Every once in a while I hear someone say to somebody who has just gotten something great, "That shows that God really loves you." And, sometimes, I read Psalm 146 and wonder.
This psalm begins by acclaiming praise for God and disdaining trust in powerful men. They won't last. God will.
According to this psalm, God cares about the oppressed, the hungry, prisoners, the blind, immigrants, orphans, and widows.
We are to praise God, the psalmist tells us, because God is trustworthy and eternal.
Then the psalmist reminds us that God gives care to the oppressed, the hungry, prisoners, the blind, the burdened, immigrants, those without financial resources. (BTW, despite repeated canards, this is what the Old Testament God is like).
And this is what followers of God are called to do. God acts on earth through the people who are gathered to worship and to demonstrate God's power and love.
Psalm 146 provides a checklist for each church congregation: What have we done to ensure that prisoners can be released? What have we done to prevent blindness--have we opened a eye-clinic in a poor community, have we helped to distribute glasses to people who can't afford them? What are we doing about immigrants? What attention are we paying to people whose families aren't able to care for them, or to people without family?
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