Psalm 146

On the surface of it, I have to admit that the title of this blog might be a little hard to believe. If you look around at the world and all the awful things that happen every day, it’s pretty easy to conclude that God is not taking care of very much.

But I think that’s one of the dangers of “looking around” at everyone else. When we look in on tragedies from the outside, I think they can appear more awful to us than they might seem even to those in the midst of them, because God gives special strength to those who are suffering.

I know this is true because I’ve lived it. When my father was dying from ALS, there were many in our community who were nearly beside themselves with grief and anguish—and that was before he died. By contrast, my mother and the rest of our family had a definite sense of calm in the storm. There was a prevailing peace—even on the night my father passed away, even on the day we said goodbye and buried him, even now.

So, no matter how awful it looks, and no matter how bad things get, I still think the psalmist wrote truth when he wrote this: “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.” (vs 5-9)

Who isn’t included in that list? We’ve got the oppressed, the poor, the bound-up, the crippled, the depressed, the righteous, the wicked, the foreigners, the orphans, and the widows. Did He miss anyone?

In His own way and in His own time, God really is taking care of everyone. He is working out His big plan in this world—for the world as a whole, and for each of us as individuals. His plans will succeed. Ours, on the other hand… well, the psalmist mentioned those, too: “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.” (vs 3-4)

The older I get, the more I see that God is working out His plans in this world. He is not limited in meeting our needs, and He is not limited in knowing what we need. As far as I can be a help to Him in realizing those plans for me or others, I say, Use me, Lord Jesus! But as far as I will be a hindrance to those plans, I am learning to pray, Lord, just help me stay out of Your way!