“Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. 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. 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. The Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord.” (Psalm 146 NIV)
Sometimes schools and churches pick a theme verse for the year. Our school did. Its theme is “Run to Christ” from Matthew 11:28: “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Our church is a little behind. What would have been a good theme verse for 2020? What summarizes all we’ve had to go through? Maybe Isaiah 40:6,8: “All people are like grass…. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” Or maybe Psalm 46:10: “Be still, and know that I am God.” I wonder, though, if this wouldn’t have been a good theme verse: “Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save.”
Because that’s exactly what we’ve done. We’ve put our trust in princes. In human beings. This year has provided undeniable proof of how we people crave someone to trust in. Just think of all the people we’ve raised up as examples and heroes and saviors. As a pastor, it’s been to hear Christians talk about the 2020 election. As if our hope as Christians depended on some man. As if one human being in the White House controls the future of the world and the church. No wonder we feel so hopeless! Maybe you avoided election news. You turned to sports. At least we had Giannis, right? The Bucks were going to win a championship. Not this year. But at least Aaron Rodgers is playing like an MVP again! There’s hope!
You see what I mean? It’s so easy for us to put our hope in human beings. 2020 was a year in which every group and tribe of people was holding up their heroes. George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Or police officers and essential workers. Or scientists and medicines. Or anybody who disapproves scientists and medicines. Who is it for you? Whom is your trust placed in? Everybody is trusting in somebody. In fact, even when that somebody fails or is proved wrong, we dig in our heels in support of our hero. Or we bounce along to the next person or movement.
That actually proves the Bible right! The Bible’s message is all about faith—about trusting. Every human being is made to trust. Our hearts crave to be filled by somebody. We don’t like to admit it, but every one of us craves a leader. A king. A savior. Someone to love and trust and hope in. We’re not complete on our own. So life becomes a searching for who can fill us. Who can inspire us. We seek it in relationships. In leaders. In heroes. We need someone to hope in.
For some reason, though, despite all these people held up as heroes, we haven’t found much hope. Do you know why? “Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save.” If your hope is placed in any human being, the result will always be the same: Disappointment. Because that hole in your heart and life isn’t Donald Trump-sized or Joe Biden-sized or Aaron Rodgers-sized. It isn’t the size of your mom or dad or even your best friend. It’s way bigger. It’s Jesus-sized. You have a Jesus-sized hole in your heart. Who is the only one who can fill a Jesus-sized whole? Jesus! Anything else is just going to bounce around and not fill you up.
God gives two reasons why no human being can ever fill you with hope. Why not trust in human beings? “Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save.” They cannot save. Human beings can’t save from poverty or racism or disease. What’s the chance they can save from sin and death and hell? Zero! A president can pardon a criminal, but can he take away sin? No! A quarterback can win a Super Bowl, but he can win eternal life? No way! In fact, every president and quarterback needs to be saved too. Every person you raise up, I can tear down. No one is perfect. Everyone is sinful. If you put your trust in princes, you’re not going to be saved.
But there’s a second reason. “When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.” Why not trust in human beings? They are going to die, and their plans will die with them. Isn’t that the truth? How many great plans, how many great leaders, have come to nothing at death? In 2020, we’ve seen exactly what God predicted: Lots of people not saving. Lots of people dying. If you trust in princes, your plans aren’t going to work out, and you aren’t going to be saved. Isn’t that what we’ve learned pretty powerfully in 2020? “Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save.”
Because if you want hope, there is such a better way. “Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.” Want hope? “Blessed are those whose hope is in the Lord.” It’s good to look outside yourself. It’s good to recognize that you need hope from someone else. It’s just that there’s really only one person who gives real hope: The Lord! “Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.”
Just think about what the Lord does. “He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—he remains faithful forever.” Note the contrast. People are from the ground and return to the ground. “Dust you are and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:19). God is the Maker of heaven and earth and everything in them. Could there be a bigger difference? How many other people around today have created the universe? Just God! Note the other contrast. People die. God “remains faithful forever.” God isn’t faithful for an election. God isn’t faithful for a season or two. God isn’t faithful as long as you’re faithful. God “remains faithful forever.”
If that were all the Bible said about God, that would be plenty of reasons to trust in God instead of people. But there’s more. “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. The Lord reigns forever.” You want someone to fill you? It’s the Lord. He upholds. Gives food. Sets free. Gives sight. Lifts up. Loves. Watches over. Sustains. Frustrates. Reigns. Who does it? The Lord. The Lord. The Lord. Spiritual needs. Physical needs. Emotional needs. Hope trusts in the Lord!
That’s why I wanted us to hear that story about Gideon. The one army commander in the history of the world who had too many men. Why? Because victory comes from the Lord. Gideon had 32,000 men against 135,000 Midianites. Not good odds, right? Except God said, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me’” (Judges 7:2). So the army was whittled down to 10,000. And God said, “There are still too many men” (Judges 7:4). So he cut it down to 300. 300 against 135,000. God liked those odds. