Psalm 146

Reading for September 24, 2012          Psalm 146

When you read Psalm 146, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? I think of Jesus.

I see a great similarity between verses 7-9 and Jesus’ affirmation of his call to ministry in Luke 4:18-19,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

    for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,

    that the blind will see,

that the oppressed will be set free,

and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”

This similarity is also present in Isaiah’s prophecy of the Messiah in Isaiah 35: 5-6,

And when he comes, he will open the eyes of the blind

    and unplug the ears of the deaf.

The lame will leap like a deer,

    and those who cannot speak will sing for joy!

Psalm 146 can also be heard in Jesus’ words to John the Baptist’s disciples,

“the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor” (Matthew 11:5).

The Messiah not only cares for his people, he is also caring for all creation: “He made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them” (Psalm 146:6). This verse carries forward to the Apostle Paul’s affirmation of the supremacy of Christ in Colossians 1:16b-17,

“Everything was created through him and for him.

He existed before anything else,

    and he holds all creation together.”

Can there be any wonder why the psalmist opens and closes this psalm with, “Praise the Lord!” and vows to,

“Let all that I am praise the Lord.

    I will praise the Lord as long as I live.

    I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath”

Remembering Jesus’ words at the end of the parable of the Good Samaritan seems appropriate here,

“Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.””

Luke 10:37

Sē’lah

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What word or phrase in today’s reading of the Psalms

 attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

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Reading for September 25, 2012          Psalm 147