“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.”
Psalm 146:1-5 NIV
The Theme of the Psalm 146 is “contrasting the help of people vs. the help of God. Help from people is temporal and unstable, but help from God is lasting and complete (NIV, 2013, Psalm 146).”
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things.”
Philippians 4:8 NIV
The Psalm verses reminded me of this Philippian scripture which reminded me of a Dr. Dharius Daniel’s sermon. Our steps are ordered by the Lord. In the sermon, he expressed that he finally got the meaning of this scripture. He explained that this is a physical shift where we actually make the conscious choice to focus on these things in life.
The Psychology of worry is if we worry and nothing happens or if we worry and then solve the problem or issue, our mind connects worry with prevention of harm, pain, and control. Let’s examine my thought,
“But if I don’t worry about it, who will?”
What does that message mean? It means I am the only one to worry about it and if I don’t worry about it, it won’t be done. But, does worry truly make you accomplish more or does it stop things from happening? The answer for me is worry paralyzes me and it prevents me from moving forward. Today, I remind myself that what is meant to happen, will happen. What I am capable of getting done, will get done. All worry does is paralyze, steal our security, and rob of us joy momentarily.
“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.
Psalm 146:6-9 NIV
Instead of worry, we focus on the bigness of God and His ability to watch over us. We focus on the love of God and how He sustains us. We focus on the character of God; He doesn’t keep us from the wicked, but He does go into battle with us.
“The LORD reigns forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the LORD.”
146:10 NIV
