Daily Devotions – God lifts up those who are bowed down

Daily Devotions – God lifts up those who are bowed down

 

 

Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart:

Psalm 146 (NIV)

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 princes, in human beings, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to  nothing. Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God. He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— he remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free, 8 the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. 10 The Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord.

The book of Psalms ends with the five “hallelujah” psalms. (The phrase “praise the Lord” which begins each of these psalms is actually a literal translation of the Hebrew words Hallelu Yah.) This particular psalm emphasizes praising God for his wonderful work of creating all things, and especially for upholding the cause of the poor, giving sight to the blind, and lifting up the downtrodden, etc. This reminds us of a very important teaching: we can pray according to God’s will, because God has told us clearly what his will is! As you pray today, look through this psalm for things that reveal God’s plans for the world, and then pray that God’s plans get fulfilled sooner, and that God empowers you and uses you to fulfill his plans.