Thoughts for the Day

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,
whose hope is in the Lord their God,
who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith for ever;
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 for ever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord!

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Over the recent years political parties in Europe have moved towards the extremist right, bringing with it suspicion of outsiders and those of a different race or religion. We see the same thing happening in America and other countries around the world. Presumably a lot of this is brought on by fear of poverty or lack of resources, whether that is outrage at having too many tourists in Spain who use up precious water, or too many asylum seekers in the UK. When this happens people want to pull up the drawbridge and keep outsiders away!

Psalm 146 reminds me of all these elections and the way the people sway towards hard-line parties when things are difficult. For the word "princes" in the psalm, read "presidents" or "political parties" today. They come and they go, promises made are often forgotten, or are too difficult to achieve, and as the psalm says, their "plans perish".

This joyous psalm starts and finishes with the words "Praise the Lord", which means 'Hallelujah'. Try reading it aloud and adding a 'Hallelujah' after each of the Lord God's actions. It will remind you that only God is eternal, and that countries, governments, kings and presidents will come and go. In the Lord God only should we put all our trust.

Lord God Almighty,
we praise You for Your steadfastness.
From eternity You have cared for Your creation,
and loved Your people,
Your justice has been the bedrock
of Your dealing with us.
While life is fragile and temporary,
and when rulers come and go,
You are always present to rescue us.
Praise the Lord.
Amen.