The world is a scary place. The economy is uncertain, political shifts are stressful, and it seems a crisis occurs every other day. It can be difficult to focus on the spiritual things in life. But when I meditate on the Lord, usually in the evening (it’s hard for me to be spiritual before 10 AM…), I’ve come to understand the true joy in knowing God. This is expressed beautifully in Psalm 146, which is the last psalm we’ll talk about in this series. There are several key points the psalmist addresses.
1. It’s Out of Your Control
The Psalmist says “I will praise the Lord as long as I live, I will sing praises to my God while I have my being”(Psalm 146:2). There is an element of melancholy in the subtext of this verse. After all, the author doesn’t say “forever and ever’. Rather, they talk about the end of life (exact words vary depending on the translation). There is a relinquishing of control. After all, we all face death. There is a tendency to strive and grasp at whatever we think we can control, but the reality is we control very little. Our lives are in the hand of The Maker. Knowing God, then, becomes critical.
2. Rest in Humility
Knowing, then, that most things are out of our control, the temptation can be to seek help from the wrong places. The Psalmist tells us not to put our trust in powerful people, or a son of man, and this is a logical conclusion after the first lines of the song. They have little control over their lives either. “When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very his plans perish,” (Psalm 146:4). All earthly life is under the same constraints we are. Only when we reach this point of true humility can we let go. Then we can accept our lives are in God’s hands.
3. Trust in the God of Jacob
The Psalmist refers to ‘the God of Jacob’ to illustrate how God redeems and restores the world; He does it through characters like Jacob. Jacob, whose life was one wrong turn after another. The guy who tricked his brother and father and had to flee his family. God is Jacob’s God. He is our God. Once we realize we are totally dependent on him, once we accept that, we can take comfort in the fact that we belong to God, but he also belongs to us.
4. The Lord Will Reign Forever
Once we’ve accepted our humility, and also accepted the loving relationship God wants with us, we can accept that God is not limited by our own limitations. He is our God, and he will rule forever. How comforting a though that is, and how much more important that makes knowing God. After all, not only is God all-powerful, he is eternal. His power has no end, and He is OUR God. He is our security, and there is nothing better.
If you seek to know God better, no matter where you are on your faith journey, we want to have you at Restore Houston. God is love, and we encourage you to come as you are. God is not only the God of Jacob; He’s your God, too.
