Psalm 146

Wow it has been such a long time since I last blogged! Sorry about that if you check from time to time. I have completely redecorated, furnished and moved into a new house since the last time I blogged. (I should say I didn't do it all on my own, much thanks goes to my parents, my Gran and to my friends Boja, Phil, Darren and Alison for their great help!)

So on Sunday afternoon before church I had a quiet time and I read Psalm 146. I have been using the Good Book Company's Explore notes. They are very helpful you know. I found Psalm 146 very refreshing and helpful. The Psalm is an exhortation to trust in the Lord, but in it the writer is not exhorting the people around him to trust the Lord, but rather he is exhorting himself to trust the Lord. He points out how wonderful the Lord is and therefore why he should be trusted and praised. I particularly found the passage in verses 5-10 wonderful. Please read through these verses below and count and rejoice in the many different ways in which the Lord is wonderful:

5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,
6 the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—the LORD, who 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 alien 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.

It really struck me that the Lord does these things. It's not a case of "Aw there's nice, what lovely sentiment". No! God DOES these things. God does give sight to the blind. God does set prisoners free (both of those are my story!!) God does uphold the cause of the oppressed. God does lift up those who are bowed down. I have felt so 'bowed down' for ages and I know people who have felt oppressed and so it's so encouraging and exciting to read and believe that God does these things!

Let's pray for grace to believe that the Lord is as great as the psalmist here believes and then to live praising Him for this daily. (It isn't a pipe dream - with God anything is possible)