Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb19990829.htm

PSALMS: DIARIES OF GODLY OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS
Psalm One Hundred And Forty-Six - Call To REPLACE Confidence In Human Leaders With Trust In God
(Psalm 146:1-10)
  1. Introduction
    1. With the dearth of quality leaders that exists in today's world, people who follow can tend to make a false "god" out of almost any half-way decent human leader who comes in view!
    2. That is dangerous for the follower, because once the frailty or faults of the leader shows up, the resulting disillusionment can wreck havoc. In the case of failure in church leaders, can it harm even one's faith!
    3. Psalm 146 is a fitting call to shift our total confidence away from human leaders and unto the Lord alone!
  2. Call To REPLACE Confidence In Human Leaders With Trust In God, Psalm 146:1-10.
    1. The psalmist opens his song, telling himself to praise Jahweh, Ps. 146:1.
    2. Then, he asserts he will praise Jahweh all during his earthly life (chayay), singing praises to this Elohim as long as he lived, Ps. 146:2.
    3. The cause of this praise is the author's realization of the upsetting fault of putting too much confidence in human leaders instead of in the Lord, with the result that one who fails here can become unstable, 146:3-4:
      1. Human leaders are not objects worth investing one's total reliance (batach), for they are but the sons of man who are mortal and die, returning to the earth as sinners, Psalm 14 6:3-4a with Gen. 3:17-19.
      2. Human leaders have their plans come to nothing when they die, making their influence fleeting, 146:4b.
      3. By way of implication, one who puts his complete confidence in human leaders can be hurt in having those leaders pass away and their helpful leadership efforts fade quickly away.
    4. In contrast to such temporal leaders, one whose help is the Elohim of Jacob, the Creator of heaven and earth, is blesses as this Leader remains faithful forever, Ps. 146:5-6!
    5. Indeed, when one considers how well this Eternal Leader God functions in His leadership role, it can only lead to a continual praise of God by His followers so that they continually trust in Him and not in men:
      1. The Eternal Leader God judges the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry, Ps. 146:7a.
      2. He sets the unjustly imprisoned free, Ps. 1456:7b.
      3. Jahweh gives sight to the blind, something no human leader can do, Ps. 146:8a.
      4. He lifts up those who are overburdened, and expresses His love to the righteous, Ps. 146:8b,c.
      5. God watches over the alien in a strange land and sustains the fatherless and widow, all people who are at a sociological disadvantage to others around them, Ps. 146:9a.
      6. However, He frustrates the ways of the wicked who oppose righteousness, Ps. 146:9b.
      7. This Eternal Leader God also reigns forever, from one generation to the next, Ps. 146:10a,b.
      8. Accordingly, having this Eternal Leader God as one's Leader of ultimate confidence causes His follower to praise Him unlike any follower of a mere mortal can do! (Ps. 146:10c)
Lesson: (1) Though God calls upon us to honor and obey governmental overseers (1 Peter 2:13-17) and church leaders (Hebrews 13:17), our CONFIDENCE should not resort in THEM so much as in GOD, the ONLY ETERNAL, FAITHFUL, STABLE Leader of all generat ions! Otherwise, we WILL be hurt and disappointed when confronted with their mortality or failings as sinners! (2) The effective way to KEEP our focus on GOD rather than HUMANS for such a confidence is to keep our PRAISE on God as opposed our overly pr aising humans, Ps. 146:1-2, 10.

Application: (1) We must watch that we do not make a "god" out of any HUMAN we know, no matter how godly or reliable or effective they have been in overseeing our welfare! After all, such a party is ONLY mortal, and that means he is a SINN ER and can let us down, cf. Gen. 3:17-19. (2) This means not making a "god" out of a government official, medical doctor, psychologist or counselor, a pastor or church leader, law officer, military general, employer, parent, friend, etc! (3) We do w ell to PRACTICE our PRAISE of GOD on a CONTINUAL basis instead of overly praising human leaders to avoid being hurt or disappointed by their mortality or sinfulness!