SERMON MANUSCRIPT
In the Psalms we find a reflection of life in a fallen world: years stippled with periods of uncontainable joy and moments of unspeakable sorrow, seasons of prosperity and times of poverty, days spent asking God for deliverance and weeks spent adoring God’s providence.
In this collection of inspired poetry we hear the ancient but relatable cries of God’s people as they too sought to obey the Lord faithfully, avoid sin desperately, live life wisely, and endure the world victoriously. The Psalms rightly describe life as sometimes painful, rarely simple, often exciting, and always demanding.
But as this book nears its conclusion it announces with increasingly clarity and rapidity what our response should always be. Whether we’re lamenting or celebrating, singing or groaning, gathered or scattered, God’s people are to give him our worship.
Consider the last verse of Psalm 145. With all that’s been asked, confessed, and offered in the 144 preceding Psalms, the author declares this: “My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.”
Like we sang this morning already, “Praise Adonai, from the rising of the sun, to the end of every day.” Whatever the day holds, whatever life’s like, one thing is unchanging: The Lord deserves all praise.
And it’s like the final five Psalms literally carry out this command, each of them repeatedly offering the same call: “Praise the Lord!” [See 147:1a, 7b, 12; 148:1–4; 149:1, 9b; 150:1–6.]
One of the main messages of the Psalms—and clearly the concluding message of the Psalms—is this: no matter what happens in life, God’s people are to worship Yahweh, to celebrate God, to esteem the Most High, to adore the Great I Am, to praise the Lord. That’s our call.
And while there are many reasons to do that (he’s good and holy, gracious and generous, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love) today we’re going to praise the Lord for his trustworthiness. Our God, unlike our race (humanity), is perfectly, lavishly, and eternally reliable—he’s trustworthy!—helping and protecting his own.
The call of this Psalm is clear: God’s people are to praise the Lord. Sing hallelujah! We’re to praise him with our whole selves (“O my soul!” says verse 1) and with our whole lives (“while I live … while I have my being”). The psalmist’s desire is to worship God with everything he is and with every day he has and in every circumstance he endures.
PEOPLE ARE UNTRUSTWORTHY
And what’s his motivation? Because his God can be totally trusted, unlike the humans around him. To create the contrast, the psalm begins with the negative, pointing out that people are untrustworthy. And the implication is, (so don’t praise them!).
“Do not trust in princes,” he writes (v. 3). He goes right to the top of the cultural food chain. Don’t rest in the words and works of even the most powerful and influential nobility. Not even the best of the best are worthy of our absolute confidence.
Why? Because even “princes” are just “mortal [men], in whom there is no salvation.” They, like the rest of us underlings, put their pants on one leg at a time and, like the rest of us mortals, are aging, failing, and dying. They can’t save themselves so why would we trust them to save us? They’re just people. Don’t praise them!
Your politician-of-choice is less a messiah and more a sin-riddled, meat-sack on their way to the grave. Your favourite public intellect, in the grand scheme of things, is a foolish, perishing, talking head.
These “princes” cannot deliver us. Leaders, mentors, athletes, actors, scientists, moguls, CEOs, PhDs, BFFs. Ultimately, they’re all the same because, ultimately, none can offer us the salvation we ultimately need. (It’s actually unfair of us to expect they can.)
And when, verse 4, “his spirit departs, he returns to the earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” Even the best of humanity—the richest and wisest; the most creative and innovative; the most powerful and influential—eventually stops breathing and returns to the ground. And, when they do, all they did, said, and were; all they contributed, built, and amassed, dies with them. Don’t praise them!
Now, we can appreciate, honour, mimic, and applaud lives well-lived. In fact, we should. Proverbs 13:20 says, “He who walks with [the wise] will be wise.”
And, throughout the Bible, God raised up wise men and women to be followed: Moses, Elijah, Deborah, David, Priscilla, and Peter. Paul was self-aware that this was part of his calling. He said to the Corinthians, “Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me” (1 Cor 4:16). To the Philippians, “join in following my example” (Phil 3:17).
