Psalm 146 ESV
Put Not Your Trust in Princes
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.
Today I had the opportunity to spend some time with a young man who is on a radical journey with God. He is scheduled to have surgery in a few weeks. Surgeons will removed 50% of one lung and 20% of another. Keep him in your prayers.
I have watched this man grow over the past months since his diagnosis. He has been through fear, pain, suffering, guilt, the whole range of emotions. I cannot explain to you what happens when I listen to him talk now. God shows up so intently; I feel what's in this man's heart. He knows what he's living with now is a result of poor life choices and he accepts that (Jesus can heal him, pray for that). He also accepts that his Jesus loves him and intends to work mightily through him. I believe that! He opens his mouth and Word comes out. I love it! He's destined to preach.
He speaks of reaching those who are doing the things he used to do.
He speaks of telling them how much he hurt his body with what he's done.
He speaks of telling them how much Jesus loves them and can save them.
He's going to do it. Jesus wants him to.
And I want to watch him let Jesus work through him to reach the world.
