position in society. Their power is limited and so cannot completely save. They cannot even save themselves, the moment they die their influence and plans disappears with them (vv. 3-4).
Israel’s God will reign as long as human life endures. The psalmist’s conclusion, in view of his earlier submission about God’s abilities that, the Sovereign God should be our source of hope and faithful help in time of need. This is why we should praise Him with our whole being. We should not fall into the temptation of trusting human beings primarily or completely. Yahweh alone is worthy of our absolute trust. Our reflection on the differences between people and God will make this clearer. Jesus Christ in Luke 4:18-21; 7:21-23 affirms His concerns for the poor, the afflicted and the needy, and throughout his lifetime, He attended both to their spiritual and physical needs. ‘God is our hope and strength, a very present help in trouble …’ (Ps. 46:1), not any government, not politicians not the influential, nor the wealthy. We are supposed to work hand in hand with God as His instrument here on earth to implement this help. We should work to alleviate the suffering of the oppressed, the hungry, prisoners, the disabled, the discouraged and those in pain without bias to the race, tribe, creed, colour, and language.
God’s value as opposed to the world’s value system, and so His plans always frustrate the ‘ways of the wicked’. Because while He relieves the frustration of the oppressed and sufferers, He increases the frustration of the wicked and brings their plans to nothing (v. 9).
OLUFUNMILAYO TITILOLA ADEKUSIBE
Prayer:
Father, thank You for working in mysterious ways and performing Your wonders in our midst at this period, in Jesus name.
Thank You for using me as an instrument to work out your plans here on earth at this season, in Jesus name.
Father I need Your help, empower me to love my fellows as You love, and protect me from deceitful men, in Jesus name.
We frustrate and break the backbone of authority and domination of Satan over the souls of men, especially in our nation, Nigeria, in Jesus name.
We break to irreparable pieces, the backbone of the spirit holding the souls of men in captivity, in Jesus name.
Father, let the spirit of steadfastness, consistency, hunger, and thirst for Your word come upon Your Church, in Jesus name.
Father, release fresh fire upon our missionaries and evangelists to disgrace territorial spirits, in Jesus name.
Father carry out your plans for our nation at this season, in Jesus name.
We bind, paralyse, and frustrate negative forces operating in the lives of leaders in our nation, in Jesus name.
We frustrate, bind the operations, and pull down the stronghold of blood-drinking demons in our nation, in Jesus name.
Father, grant our leaders your wisdom, knowledge, and the fear of You in all they do, in Jesus name.
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