RPG Adults
A PSALM OF HIGH PRAISES
TUESDAY, JUNE 25
Psalm 146:1-10
Luke 1:46-55
“Oh how great is Thy goodness …”
A PSALM OF HIGH PRAISES
As we enter Psalm 146, we are among the Hallelujahs, all praise right up 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 this Psalm does.
“Put not your trust in princes.” Shakespeare puts these sentiments into Wolsey’s mouth:
“O how wretched
Is that poor man that hangs on princes’ favour!
There is, betwixt that smile we would aspire to,
That sweet aspect of princes, and their ruin,
More pangs and fears than wars and women have:
And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer,
Never to hope again.”
Herbert Lockyer notes that Psalm 146 proclaims Jehovah alone as the unfailing Deliverer and that the ten verses do not lend themselves to marked divisions. They appear without a break — “one pearl, a sacred censer of holy incense, pouring forth one sweet perfume.” Yet two aspects appear to be discernible:
1. Jehovah alone is to be trusted, and not man. All who trust the Lord are blessed by Him (vv.1-5).
2. The reason lies in His Divine Perfections. Jehovah is Creator, Judge, Deliverer and King (vv.6-10).
THOUGHT: (Read Psalm 146:9.)
PRAYER: Help me, Father, not to put my trust in princes, nor in the sons of man, in whom there is no help.