The happy person is one who trusts in the Lord. His hope is in the Lord and not in people. It is not necessarily wrong to trust in people. We have to do this in life. But the psalmist makes the point that people die and their plans perish with them. It is far better to trust in the Lord. The psalmist knows this because of his knowledge of the Lord¹s dealing with Israel. Israel learnt to trust in God first and foremost. The happy or blessed person is the one who trusts in God who has spoken through his Son Jesus. The psalmist points us to the Lord Jesus.

The Lord is the creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them (Ps.146:6). There is no one more powerful you can trust. Man¹s strength is limited and short-lived but the Lord is omnipotent. He created all things and he sustains all things. Are you trusting in him? The creator is none other than Jesus Christ. He is spoken of in the New Testament as the one through whom all things were created (John 1:3; Heb.1:2).

The Lord is the one who keeps truth forever (Ps.146:6), that is, he remains faithful forever. God was faithful in the Old Testament to his people even though many times they were unfaithful to him. God¹s faithfulness is nowhere more clearly seen than in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus was absolutely faithful to the heavenly Father and remains absolutely faithful to his people. How happy you are if you trust this ever-faithful one.

The Lord upholds justice for the oppressed and gives freedom to the prisoners (Ps.146:7). When Israel was oppressed the Lord delivered it time and time again. He even used oppression to chastise his people but he did not allow them to perish. He justly upheld his own cause. Jesus Christ upholds the cause of his oppressed church. Through the centuries the world has oppressed and persecuted the Christian Church, but the Lord Jesus has always maintained the cause of the church and it has never fallen. Jesus builds his church and it will not perish.

The Lord gives food to the hungry (Ps.146:7). Was not this the case in the wilderness when the Lord rained a mysterious wafer-life substance from heaven and fed his people? And did not Jesus feed the multitudes? And did he not teach his disciples not to be anxious about their material and physical needs but to trust in him? Make no mistake about it. Jesus looks after his people. How happy you are if you know this and you trust in him.

The Lord opens the eyes of the blind (Ps.146:8). When Jesus was on earth he literally restored sight to blind people. He also gave sight to the spiritually blind. His disciples did not understand all things but Jesus came and gave them understanding. That person is happy who has had his understanding enlightened by Jesus.

The Lord restores those who are bowed down (Ps.146:8). When his people became depressed he lifted them up out of despair. Remember how he did this with his prophets like Jonah and Elijah. Jesus likewise raised the spirits of his downcast disciples after his resurrection. He restored them and turned them into powerful preachers of the gospel. How blessed you are if you know Jesus can raise you up when your head is bowed down.

The Lord watches over the strangers and relieves the fatherless and the widow (Ps.146:9). Israel was required to make provision for the needs of strangers, that is, foreigners. She was also required to care for widows and their children. Jesus continued this heavenly care by requiring the church to care for widows. He also revolutionised the church by requiring it to go forth and reach out to the Gentile world, referred to here as 'strangers'. The heart of Jesus requires his people to reach the strangers. I was intrigued to see the word 'stranger' used by the Otago Synod of the Presbyterian Church when in 1868 it decided to expand its missionary operation to the 'huts and camps of the Chinese strangers within the gates.'

The point the psalmist is making is that a happy person trusts in the Lord and not in man. Man¹s help is short-lived because man must die and when he dies his plans perish with him (Ps.146:4). It is far better, says the psalmist, to trust in the Lord.

The happy person not only trusts in the Lord but he also praises the Lord all through his life (Ps.146:1-2; 10). Do we not have every cause to praise our Lord? He has loved us and cared for us. He will never fail us. People may be able to help us to some extent but the Lord¹s help is eternal and sure. It is this the psalmist would have us grasp. He would have his readers to trust in the Lord and not in people and have them praise the Lord all the days of their lives.

(Sermon Summary 1 Jan 2005 David Yan)