What a feeling of letdown and disappointment. The person you were counting on and depending on for help has not come through for you. It could be a friend, relative, or neighbor. Perhaps a business associate, banker, or politician. Sometimes these disappointments are just minor irritations or inconveniences such as a ride to the store or an appointment, or help in fixing up the garage. Other times it could be something very important such as getting the loan that was promised or a company’s promise of pension payments. We’ve all been letdown by others at some point in our life, sometimes even left wondering who, if anyone, we can trust. Our psalm for today addresses such an issue, and also points us to the one we can trust.
Every few years there are elections for congressmen, senators, members of parliament, and other government leaders. They make all sorts of promises to hopefully ensure their election. Sometimes these promises are for very important issues such as social security and medical care for the elderly and those in need. Perhaps we have worked at a company faithfully for many years with their promise that after retirement there will be a nice pension. A bank or a financial company has promised that our investments are secure. Each of these can, and sometimes has let people down, many times with serious consequences. Man is an inadequate savior to put our hope and trust in, whether it is a government agency or leader, or an individual we rely on for help, as our psalmist warns us (vs. 3-4). They are a false hope, and usually cannot deliver what they have promised.
So who can we trust and hope in? The psalmist answers this question in verse 5. God is the hope and help of anyone in need. Are we oppressed? Are we hungry, whether literally or figuratively? Are we bound in any type of prison? The Lord God is our hope (vs. 7). He is there for the blind, the discouraged, the stranger or alien, and the fatherless and widows (vs. 8-9). God cares for the poor and afflicted (Luke 4:18-21; 7:21-23).
People are fallible. We all make mistakes, and we are all limited in what we are able to do and accomplish, which is why we are often disappointed and let down when we trust in our fellow human beings. Our trust is best placed in God, the Creator of heaven and earth, and who reveals all truth to us (vs. 6). He mercifully reaches out to those in need, and they can put their confidence and belief in Him.
God takes note of those who mistreat others, who take advantage and abuse the trust that was misplaced in them. The psalmist says that God turns the way of the wicked upside down (vs. 9). God’s plans overturns and upsets the way of the wicked, because His values are the complete opposite of those of society. The unsaved just cannot understand believers when we live by Biblical standards and values.
Our psalmist both began and ended this psalm with a call-out to praise the Lord. He must have known from experience that when we make a habit of praising God, it takes our minds off of our problems and shortcomings, and focuses instead on God. When we are praising God we consider and appreciate His character. Praise causes us to look away from all of our earthly concerns and matters, and to look instead to heavenly and eternal matters. The Lord God, alone, is the one whom we can fully trust and rely on, and He is worthy of all our praise.
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