Today is a day of apprehension.

I’m feeling it. Are you?

What is the future for our country? What will it be like in four years? Is this the end of America, or its saving?

For some, it’s apprehension. For others, adulation.

I’ve been dwelling on Psalm 146 for the last several months, and it especially rings true today.

Psalm 146 focuses on a singular question: Who do you believe can save you?

And a close second is: What kind of character do they have?

Ultimately Psalm 146 makes us reflect on who we are attached to: God or others.

Brief Context

Reading the Psalms

In a sense, every Psalm is a commentary on Psalm 1.

Psalm 1 presents for us the two ways, the two paths, of life—one leading to flourishing (walking the ways of God), and the other leading to failing (walking with the enemies of God).

The rest of the Psalms comment on how hard, confusing, blessed, depressing, and gratifying it is to attach to the God of love (the covenant hesed spoken of in Ps. 136) in a world full of suffering, pain, and evil.

Reading Israel’s History

Not only do we read each Psalm through Psalm 1, but we also must remember Israel’s history as the backdrop for the Psalms, a history of continued invasion and destabilization by empires (by princes), a history of alternating trust in God and then abandoning God to trust others for salvation (other princes and kings).

The Psalms both speak into the lived history of Israel, and they transcend that history to speak to Israel’s later life for the last 2000 years, and speak to the life we now live.

The rise and fall of empires and the fickle faith of humans is no surprise to the Psalms, and through them, those who read the Psalms shouldn’t be surprised either.

And so we read…

Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortals, in whom there is no help. (Ps. 146: 3)

Help = Salvation

“Help” carries the meaning of salvation. The point of the Psalm is to focus us on where we place our salvation, who we believe can save us.

As Psalm 121: 1 asks, “I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from?” and immediately answers in v. 2, “My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.”

We are told not to place our trust in princes (or presidents, or politics, or national greatness) because they offer no salvation.

Why? Two reasons.

First, because they are mere mortals, ones whose gift of breath (life) will eventually depart, and they will return to the dust of the earth.

When their breath departs, they return to the earth. (v. 4)

God formed us from the dust, and gave the breath of life in our lungs (Gen. 2). Our life and being comes from God. Because a mere mortal cannot hold on to their own life, they cannot offer us a real salvation or lasting help.

Princes and Presidents live on the same borrowed time and fleeting breath as we do, which means they are also susceptible, like us all, to “rage against the dying of the light,” and all the bad behavior that entails as we defend ourselves, our legacies, our names, and glories against the inevitable sands of times (“Father time always wins,” as the professional athletes say when their career is coming to an end).

Second, as mere mortals, their plans won’t last.

…on that very day (of death) their plans perish. (v. 4)

How much more the plans of a president, or a Congress, that can barely get anything done without tripping all over themselves?

Salvation can’t come from those who only make plans but can’t carry them out!

So, after two short verses with two reasons why we should not place our trust, our hope, and relatedly, our affections and attachments, on princes and presidents, Psalm 146 makes a drastic turn to God, and why we should look to God for help, for salvation, for deliverance.

God is Stronger and Wiser and Kind

What is the character of the one who really can save us?

The good enough parent who fosters secure attachment is one who is stronger and wiser and kinder than us, who is able to meet our needs and overcome our distresses (stronger) in ways that are suitable and appropriate for our long-term development (wiser), and wants to do these things (kinder)

Psalm 146 says that God is all of these, as the one who made the heavens and the earth, the one who speaks truthfully and faithfully, who holds relationships together when there are ruptures, and feeds those who are distressed with hunger.

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 for ever;
who executes justice for the oppressed;
who gives food to the hungry. (Ps. 146: 5-7)

These are all essential aspects of a secure attachment figure, but on a cosmic level.

I’m using attachment language here because it is almost as if God acts…

As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust. (Psalm 103:13-14)

These are the essential characteristics of one who can save us.

And what is to be done by the one who has these characteristics?

Psalm 146 ends by telling us what God does, not just who God is.

God Protects the Vulnerable

What this stronger, wise, and gentle protector does is…

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. (Ps. 146:8-9)

This is the active resume of the one who saves us.

These are the actions and attributes of the one who saves us.

All else are “mortals, in whom there is no salvation.”

And I don’t know about you, but that sure sounds like Isaiah 61:1-2, the same passage that Jesus read from to define his ministry (Luke 4:14-21).

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor

The Choice: Attached to the Lord? Or trusting in others?

Psalm 146 forces us to choose, just like Psalm 1, between the way of God (who is life and love) and another way (which is ultimately the way of death).

Jesus also forced the same choice when he read Isaiah 61, the choice between trusting in God’s ways or the ways of princes, presidents, politicians, and national greatness.

And the people almost threw Jesus off a cliff because he was forcing things just like Psalm 146 did (Luke 4: 22-31).

Only the Lord, the one who comes as the gentle protector, the stronger, wiser, and more loving one in whom we can place our trust without being exploited or betrayed, only he can truly save us.

Jesus, the Lord, is the Word (of Psalm 146) who took on flesh and dwelt among us.

Let us hold on to the one who is holding on to us (Phi. 3:12).

Let us attach to the one who is already attached to us.

All other attachments are, as the prophets remind us, idols and idolatry.

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