CYPRESSWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST
September 26, 2010
25424 Aldine-Westfield, Spring, TX. 77373
www.blakehart.com/cypresswoodbulletin.htm
PETITIONS AND THANKSGIVINGS:
God’s will for our congregation Various friends, relatives and co-workers
Our nation, military, and leaders Joy
WHOM DO WE TRUST?
“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God” (Psalm 20:7).
With the mid-term election season in progress, we are told by politicians to trust us, we know what we are doing. Others will tell us that they can “get the job done” whatever that might be. We have become cynical because of “campaign promises” knowing that they are meaningless. Getting the right person in the right office will solve many of our problems, so we have thought, only to be disappointed time and again. We find that political office brings power, and not many people have the ability to handle power. Someone said that power corrupts. If you have any power over someone else, there is a temptation to use that power to get one’s way whether that way is right or not. Politicians want us to “trust” them. Whom do we trust?
Reading through the Psalms this year, a chapter stood out though I had read it a number of times. In Psalm 146, we have an answer to the question, whom do we trust? It is a Psalm of praise by an unknown person. As such, we have no context in which to give any background information. It could have been written anywhere in a thousand year period. It is part of the concluding doxology of the Psalms, the song book of Israel and the early church. Let’s take a look at it.
“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” (vs. 1-2).
These opening verses declare the attitude and direction of the Psalmist. His entire life will be wrapped up in praising God. He will walk the roads and byways praising God. It is an attitude of heart that we see here. Paul expressed a similar idea in Romans 12:1. “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God -- this is true worship.” Paul calls for a transformation of the mind, the idea being to turn from a caterpillar to a butterfly. Our focus should daily be on God in adoration and joy of who He is and what He has done. Paul the scholar might have had a text like Psalm 146 in mind when he wrote to the Romans.
Life can be frustrating. It was the Peanuts character Charlie Brown who said, “I love humanity, it’s people I can’t stand.” I have a similar cynical statement: “It’s a great job except for the people.” Too often we let people get “under our skin” by their attitudes, their actions, and the silliness of some of the decision they make. A song in the heart, as it were, praising God can do much to calm our souls. Maybe the Psalmist has learned a similar lesson.
“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” (vs. 3-4).
Have you ever notice how much the media in particular look to politicians as “saviors” of the world? There appears to be little if any neutrality in the media any more. He is the one who will “save” us from whatever difficulty we face. And of course, the politician just loves that press. How many people think that they are the one who will bring salvation? In the words of that great American philosophy, Dirty Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood), they have become legends in their own minds. The Roman Emperors encouraged this idea. When various towns and cities wished to honor the Emperor, they would make statues of them, some building temples in their honor. They used words that we are familiar with, such as, the Emperor brought salvation to us, spread the gospel about him, he has redeemed us from our enemies, Caesar is Lord. Then, as now, they accepted this praise, mostly because they had the power of their armies to enforce it.
The Psalmist states that they cannot save. Why? When they die, their plans come to nothing. God has a sense of humor. Tell Him your plans and He laughs. How many politicians have faded into history, forgotten? Many schools and roads have been named after politicians no one remembers. Eventually the names are changed to something else, or the buildings are torn down. Yet many politicians build moments to themselves thinking that they are so important that they must not be forgotten. After they die, they are forgotten. How many such people did this Psalmist see in his life time, people who sought the praise of people, or thought they were so important that they just had to hold on “forever?” The only people who oppose term limits are the professional politicians because they think in their own minds that they are just so important. “Trust me” is their theme.
“Blessed are those who help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God”
(vs. 5).
The Psalmist challenges the leader’s view of himself. It is God who we must trust. He is our hope in this world. That is how our Founders saw it when they said that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights; life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We understood the first two but what does the third mean? New Gingrich, in an interview on Book TV, said that what they meant by the pursuit of happiness was the pursuit of wisdom and virtue. It was Solomon who said that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7).
However, sinful humanity has chosen to ignore God and as such, has not found wisdom nor virtue, seeks to limit or destroy life and liberty, because they know better. This has led to totalitarian systems that have destroyed millions in peacetime, yet politicians continue to covet such systems.
The Psalmist explains why God is our help and hope in the following verses. See if these sound familiar.
“He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them -- he remains
faithful forever” (vs. 6).
God is the Creator. The story is told that some scientists said that they could create life out of nothing, so they challenged God. God accepted the challenge and asked them to explain how they would do it. They said, “First we take some dirt and then…” God interrupts them and says, “My dirt.” One reason some oppose God as Creator is that they do not wish to admit that they are not as powerful as they think. To say that God is the Creator is to say that there is more to life than themselves. Humility in politics and science are not one of the virtues we often see.
“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” (vs. 7-9).
This theme is repeated several times in scripture. In Isaiah 61, it speaks of the anointed of the Lord. Jesus quotes the Isaiah text in Luke 4:17-18, announcing the beginning of His ministry, the coming reign of God.
Each of the people listed above are offered as concerns today. In reading about various totalitarian systems (radical Islam, communism, and much socialism), they project onto these categories their concerns, yet they are the ones who violate these people. In the old Soviet Union, officially known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), they oppressed and imprisoned thousands of people who opposed them. Russia was a wheat growing area until after the communist revolution, when the government thought they could do it better. The result was the need to import wheat do to the failed collectives of the day, and the deaths of millions. In our society today, we are taking food, in particular corn, and turning about a quarter of it into fuel. The result is the rising prices of food which affects the poor, whom our government claims to be concerned about. When the Great Society was instituted in the 1960s, there were several thousand poor who needed help. Today, we now find that there are over twenty million. It seems like we are going in the wrong direction in helping the poor. When the churches and various voluntary groups were working among the poor, they could help people in different ways. When government took over, with its rules and regulations, it appears that red tape has become the greatest hindrance.
God through His people can do much in these areas. Government only contributes to the exasperation of the problems. Hostility toward Christianity has caused problems. Melanie Phillips mentioned in an interview on Book TV that in British prisons, it is the Muslims who are active with prisoners whereas the church of England cannot be found at all. While there are several reasons for this, one is that they are intertwined with government.
The prophets often addressed the above text as a problem Israel had. They ignored the poor and oppressed, the widow and orphan, and more, they often abused them. This led to their captivity. The mission of Jesus was the healing of body and soul, where possible. Christians offered the good news after they became involved in the lives of people. Rodney Stark mentions a physician of a Roman Emperor who fled Rome for the east after a plague began. Christians stayed taking care of their own and as able, their neighbors. Giving of themselves, and their lives, influenced people to hear the good news of Jesus. Why do we have the poor and oppressed? Sin is one answer. Another is that it gives God’s people the opportunity to serve and to spread the good news. When Christians show this concern in attitude and action, then we find that we are proclaiming the rule or reign of God.
“The Lord reigns forever; your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord”
(vs. 10).
God reigns when God’s people trust in Him. God reigns when we humbly serve others no matter who they are, no matter where they come from, no matter their situation. So where is our trust, or whom do we trust? It’s not in weapons of war, it’s not in politicians, it’s not in humans at all, but in the Lord God Almighty, the Creator, Savior, and Ruler of the universe.
George B. Mearns