Finding Yourself in the Psalms
Psalm 146
Praises to the God Whom We Can Trust
146-150 “Hallelujah Psalms”
All begin with imperative “praise the Lord”
(Psalm 54:6) "I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you; I will praise your name, O Lord, for it is good."
(Psalm 92:1) " A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day. It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High,"
(Psalm 135:3) "Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant."
(Psalm 147:1) " Praise the Lord. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!"
Psalm 146 connects Praise and Trust
I. A Call to Praise. 146:1-2
II. Who Not to Trust. 146:3-4
A. Rulers. They cannot save.
1. (Psalm 20:7) "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God."
2. (Isaiah 31:1) " Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the Lord."
ASSYRIA was surrounding Jerusalem! B. They are Mortal
III. Who We Can Trust. 146:5-6
IV. Why We Can Trust Him. 146:7-9
A. He upholds the cause of the oppressed. B. He gives food to the hungry
C. He sets the prisoners free
1. Liberation Theology – Catholicism and Marxism as a means of political control in Central and South America.
2. Protestants developed their own form of Liberation theology
3. “Black Liberation theology” became “black theology, became “black
Power”
4. Many civil rights leaders embraced Liberation Theology.
5. Martin Luther King rejected the “black power”
6. Proper intepretation:
a. Freedom from EGYPT, a picture of sin. Psalm 105:17-20, 37
b. Freedom from Babylonian Captivity. Psalm 107:10-14
c. Freedom from Personal Struggles. Psalm 142:7
d. Freedom from Sin. Isa 61:1 Luke 4:18
D. He gives sight to the blind. 156:8
E. He lifts up those who are bowed down. (James 4:10) "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up."
F. He Loves the righteous. G. He watches over the alien
H. He sustains the fatherless and widows. (James 1:27) "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
I. He frustrates the way of the wicked
V. Praise the Lord. `146:10
Praise God, because you can Trust Him!
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