Who is The True Ruler of the United States?
Psalms • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 7 viewsNotes
Transcript
1 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
3 Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.
5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever;
7 who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free;
8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
10 The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord!
Who is the True Ruler of the United States?
Who is the True Ruler of the United States?
21 He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding;
7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
23 Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches,
24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”
Winners should not boast, losers should not whine
Faith not fear, trust not uncertainty, hope in God instead of hope in government
What is the church to do?
14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.
We are to be a grace enabling, love giving community of faith. We are to be a people of praise.
Praise for the greatness and the grace of God is the subject of this psalm as well as of Psalm 145 and others. Here the psalmist vowed to praise God all his life because the One who made the heavens and the earth is faithful and just to the oppressed of the earth.
Allen P. Ross, “Psalms,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 896.
Psalms 146–150 constitute the last Hallel (“praise”) collection. These five Hallelujah psalms have the characteristic genre of a hymn of descriptive praise. These psalms were used as daily prayers at some point in the synagogue’s services of worship. The other two praise collections are the Egyptian Hallel psalms (113–118) and the Great Hallel (120–136).
The LXX and Vulgate attribute Psalms 146 and 147 (which is divided into two psalms [147/148]) to Haggai and Zechariah. Though linguistic criteria and literary references to earlier materials witness to a postexilic date for the composition of the psalms, internal evidence does not corroborate prophetic authorship.
Structurally, Psalm 146 is true to its hymnic genre with an opening and concluding imperatival call to praise the Lord (vv. 1–2, 10b). The hymn describes the many ways in which the Lord, the Creator (vv. 5–6) and King (v. 10), sustains the individuals who have faith in him, particularly the needy.
A Call to Praise (vv. 1–4)
B God the Creator (vv. 5–6)
C God the Sustainer (vv. 7–9)
B′ God the Great King (v. 10a)
A′ Call to Praise (v. 10b)
Tremper Longman III & David E. Garland
(1) Everything begins with praise
(1) Everything begins with praise
1 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
A constant posture of worship
the centrality of Jesus our Lord
(2) Our salvation is not found in anything or anyone
(2) Our salvation is not found in anything or anyone
3 Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.
The rule of princes, the life of slaves, the foolishness of trusting in the plans and schemes of men.
(3) It’s all about the LORD, the LORD, the LORD, the LORD, the LORD, the LORD, the LORD, the LORD
(3) It’s all about the LORD, the LORD, the LORD, the LORD, the LORD, the LORD, the LORD, the LORD
5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever;
7 who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free;
8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
10 The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord!
Every blessing
Every hope - YHWH HIS God
The Lord who is the creator - ALL that is in them - over rulers and governments
the promise keeper, the covenant keeper - he will will return, he will continue to reign, he will continue to rule from heaven
He “executes” justice for the oppressed - intervenes, puts in motion, directly works
He gives food to the hungry
He sets the prisoner, the captive believer, free - freedom of religion
He heals the blind - medical help, physical healing
He lifts up those who humble themselves
He faithfully loves those who come to him for salvation
He watches over strangers, widows, orphans
Only one line to describe the fate of the wicked.
This judicial manifestation of Jahve has only one line devoted to it. For He rules in love and in wrath, but delights most of all to rule in love. Jahve is, however, the God of Zion. The eternal duration of His kingdom is also the guarantee for its future glorious completion, for the victory of love. Hallelujah!
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, vol. 5 (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996), 844.
v10 - The LORD will reign forever! There is no other ruler. There is no election cycle, no uncertainty, no dispute