Psalm 146 - NIV
1. Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
2. I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
3. Do not put your trust in princes,
in human beings, who cannot save.
4. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.
5. Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God.
6. He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them—
he remains faithful forever.
7. He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
8. the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
the Lord loves the righteous.
9. The Lord watches over the foreigner
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
10. The Lord reigns forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord.
Devotional from Hannah Elliott
What do you do when you feel like it’s all gone a bit wrong? When you don’t have the answer to solve the problem? Maybe you’ve taken on one too many things or it feels like the circumstance is spiralling out of control?
There is a small church in the middle of Mumbai, India, who felt like it was all going wrong. This church doesn’t have a wealthy congregation; in fact most of the people who go to this church are living in slums, in extreme poverty. Families are hungry, school is a luxury, work is exhausting. Each day feels like a battle for survival. Then the monsoon arrives. Just when it felt like it couldn’t get any worse, people’s houses are flooded, businesses are ruined and hard-to-get food is even scarcer still. Disaster!
So the people in the church came together to pray. And they praised God for His goodness. Faithfully they came together to pray and worship everyday after the floods began. They started a rice bank, bringing one cup as often as they could. In the midst of the disaster, the rice bank saved lives. People in the church who had lost the little they had were able to eat. And the rice seemed to multiply! Even though the contributions were small, they gathered enough rice to feed their church AND a church nearby who was also in great need!
We worship a God who is bigger than the worst disasters. Who made the whole earth; everything we see around us. Who is all powerful and restores those who are feeling vulnerable. We trust in a God who is more able than any other person on earth. Who works through the ordinary and the extraordinary to help us. Who is always there for us, and invites us to hope in His plan. Praise the Lord my soul!
As Eugene Peterson finishes Psalm 146, ‘God’s in charge - always! Hallelujah!’.
Hannah Elliott lives in Belfast and is part of Tearfund's Youth and Emerging Generation Team. She is passionate about seeing our generation pursue an end to extreme poverty! When Hannah isn't excitedly talking about how we can change the world, she loves brunch and a big walk at the North Coast.