Praise God And Live It Out (Psalm 146) - Part 1
The reason I originally wrote the booklet that this post comes from is that our circles have few practical and short books. Most of the people asking about, "What does a faith-for-all-of-life do?" are full-time trade workers. This may not have been the case in the early days of Reconstructionist thinking, but the makeup has changed. However, our literature hasn't.
We have many books that extensively deal with what we should believe, how to think, but little on what we should do except for in particular, and repetitive examples. A rare exception is Joel McDurmon's Restoring America One County At A Time. However, it leads to the next problem. Our books are too big.
Someone asks a question on how to apply something, think about something, or what Reconstructionists believe about a specific doctrine, and our answer is a 150+ page book. The answer is not condemning our modern cultures failure to read large books, but adapting and encouraging them to read further in and further on into more hefty books. Write small booklets and light a fire in their heart to consume more.
To use this post as an example, I try to explain why statism is stealing praise from God, and how to praise God by representing Him to your neighbor in actionable ways in under 20 pages. This is a long article but a concise book. Like, "in under a half-an-hour," kind of book. Let's dig in.
Psalm 146
"Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord!"
That'll sing!
This psalm focuses on praising our Lord - ascribing to Him the glory He already has, for His name is above every name.
Most Christians know that God calls us to praise Him and that such a call is not an optional component of Christianity. But do we understand what that means? What is praise? And how do we praise God?
Some common definitions of praise include:
The singing and praying that occurs during the worship service at church.
The time we set apart for devotions and other instances of focusing our thoughts on God.
Every part of the worship service is praise, including preaching and communion.
There may be some other views held about praise that I did not write here, but those are not the definition of praise in this psalm. The point here is not to prove any of these ideas categorically false. I want to focus on what is left out, which is the very thing this psalm teaches us.
Learning by the bookends
Many modern readers miss the importance of structure in the Bible. This facet of writing was crucial to writers in ancient times, especially the Hebraic writers. Among various literary techniques employed in Scripture, you’ll find chiastic structures. To find a chiasm, ask this question of any portion of text you are studying, "What does it begin and close with?" The answer will help determine the main point of the section of Scripture under consideration.
Psalm 146 opens and closes with the identical phrase, "Praise the Lord!" These bookends tell us that what falls between is informing the reader (or singer) to that end. No matter how foreign it may seem at first to the subject of praise, we must mold our mind to the text so that it is no longer foreign; this is an aspect of obedience to God and submission to His Word.
Here is a visual of the Psalm:
1 - Praise God (vs. 1)
1 - There is no salvation in princes (this would include influential people in communities). (vs. 3)
1 - A prince's schemes die with him. (vs. 4)
1 - The blessed man finds his hope in God. (vs. 5)
2 - God is the source of all things (including life). (vs. 6)
2 - God brings about justice, righteousness, and salvation. (vs. 7-9)
2 - Praise God (vs. 10)
The center of the chiasm indicates the main point of the psalm. The blessed man finds his hope in God. We could also say that hope in God is a mark of a blessed man. Working out from the center to either end will extrapolate on the main point, usually with positive and negative examples. The negative is the prince’s "salvation" plans. The positive is God's perfect redemption.
The logic of the Psalm
There is a logic that has either been ignored or suppressed in the Church. God's people following His Law will work out "practical" salvation in history (helping poor, blind oppressed, etc.), but there is the temptation of leaving welfare ("practical" salvation) to rulers. Regardless, to allow this to happen passively or actively is to trust in princes. The opposite of praising God.
Practical Thesis
From the chiasm in this psalm, I would make this argument: applying our blessed hope in God results in the care of the lowly and the establishment of righteousness, whereas confidence in man results in failed plans, initiatives, legislation, subsidies, and whatever else they might promise.
The Let Down of The State
Q: Why should we not trust in princes (civil magistrates)?
A: "...in whom there is no salvation." "When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish."
1. Salvation is not something a prince, king, queen, president, prime minister, legislature, senator, governor, or mayor can provide. You might say, "Yes, yes, of course, a mere man cannot be the substitutionary sacrifice to atone for my sin." Salvation, though, is not only applied to our soul in the Bible. Here a few examples from the Bible that could be considered "salvation" provided by God:
God saves through the supernatural destruction of enemies (Exodus 14:30)
God saves nations covenanted to Him when they go to war against aggressive oppressors (Numbers 10:9)
God saves nations from plunderers (Joshua 2:16)
God protects His people from their enemies (Psalms 18:6)
God saves humble people by bringing down prideful people (Psalms 18:27)
God saves sailors from storms (Psalm 107:23-32)
This list is not exhaustive, but it helps demonstrate that we cannot limit God's saving to only our souls. God is in the business of salvation in many different ways and areas of our lives. This is another reason we should praise God and not trust in princes.
