no trust in princes

Times are tense. North Korea doesn’t seem responsible enough to have nuclear weapons – I sure hope Secretary of State Tillerman can defuse that situation. It seems like ISIS and Al Quaida affiliates can attack us anywhere in the world – I sure hope Secretary of Defense Mattis is equal to that. Huge populations of people are moving across the globe – I sure hope the various governments, from Bangladesh and Myanmar to Europe and the Middle East and the US, can take care of them all.

Times are tense, but maybe more so because of where I’m putting my hope. Psalm 146 has a lot of good things to remind me this morning, starting with this central point in verses 3-5:

“Do not put your trust in princes,
in human beings, who cannot save.
When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.
Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God.”

The Psalmist continues on with a list of reasons putting my hope in God makes a lot more sense. One, he made this place (“He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them . . . .”). Two, he will never turn his back on me or forget me (“. . . he remains faithful forever.”) On top of that, he’s compassionate to all those kinds of people who don’t get much attention because they have not power. That’s in verses 7-9:

“He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
the Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the foreigner
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.”

Wouldn’t it be nice if God were running things instead of the politicians? Oh, wait . . . he is. Then why should I worry?