Psalm 146
Preaching
A Journey Through the Psalms: Reflections for Worried Hearts and Troubled Times
Preaching the Psalms Cycles A, B, C
There is a well-worn axiom that warns against mixing religion and politics. It was probably devised in an attempt to help smooth the rough places in some of those long holiday dinners with seldom-seen relatives. Keep the conversation polite, vague, and unchallenging. That way, all parties can stay through the dessert course and get home in one piece. In truth, there is wisdom in such an unwritten law. However, a serious people of faith must contend with the time after dinner when the relatives have dispersed and it's back to business as usual.
Such a moment arrives in the reading of Psalm 146. The psalm underscores a deep strain of the Judeo-Christian heritage that cannot be easily brushed aside. It is the plaintive call here to "not place our trust in princes or in mortals in whom there is no help." This is no stump speech for some brew of faith-based anarchy. It is not an attempt to overthrow established order. It is, simply put, a statement of obvious reality.
While all people are in need of good governance and reasonable processes for redress, the simple truth is that these systems and those who inhabit them are not to be trusted. A simple reading of history demonstrates this. Broken promises, shattered treaties, bloated bureaucracies, and rampant corruption riddle the governments of this world from Old Testament days right through to the moment of this writing.
The call comes to trust, instead, in God. It is God, we read, who executes justice, who liberates the oppressed, and gives sight to the blind. It is God who lifts up those who are bowed down and who loves the righteous. This is not an isolated notion within scripture. It's interesting to note that in this psalm can be found a thread that runs from here to Isaiah (58) to Jesus, who stands up in the temple in chapter 4 of Luke to announce the year of God's favor.
This thread wraps itself around the reality that all governments ultimately are the same in that they will all collapse and perish into vapors of history. What lasts, what stands, and what will always be with us is the powerful voice of our God. It is in this God we are called to place our trust. It is with this God we are called to walk. And it is this God, come to us in Christ Jesus, who calls us to lives that will create the year of God's favor now, in this day, and in this moment.
Such a moment arrives in the reading of Psalm 146. The psalm underscores a deep strain of the Judeo-Christian heritage that cannot be easily brushed aside. It is the plaintive call here to "not place our trust in princes or in mortals in whom there is no help." This is no stump speech for some brew of faith-based anarchy. It is not an attempt to overthrow established order. It is, simply put, a statement of obvious reality.
While all people are in need of good governance and reasonable processes for redress, the simple truth is that these systems and those who inhabit them are not to be trusted. A simple reading of history demonstrates this. Broken promises, shattered treaties, bloated bureaucracies, and rampant corruption riddle the governments of this world from Old Testament days right through to the moment of this writing.
The call comes to trust, instead, in God. It is God, we read, who executes justice, who liberates the oppressed, and gives sight to the blind. It is God who lifts up those who are bowed down and who loves the righteous. This is not an isolated notion within scripture. It's interesting to note that in this psalm can be found a thread that runs from here to Isaiah (58) to Jesus, who stands up in the temple in chapter 4 of Luke to announce the year of God's favor.
This thread wraps itself around the reality that all governments ultimately are the same in that they will all collapse and perish into vapors of history. What lasts, what stands, and what will always be with us is the powerful voice of our God. It is in this God we are called to place our trust. It is with this God we are called to walk. And it is this God, come to us in Christ Jesus, who calls us to lives that will create the year of God's favor now, in this day, and in this moment.