2. Princes are not eternal. All of them will shrivel up and die, and so goes their promises and plans too. Isaiah 2:22 sums it up nicely, "Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?" Their work has an impact for a time after their "rule," but neither the prince nor work lasts forever. Unlike the princes, God Himself and His sovereign plans for the future. Instead of looking to a new party, election, tax scheme, or anything else princes and their collaborators promise, look to and trust in God for the renewal of your country.
Q: Is trusting in princes that serious of an offense to God?
A: I believe what the prophet has to say is very helpful in Jeremiah 17:5,
“Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.” (emphasis mine) Jeremiah goes a step further with what we have outlined so far; trust in any man, instead of God, is an active rejection of (turning from) God.
Q: Is there hope for my nation?
A: Yes! National renewal is the result of obedience to God:
“If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. Your threshing shall last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last to the time for sowing. And you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land securely. I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. And I will remove harmful beasts from the land, and the sword shall not go through your land.” Leviticus 26:3-6
The Doing of God
Q: Why is God praised?
A: "... who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin."
1. God is the sovereign maker of everything. Solids, gases, and liquids make up the natural world. We even refer to the reality of how the world works as the "natural order of things," meaning the way God ordained the world to work. However, the "natural world" did not always exist. Solids, gases, and liquids had to be created. We only have an ordered universe because God made the world and gave it a particular order. The natural is entirely supernatural, being the work of our transcendent God. God is the Creator and to be praised; man is not. Do not trust in princes.
2. God, in His sovereignty, brings about justice for people under oppression or affliction. Whether done by others, sickness, or weather and natural disasters, all misery originates from sin. God is the only one who can right wrongs, make raging storms still, make disease vanish, and cause crooked men to walk straight according to God's Law, but man cannot. Do not trust in princes.
Representation
Q: "How does God bring justice for orphans, widows, and the oppressed and sickly?"
A: Through His people. The singers of the psalm.
This Psalm assumes something fundamental to the Bible; representation of God by man. Man was created to have dominion over the world, but under God as his representative. Since the fall, this responsibility has shifted to God's chosen people (the Church). Some have referred to this ethical reality as delegated authority or vice-regency.
Delegated authority from God might be the most dreaded point of doctrine, which is plastered all over the Old and New Testaments. We are called to bring about justice on behalf of God.
Q: “How does God provide for the poor, widowed, and orphaned?"
A: There are quite a few ways we see God doing this through His people in Scripture.
There are gleaning laws (Leviticus 19:9; 23:22). In the Old Testament, any crops that were dropped or missed during the harvest were to be left. The poor were then allowed, with the landowner's permission, to eat of the leftovers. The edges and corners of the field were also left unharvested for the poor.
The poor tithe is required every three years and was a tenth of one's increase. (Deuteronomy 14:28f)
Children are to materially take care of their parents when their parents are too old to take care of themselves. (Mark 7:8-13)
A local gathering of believers may also help provide for "true widows" in their midst. (1 Timothy 5:9-10)
Providing an opportunity to work for those who are in poverty but not lazy. (Proverbs 6:9-11; 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12)
Q: “How does God give justice to the oppressed?”
A:
Christian men are morally required to respond to cries for help, as in the case-law regarding the woman whose screams go unheard while being raped outside the city. (Deuteronomy 22:25-27) It assumes men of faith will be men of action, coming to help if screams are heard. Christians with this character would result in a society where neighbors come to one another's aid when oppressors are on the scene.
By establishing Christian courts once again, the oppressed will see justice served.
Opposition to political corruption and anti-Christian legislation.
Advocating for children in the womb outside of murder mills in your community (abortion providers) is another way Christians can respond to the oppressed.
For a Christian to exempt himself from the duties required by God's Law is a choice not to praise God. God determines the way He will work out His healing, execution of justice, and His restoration of the oppressed - by the work of His people. To hand it off to another is to deny praise to God. To call princes to do what God says He will help you do and bless you for doing is to praise the State instead of God.
When we walk not according to God's Law, we make Him a liar.
How can I walk out my praise?
The second part of this series will cover just that. We will look at each group of people mentioned in Psalm 146 and list out some applications of representing God to them through service. Effectively, this post developed the logic behind praise in this portion of Scripture, and the second will set forth a practical vision for a city-on-a-hill in your city.