Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart:
Psalm 146 NIV
1 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, my soul. 2 I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. 3 Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. 4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. 5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God. 6 He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— he remains faithful forever. 7 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. 9 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.
When we fall out of grace we forget who God is and what He has promised to do. This Psalm calls us to remember the God who created all things and trust that He cares for those in need, oppressed, captive, and blind. It is a cry for freedom from a life of darkness into a life of hope and love. God has proven Himself faithful by sending His Son, the Light shining in the darkness. Death could not contain Him and the freedom He now lives He has given to us. “For freedom, Christ has set us free.” Let us open our hearts to what God is doing and reject the darkness. Reject fear, anxiety, division, and anger. Do not let anything bump you off course. Cling to Christ and ask Him to set you free.