Today’s Bible reading is Psalm 146. It contains an age-old warning and a contrast.
First, the warning:
Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish. (Psa 146:3-4)
The rest of the psalm is a contrast. The LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them. The LORD keeps faith forever. He executes justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry, sets the prisoners free, opens the eyes of the blind, and lifts up those who are bowed down. The LORD loves the righteous, watches over the sojourners, and upholds the widow and the fatherless. The LORD will reign forever.
Psalm 146 clearly identifies the One who is worthy of our worship.
But before you close the book on Psalm 146, read those two verses above again…
Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish. (Psa 146:3-4)
…and consider with wonder the fact that a few centuries after this Hebrew poem was written, a Son of Man did arrive and challenge people to trust him as the Prince of Peace. In this prince, there is salvation. How can we be sure? When his breath departed, he returned from the grave. And far from perishing, his plans have flourished over the course of the last 2,000 years.
The LORD will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, to all generations. (Psa 146:10)
Psalm 146 clearly identifies the One who was worthy of Israel’s worship. But even more than that, it continues to point to the Prince who is worthy of our trust.