Take Note Podcast

God is Our Help

Psalm 146:1-10

- The section of Psalms we'll be addressing is filled with calls to praise the Lord
- We should start with the definition of "praise"
- Which is to ascribe worth to God and to celebrate His worth
- And this passage begins with just that

- But Psalm 146 also turns our attention to trust and help
- We must trust the Lord - for He is our help
- And our only help
- As verse 3 highlights the futility of trusting in man
- While verse 5 tells of the happiness that is found in reliance upon God for help

- That's why "God is Our Help" is our theme today
- And we'll be discussing Psalm 146

- Praise for the Lord
- With and for the entirety of our lives begins this reading…

Psalm 146:1-2

1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul.
2 While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.

- With everything we have, we must shed light on God's worth
- And we must do this while we have breath to do so
- Our songs must be of praise to Him
- For our time on earth is short and everyone must know

- We are motivated to celebrate Him in this way because of who He is
- And once we know who He is
- From passages like this and others
- We do so

- But there are alternatives…

Psalm 146:3-5

3 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.
5 Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:

- Don't trust in princes or kings or other leaders
- Don't trust in man, it says
- This is not because there is no men that are trustworthy
- Certainly, some can be
- But this focuses our attention higher
- On the One who provides the character for man to be trustworthy
- In man there is no help
- People die and are buried
- Then all of their plans and helps are gone
- But God is eternal
- He is 100% trustworthy
- And has all power

- That is why those who have hope in Him are happy
- God does not let us down
- He cannot let us down

- Men may do their best
- Even relying on His power to help them
- But they all let us down
- We let ourselves down
- And we let others down
- So trust in God, who will not

- Why?

Psalm 146:6

6 Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:

- He is our help because He is our Creator
- He made everything and everyone who needs help
- Everything and everyone in heaven
- Everything and everyone on earth
- Everything and everyone in the sea
- And He can be trusted to do what He says

- He sustains our lives
- He knows how weak we are
- He knows how weak our leaders are
- He knows how powerless we are to provide each other help
- Unless of course He intervenes to give us the power to do it

- There is no more security than in knowing we can do nothing
- Without Him
- And we can look to no other but Him for help

- He does particular, specific things for us…

Psalm 146:7-9

7 Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners:
8 The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous:
9 The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.

- God does right for those who have been hurt
- The oppressed are safe in His hands
- He gives food to the hungry
- He has the power to provide
- And He also has the power to free the imprisoned
- Both in spiritual and physical prison

- He makes the blind to see again
- For He created our eyes
- He helps those who are in trouble
- Those who are weighed down by anything in life
- He loves those who do right

- He protects strangers in strange countries
- He cares for widows and orphans
- And He destroys the wicked

- He does right
- All that is right to be done in the world - He does

- This is why we look above, beyond men
- For He is our help…

Psalm 146:10

10 The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD.

- God is the King forever
- His rule will never come to an end
- That means He is our help forever
- This is why He ought to be praised
- For His great worth
- Celebrate Him