Image from howardcarter.blogspot.com
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 all my life long. Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help. When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish. Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their 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 strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord! (Psalm 146)
If I had had my way, I probably wouldn't have chosen to know the Lord. There was a time that I resented having to go to church, and I did not like my father for making me go; until that day I paid attention to the sermon, in Spanish yet, and I heard the Good News; I needed to invite Jesus into my heart and life, and I did. I thank the Lord for fathers like mine, who decided they would expose their children to the Truth. I pray for those fathers who don't know to decide this, and for those children who never "got it" and continued on their merry way and now find themselves completely and totally lost. David knew that to know God was to know the source of true happiness, and true happiness brings gratitude and gratitude brings praise. He sensed the need for praise as a child and got involved, as he matured, he kept praising God and as the graphic above shows, praising God should be a life-long endeavor.
And not only praise, but hope comes from the Lord; and from hope come the blessings that the psalmist outlines here: justice for the oppressed, food for the hungry, freedom for the prisoners, sight for the blind, the uplifting of those who are down, protection for the strangers, and orphans and widows. The wicked have chosen their own road, and that road leads to destruction. May the Lord help us bring those on that road off of it, and on the right path.
PRAYER: AWESOME Father, I praise You for who You are and what You share with me. Help me to share it with others. Help me to guide others to come to You. This I pray in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
