Sunday Devotional: Psalm 146:3-4

³ Do not trust in princes, in the son of Adam, concerning whom there is no deliverance. ⁴ His spirit goes out and he returns to his ground; on that very day, his plans perish.

From the opening of this psalm, it’s clear this is a song of praise to the Lord. It’s not just a general hymn of praise, however. It sets the glory and wonders of the Lord against those of mortals, telling of all the great things the Lord does. While, for most of the psalm, the comparison between God and man is implicit, it’s felt lurking behind every expression of the Lord’s power. He executes justice for the oppressed (man oppresses and commits acts of injustice); God loves the righteous (men exalt in wickedness); God will reign forever (man’s time is short).

In verse 3, the psalmist (possibly David, if we see this as a continuation of Psalm 145) warns against putting one’s trust in “princes” or those who rule, or in any man (“son of Adam”). Mortal man, no matter how powerful, is limited. He is only flesh and blood, and he does not have absolute sovereignty, nor infinite wisdom and strength. Mortals cannot be trusted to provide deliverance, or help. To understand what the psalmist means by “help” or “deliverance” we need to look at the rest of the psalm. It talks about the ways the Lord helps and delivers: He executes justice, opens the eyes of the blind, raises up the lowly, protects strangers, and so on. Men may have limited success with some of these things, but only the Lord is able to deliver perfectly, according to His perfect will and His perfect wisdom. The term “help” can also be translated “save,” and we could certainly read this to say that only in the Lord is perfect, and ultimate, salvation.

This isn’t to say that mortal men can’t try to help. As I said, in a limited sense, men may provide deliverance, and can indeed offer relief and help to those in need. But men don’t last forever. Men die–their spirits leave their bodies, and their bodies return to the ground from whence they came. Many translations say “and he returns to the ground.” The Hebrew is literally “his ground,” and I think the idea is that the ground is man’s origin (thinking back to Genesis 2), and that to which he returns when he dies. The body of man doesn’t naturally transcend the physical realm. He is locked into his mortality, and on the day he dies, all his schemes and plans and desires die with him. He is no longer able to be of help to anyone.

On the other hand, the Lord is eternal. There is no ground to which He will return. His plans are from everlasting to everlasting. And whatever He wills to do cannot fail; He will accomplish all that He desires. Is it not better to trust in the Lord than to trust in rulers and mere mortals?

When rulers lack wisdom, when people show injustice, when people fail to give aid to those in need, when our society seems to be coming apart at the seams, who do we look to for help? Are we relying upon governments to fix the problem? Are we looking to the United Nations? Or are we looking to the one and true living God–the only one who is able to save?

Let us keep our eyes firmly on the Lord, especially in these often confused and trying times.

Have a great week!