I should learn from and value other people. But that’s different than trusting them with the state of my heart, the meaning of my life, the worth of my self, the length of my days, the value of my time, the success of my work, the definition of truth, the weight of my sins, and the fate of my soul. They’re just people. I’m not going to trust them with a trust that leads to worship.
And yet, the temptation for such idolatry is ever-present, isn’t it?
“Give thanks to Elon Musk, for he is good; his love endures forever.”
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from Hollywood, which does not change like shifting shadows.”
“’The science’” is perfect, refreshing the soul. ‘Academia’ is trustworthy, making wise the simple.”
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for Trump is with me.”
Now, because they’ve rejected God, our world has no choice but to trust in people, to seek salvation from people, to find meaning in people, and to worship people. But how sad it is when those who belong to God make the same mistake, following fellow Christians instead of Christ; hanging on the fallible words of fallible preachers instead of the infallible words of the infallible God.
“Do not trust in princes, in mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.”Without exception, all people are hugely limited in their understanding, abilities, foresight, wisdom, strength, endurance, consistency, morality, and, ultimately, years of life and will inevitably “return to the earth.” For those reasons, people are untrustworthy. (So don’t praise them!)
GOD IS TRUSTWORTHY
So, where can we turn with life’s most existential questions and our most foundational needs? Is there anyone on whom we can ultimately rely? Of course there is. God is trustworthy (so do praise him!).
[146:5] Those who seek refuge and deliverance in people will be disappointed. But blessed, happy, favoured are those who run to God—and not just any God, the God of Jacob, the covenant God of Israel, the unchanging and holy One. Trust him in times of need, go to him for reality-shaping truth, listen to him when he tells you who you are, hope in him when you recognize your need for salvation.
Why? Because while even the princes of humanity are ultimately powerless, “the God of Jacob … made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever” (v. 6a).
By the power of his word all that is came to be and all that is continues to be because he’s eternally faithful. He speaks, it happens. He promises, it a lock.
While people expire, our thoughts perishing like the temporary musings they are, forgotten or replaced by newer ideas, the Lord and his thoughts are forever true. That is unrivalled, trustworthy power. Why would we go anywhere else with our needs and our praise?
And, as we keep reading Psalm 146, we’re reminded that our Heavenly Father, the all-powerful God of the universe, condescends to help us. In verses 7 through 9, the psalmist lists nine examples of God’s power and faithfulness as he cares for his people. [146:7–9] Only God can do these things. Only he can be trusted to come through.
The most altruistic and philanthropic people in the world are still sinners, still selfish, still limited in their scope of service, knowledge of needs, and strategy for aid. It’s not that they do no good, it’s that they can never do enough good or even know the greatest good.
Contrast that with the Lord who is unlimited in his holiness, power, wisdom, care, and compassion. Go to him! Hope in him! He is totally and ultimately reliable! He alone knows our deepest needs, can separate those from our fallen wants, and bring us to our glorious end.
The books of the Bible form an inspired choir, singing this song in perfect harmony: God is trustworthy! [2 Kgs 18:5–6; Pss 4:5; 13:5; 40:4; 56:3–4; Isa 12:2 Jer 17:7–8]
We’re being invited to sing along this morning, brothers and sistesr: God is trustworthy. We can trust him with our decisions, with our families, with our children, with our friends, with our jobs, with our health, with our finances.
We can trust him with our disappointments, with our doubts, with our discouragement, with our stress, with our anxiety, with our trauma, with our questions, with our loneliness, with our neediness.
We can trust him with our deficiencies, with our rebellion, with our sins, with our forgiveness, with our salvation, with our lives. We can trust him with our pasts, with our presents, and with our futures.
Ultimately, people (including ourselves, by the way) cannot be relied upon for what is most needed. Only God can because only “our God saves, our God saves; there is hope in his name. Mourning turns to songs of praise.” How? Because “our God saves.”
While people are not trustworthy, God very much is. So, the psalmist says, praise him! [146:1–2, 10]
God is wholly trustworthy, so worship him with your whole self for your whole life, no matter what’s happening. He reigns eternally and so his dependability reigns with him knowing no bounds. Don’t worship people. Don’t revere yourself. Praise the Lord! He is good and powerful, leading, guiding, speaking, saving, and keeping. Hallelujah!