Introduction—Psalm 146-II
You can’t have too much of a good thing, and there’s nothing better than digging into God’s Word. I’ve often told young Bible teachers, and have even reminded some who’ve been at it for a while, that every text has a thousand sermons. Preach them one at a time, because a sermon that tries to go everywhere at once gets nowhere. With that in mind, I’d like to continue our look at Psalm 146 and glean further insights from the great nuggets of wisdom contained in these verses, which are especially relevant for the modern church.
Apart from the chemical and biological composition of the body, there are two things that the human frame can’t live without—food and water. One may survive for a time without both, but it’s the lack of water that will most quickly take the life of the person who is without it. Likewise, there are two things that the human soul can’t live without—truth and hope. The two go together: truth, the most precious commodity in the universe, is essential to establishing hope. Hope that isn’t based on truth is in vain.
In our day, truth has become “relative.” It means one thing to one person and something entirely different to another. Ethics are considered “situational” and relative, and, in the minds of many, the concept of “moral absolutes” has no meaning. For many people, “truth” comes from any source except where from God has put it.
Think of it like this: when someone has been shipwrecked and is drifting around on the ocean, they’re floating on a body of water that covers two-thirds of the world’s surface, yet not one drop of it has any value for sustaining life. Many have died of thirst on the sea for want of fresh water. You simply can’t drink salt water, brackish water, or water that has been contaminated by outside sources.
The same is true for the source of what is fed to the soul. Jeremiah, quoting the Lord, wrote, “For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and they have hewn themselves . . . broken cisterns that can hold no water.” This is why our world today is shrouded in hopelessness and despair. There are “truth sources” (i.e., broken cisterns) in every corner of the world, but none can sustain the life of the soul. People live in hopelessness, and souls are entering a black eternity around the world because of the lack of living water—truth—and the hope of life that it brings to the soul.
But there is hope, even in a dry land! Psalm 103:1-5 tells us to “Bless the Lord, O my soul,” because it is He who forgives our iniquities, heals our diseases, redeems our lives from destruction, crowns us with loving kindness and tender mercies, and satisfies our mouths with good things, giving us renewed life and hope. The world may be a mess, and yet, in the midst of it all, our psalm tells us that we can find the sufficiency of hope! Psalm 107:9 says, “He satisfies the longing of the soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness.” If we feed on the world, we’ll be filled with dissatisfaction, but if we feed on the Word, the longing in our souls will be satisfied.
Saints, we are the only salt and light on this planet, and it’s only the work of the Holy Spirit that restrains utter lawlessness in our world today. We’re here for a reason, and it’s not just to get saved and then float on up to heaven! God has left us here to be salt and light in a dreary world, and that’s not easy. But Isaiah tells us, “You [God] will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because He trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3).
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