Tuesday 27th January

Quiet your heart and mind. Consider breathing deeply and exhale slowly. Listen deeply. What words of praise do you hear in your soul?

“Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song."

Psalm 95:2

Ponder: Sing a short song of praise. Sit quietly and let it ring on in your heart.

Scripture

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, my soul. 
 I will praise the Lord all my life; 
    I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. 
 Do not put your trust in princes, 
    in human beings, who cannot save. 
 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; 
    on that very day their plans come to nothing. 
 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, 
    whose hope is in the Lord their God. 
 He is the Maker of heaven and earth, 
    the sea, and everything in them— 
    he remains faithful forever. 
 He upholds the cause of the oppressed 
    and gives food to the hungry. 
The Lord sets prisoners free, 
     the Lord gives sight to the blind, 
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, 
    the Lord loves the righteous. 
 The Lord watches over the foreigner 
    and sustains the fatherless and the widow, 
    but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. 
 The Lord reigns forever, 
    your God, O Zion, for all generations. 
Praise the Lord. 

Psalm 146

First pray this prayer for yourself. Read it 2 more times slowly. How does it bless you or help you?

Who is My Help?

Verse 5 says “whose help is the God of Jacob" (emphasis added). God is Help itself. And yet, so often, my heart seeks other help – other things, other people or (most often) myself and my own ideas. 

This psalm calls us higher. After briefly warning us to not place our trust in anyone else, it turns our eyes toward God Himself, who is worthy of our total trust and all our praise. 

All other objects of trust (including leaders, others, and ourselves) can do nothing to save; they and their plans will pass away. But God is different. He is the faithful, eternal, sovereign Creator King who saves us and acts for our good, thwarting evil. Only He can truly help. 

The burdens listed here are heavy: oppression, hunger, prison, blindness, depression, living as a foreigner, fatherlessness & widowhood. In the midst of the pull to trust what we can see (instead of the God we can’t) for help with our heavy burdens, verse 5 holds out a beautiful promise and call to us: “Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God." 

Praise God we have Someone fully worthy of our trust and hope! 

Where do you need God’s help today? How are you tempted to place your trust and hope in something or someone less worthy? How have you seen God help and save you? 

Esther Burnham, Teacher Development Coordinator, USA

Now ask God who you can pray this prayer for. Write out the prayer related to them. Ask God if you should send it to them.

Kids’ Question: Who is your hero? How does what you like about that hero point you to Jesus? How is Jesus better than your hero?