Don’t trust in man but trust in God.
[Psalms 146]
Have you ever been betrayed by a loved one you believed so much? Have you ever thought that you are betraying God? Yesterday I meditated on Jeremiah 11:15 at the morning prayer meeting: “What right has My beloved in My house When she has done many vile deeds? Can the sacrificial flesh take away from you your disaster, So that you can rejoice?” God said to the people of Judah, who had been committing prostitutes, who worshiped and served many idols, who came up to the God's temple and offered the sacrificial flesh maybe in order to cover up their sins: ‘What is my beloved doing in my temple?’ As I meditated on this word of God, I asked the question, ‘What am I, my family, and my church doing in the house of God?' I wonder if, like the people of Judah, I respect God with my lips but my heart is far away from Him and worship idols, which are spiritual adultery, and go up to the temple of the Lord on Sunday with the offerings necessary for worship? God’s voice is saying, ‘What are you doing in My house?’ In Jeremiah 11:9, the people of Judah’s sin of idolatry is referred to as “conspiracy”. As I thought about this word “conspiracy”, I wondered if God would not have felt betrayed by the people of Judah. When we think of the Israelites who committed spiritual adultery by following idols, turning their backs against God, God must have felt betrayed by the rebellious Israelites. The thoughts that come to my mind during this meditation is, 'Can we really trust people? Can we really rely on them?’ Furthermore, ‘Am I really a person who can be trusted to the other people?’ What do you think?
Psalms 146 is the first of the five “Hallelujah Psalms” (Ps. 146, 147, 148, 149, 150) (Park). That's why the psalmist starts Psalms 146 like this: “Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul! I will praise the LORD while I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being” (vv. 1-2). The psalmist is telling us, "Hallelujah," that is, “Praise the Lord”. He is telling us to praise the Lord together and while we live. What is the reason? Why should we all praise God in our lifetimes? The reason is because even people cannot be trusted, only God can be trusted forever (Park). So, the psalmist said in verse 3: “Do not trust in princes, In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.” In a word, he is advising us not to rely on people. More specifically, he urges us not to rely on “princes”, that is, ‘people who are influential in people's eyes’ (Park) or “mortal man”. What is the reason? Why shouldn’t we trust in (other) people? The reason is because people have no power to help (v. 3). So, this is what the psalmist says about someone who has no power to help: “His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; In that very day his thoughts perish” (v. 4). When we die, our fragile humans have no choice but to return to the dust. How can we rely on such humans? Dr. Park said this about trusting people: ‘Trusting people is an evil idea that blocks the way of trust in God. Therefore, this poet first forbids the sin of human trust in order to get others to go to the act of trusting in God’ (Park). Trusting those who have no power to help prevents trusting in God who is our true helper. Therefore, we must first stop trusting in people who have no power to help, as the psalmist advises. We must stop trusting people.
The psalmist is exhorting us like this: “How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, Whose hope is in the LORD his God” (v. 5). That's right. Those who have hope in God are blessed. Blessed are those whose help is God. Therefore, we should make God as our helper, not those who have no power to help. Blessed are such ones. So why is the psalmist exhorting us to make God as our helper and hope in Him? What are the reasons? I want to think about three reasons:
The first reason is because God is the true Almighty God who made heaven and earth.
Look at Psalms 146:6a – “Who made heaven and earth, The sea and all that is in them; ….” Whom should we trust? Should we trust another creature or Creator God? We already know the answer. Of course, even though we know that we must trust in Creator God rather than creature, I don't really understand why we often trust in people rather than God. We must trust in Creator God. Why? The reason is because our Creator God is the true Almighty God who created heaven and earth. Only Almighty God can help us in the day of trouble. The lives that come to the dirt and return to the dirt have no strength to help us. Therefore, we must trust in the Creator God, who is the true God and the Almighty.
The second reason is because God is faithful.
Look at Psalms 146:6b – “… the LORD, who remains faithful forever.” The ones we often trust in are not faithful and truthful. People are very cunning. We lie. But God is truthful and faithful God. God is eternally truthful and faithful in fulfilling the covenant He made with His people (Park). Even though we are unfaithful in our responsibilities in the covenant relationship with God, God is faithful and cannot deny Himself. He is faithful forever. Therefore, we must trust in the faithful and truthful God.
The third and final reason is because God loves the righteous.
Look at Psalms 146:8 – “The LORD opens the eyes of the blind; The LORD raises up those who are bowed down; The LORD loves the righteous.” Because God loves us, we must make God our help. How does God really love us? He does justice to us (v. 7). Our God is a just God. That is why He is the God who saves us (v. 7) when we are oppressed by judging justly and by judging the wicked (v. 9). Therefore, we must trust in just God. Also, our God gives us daily food. That is, the God of love provides us with what we need (v. 7). The loving God, who gives food to the hungry (v. 7), sustains fatherless and widows (v. 9). In other words, our God is the God who supports orphans and widows. Therefore, we must trust in God who supports and sustains us. Also, the God of love is the God who heals us (v. 8). Not only there are those who are physically blind but also spiritually blind. Therefore, when the psalmist says “the Lord gives sight to the blind” (v. 8) means not only that God heals those who are physically blind but also those who are spiritually blind. Therefore, we must trust in God who heals us. The God of love is the God who lifts up those who are bowed down (v. 8). Here, “those who are bowed down” refer to those who have become humble (Park). In other words, our God is a God who exalts the lowly. The God of love is the God who lifts these lowly people. Therefore, we must trust in God, who lifts us up when we become humble. The God of love is the God who protects His people (v. 9). Even when we live like strangers in this world of travelers, our God protects us. Therefore, we who have received His protection must trust in God.
We shouldn’t trust in people who have no power to help. If we keep on trusting in people, we may need to be betrayed by people. That way we will no longer trust in people. In Psalms 146, the psalmist is telling us to trust in God alone. He is telling us to hope only in God. That is blessing. Why should we trust in God? The reason is because God is the true Almighty God who created heaven and earth. Also, the reason we should make God as our help is because God is faithful. Our God is faithful, so we must trust in Him. He will help us.
Trusting in God who is my help,
James Kim
[“Jesus, My Lord to Thee I Cry …”]