Focus

Pay attention to the tension in your body. Let go of it and any expectations to do anything other than God’s will today. Prepare yourself to hear God’s word.

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Read

Psalm 146 (NRSV)

Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD, O my soul!
I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God all my life long.

Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortals, in whom there is no help.
When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
on that very day their plans perish.

Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD their God,
who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith forever;
who executes justice for the oppressed;
who gives food to the hungry.

The LORD sets the prisoners free;
the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
the LORD loves the righteous.
The LORD watches over the strangers;
he upholds the orphan and the widow,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

The LORD will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the LORD!

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Reflect

“The LORD will reign forever” (verse 10). In the more colloquial terms of The Message, “God’s in charge—always.” It’s tempting to put our trust in authorities and powerful people who promise us all will be well if we follow them, but the psalmist reminds us to put our hope in God. God will never disappoint. God never gives up. God never has ulterior or selfish motives. God always ensures justice is done ultimately.

Especially when life seems so hopeless, when we’re not sure how we’re going to pay the bills, when we feel alone and unloved, when we look at violence and injustice all around, when we go to bed hungry, it’s easy to believe that the “world is going to hell in a hand-basket.” The psalmist knew something of these worries and more, yet is confident that God is in charge and challenges us to put our hope and trust in the God who made heaven and earth and all that is within it.

Despite not always having evidence in full view that God is in charge, we can, like the psalmist, express our hope and trust with praise. In praising the God from whom all blessings flow, we actually begin to understand that God indeed reigns forever!

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Pray

Forgive us, great Creator of the universe, when we doubt that you are in charge. Remind us of your great love and, if it pleases you, grant some small sign that you have not forgotten us. Through our Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

Go with God.