"Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. Do not put your trust...in human beings." (Psalm 146:1-3, NIV)
I have probably mentioned this before, but after almost twenty years of writing these devotionals, what does one expect? At any rate, the last five Psalms are similar to Ecclesiastes', "the conclusion of the matter is...."
For the Psalms, it is literally, "Hallelu Yah. Hallelu Yah," or, "Praise the Lord." It is a sort of, "When-all-is-said-and-done," life directive. The Interlinear says that, "Hallelu Yah," means to, "be boastful, to shine," as Philippians 2:15 declares, "shine as lights in the world." Moreover, Psalm 34:2 declares, "My soul shall make its boast in the Lord...." The Hebrew Word for, "boast," here is the same Word translated, "praise," in Psalm 146.
Then we come to the last part of today's text says, "Do not put your trust...in human beings," which is exactly what the majority of the world's population is doing in this very hour. The key Word here is, "trust." In whom/what is our fundamental (first?) trust? May none of us be as the king of Israel who, "....did not seek help from the Lord, but only the physicians."
The underlying, fundamental, prioritized living in Jesus Christ in these tumultuous days is, "Praise, shine forth, "....make [our] boast in the Lord [Jesus Christ]." As Jesus said to the rich, young man, "Do this and you will live."
Father, in Jesus' Name, "HALLELUJAH!" Amen.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
