Get the app2017 Belmont University Lenten Devotional GuideSample
I love these last few psalms, a collection of beautiful variations on the repeating theme of “Hallelujah!” (Hebrew for “Praise Yahweh!”). Psalm 146 is no exception, opening with a double hallelujah: Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul!
But then the songwriter of Psalm 146 goes somewhere a little different—a warning not to put our hope in princes and other human leaders, for they will fade away, the same as any of the rest of us, frail beings of dust that we are (146:3–4). Rather, the psalmist calls us to trust in Yahweh, the LORD, and spends the rest of the song extoling the virtues of our God.
Our God, the one we praise, is characterized in this psalm primarily as Creator and Liberator, who made everything we see (146:6).
This God, the one we are called to follow, offers justice to the oppressed, food for the hungry, freedom for the captives, sight to the blind, hope for those who are bowed down or crushed or marginalized by the walls we humans constantly put up between those who are “different” from us (146:7–8).
This God, the one in whom we trust, watches over the stranger and the foreigner in our land, the orphan and the widow, those with no one to speak for them (146:9).
This God is the one who will reign forever (146:10). Hallelujah indeed!
This God is our hope and the one whom we are called to emulate. No matter how much human politics and human love of power try to sell us a different story—that God is only for us, only for me and mine, that God is embodied in human rulers, that God thinks it’s okay to shut out everyone who looks or thinks or speaks differently from my own personal experience. This is what the world tries to tell us, but that is not the God we sing of in Psalm 146.
Colossian 1:9–14, the New Testament reading for today, reminds us that the God of the Psalm 146 continues to call us to live our lives worthy of our faith and the grace that we have received—to bear fruit out of our ever-deepening knowledge of this God who is characterized by His love for the other, the least of these, the “heretics” and the “sinners” in eyes of humans. May we indeed be strong and joyful as we share in the work of our LORD. Hallelujah.
AMANDA C. MILLER
Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies
College of Theology & Christian Ministry
But then the songwriter of Psalm 146 goes somewhere a little different—a warning not to put our hope in princes and other human leaders, for they will fade away, the same as any of the rest of us, frail beings of dust that we are (146:3–4). Rather, the psalmist calls us to trust in Yahweh, the LORD, and spends the rest of the song extoling the virtues of our God.
Our God, the one we praise, is characterized in this psalm primarily as Creator and Liberator, who made everything we see (146:6).
This God, the one we are called to follow, offers justice to the oppressed, food for the hungry, freedom for the captives, sight to the blind, hope for those who are bowed down or crushed or marginalized by the walls we humans constantly put up between those who are “different” from us (146:7–8).
This God, the one in whom we trust, watches over the stranger and the foreigner in our land, the orphan and the widow, those with no one to speak for them (146:9).
This God is the one who will reign forever (146:10). Hallelujah indeed!
This God is our hope and the one whom we are called to emulate. No matter how much human politics and human love of power try to sell us a different story—that God is only for us, only for me and mine, that God is embodied in human rulers, that God thinks it’s okay to shut out everyone who looks or thinks or speaks differently from my own personal experience. This is what the world tries to tell us, but that is not the God we sing of in Psalm 146.
Colossian 1:9–14, the New Testament reading for today, reminds us that the God of the Psalm 146 continues to call us to live our lives worthy of our faith and the grace that we have received—to bear fruit out of our ever-deepening knowledge of this God who is characterized by His love for the other, the least of these, the “heretics” and the “sinners” in eyes of humans. May we indeed be strong and joyful as we share in the work of our LORD. Hallelujah.
AMANDA C. MILLER
Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies
College of Theology & Christian Ministry
About this Plan
Through an intentional partnership between the Office of University Ministries and the College of Theology & Christian Ministry, this Lenten devotional guide has been created for our community. Our prayer is that the words found here will nourish and challenge you as you journey with Jesus to the cross during this Lenten season.
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We would like to thank the students and staff of Belmont University for providing this plan. For more information, please visit: www.BELMONT.edu
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