November 24, 2024

Praise Him

August 16, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

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

While I live will I praise the Lord; I will sing praises to my God while I have any being.

Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no help.

When his breath leaves him, he returns to his earth; in that very day his thoughts, plans, and purposes perish.

Happy (blessed, fortunate, enviable) is he who has the God of  Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God,

Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, Who keeps truth and is faithful forever,

Who executes justice for the oppressed, Who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets free the prisoners,

The Lord opens the eyes of the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the [uncompromisingly] righteous.

The Lord protects and preserves the strangers and temporary residents, He upholds the fatherless and the widow and sets them upright, but the way of the wicked He makes crooked.

 The Lord shall reign forever, even Your God, O Zion, from generation to generation. Praise the Lord!  Hallelujah!

Psalm 146

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Who Do We Put Our Trust In?

August 14, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Praise the LORD!
Let all that I am praise the LORD.
I will praise the LORD as long as I live.
I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath.
Don’t put your confidence in powerful people;
there is no help for you there.
When they breathe their last, they return to the earth,
and all their plans die with them.
But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their Helper,
whose hope is in the LORD their God.
He made heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them.
He keeps every promise forever.
He gives justice to the oppressed
and food to the hungry.
The LORD frees the prisoners.
The LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
The LORD lifts up those who are weighed down.
The LORD loves the godly.
The LORD protects the foreigners among us.
He cares for the orphans and widows,
but He frustrates the plans of the wicked.
The LORD will reign forever.
He will be your God, O Jerusalem, throughout the generations.
Praise the LORD!
Psalm 146

I can say that I don’t recall reading these words before but, as I read them I thought to myself, who do you put your trust in? So many times our society places individuals on pedestals (I do it myself). These individuals can include celebrities, politicians, preachers and pastors, our significant others, family members, friends, anyone. We raise them up and then raise our expectations of them. We ask things of them that they cannot deliver. We think they can do no wrong and, when they do so, we find ourselves hurt. Why do I do this? Why do we do this? I’m honestly not sure, but we are reminded of something…

Don’t put your confidence in powerful people; there is no help for you there.
When they breathe their last, they return to the earth, and all their plans die with them.
Verses 3 and 4

They breathe a last breath…they are only human. I learned that thinking like this does a few things—it places unnecessary (and often unwanted) pressure on the person, and it takes away God’s glory. We place others in His position. This Scripture reminded me that we need to only place our confidence, our hearts, and our lives in One.  God.  He is our Helper, He is our hope, He is our peace, and He is the only One Who will never fail us.  As this scripture says

He keeps every promise forever.
Verse 6

This isn’t said to ruin relationships or break trusting connections; it is said to remind us that those around us are as human as we are, and when they will fail…they deserve grace and mercy. There is One who will never fail us, and that is our Heavenly Father.

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Let’s Pray:  Dear Heavenly Father, so often we take our eyes off of You and place others higher than we should.  Remind us and guide us to remember that out of everyone, You will never fail us, and You will never break the promises You’ve made.  Thank You for those who You have placed in our lives as role models, but it is You, Lord, who we need to put our trust in.  In Jesus’ Name, we pray, Amen.

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Not In Men

August 13, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, my soul.
I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
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.
He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them—
He remains faithful forever.
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.
The Lord reigns forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord.
Psalm 146

God desires for us to seek Him first for wisdom. We need to check His word for answers. We are not to trust in man only for answers for life’s problems. If we do seek human response, we should only seek those who pursue God even more than we do.

Paul was a great example of someone who did not rely on men. God had given him a mission to carry out and Paul knew what was required of him. When plans changed he sent encouragement to those who would need it. 

Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies
that we have conducted ourselves in the world,
and especially in our relations with you,
with integrity and godly sincerity.
We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom
but on God’s grace.
2 Corinthians 1:12

Even when Jesus was facing His last days on earth and knew His cruel fate, Peter could not stop Jesus from following what God required.

Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan!
You are a stumbling block to Me;
you do not have in mind the concerns of God,
but merely human concerns.”
Matthew 16:23

Peter reacted as we would have. We would not have wanted our best friend to be taken away from us either. Jesus knew He needed to follow God’s plan and show us how to love unconditionally. Who else would suffered the beating, the embarrassment, and humiliation He suffered at the hands of men? Praise the Lord for His continued love. Even now!

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Father, we praise You! We praise Your unfailingly love, even when we have proved to be unlovable. Please forgive us for when we have doubted You and not sought You first. Help us develop our trust  in You so that we can take it to a new level of commitment. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

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