Today's Meditation - Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Today's Meditation

Read Psalm 146

¹Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!

²I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my life long.

³Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help.

⁴When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish.

⁵Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God,

⁶who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever;

⁷who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free;

⁸the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous.

⁹The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

¹⁰The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord!

     Today's Psalm reading is part of the praise hymns.  Verses 5-9 tell of all that God has done and will do for those whose hope is in the Lord.

• God made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything that dwells in them.
• God keeps faith forever.
• God executes justice for the oppressed.
• God 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.
• The Lord upholds the orphan and the widow.
• And finally, not to be forgotten, the Lord brings the way of the wicked to ruin.

     There aren't passages in scripture that praise the wealthy, the rich, the famous, the haughty, the ungrateful.  It has always been quite the opposite.  God's Word has always spoken highly, with gentleness and care, for the lost, the lonely, the oppressed, the poor, and the needy.  

     If we are to emulate and be like Christ, to work at being increasingly more holy each day, we should think more highly of those in need  We should take great care of those who have been oppressed, for the stranger and the outcast.  We shouldn't pay homage and or place on a pedestal those who lord it over them, who wave their privilege and power in the face of those who are desperately trying to just make a living.

     Perhaps this time has given us a reset button to re-prioritize those who we should emulate and care about, whose lives are important.

Praise the Lord, My Soul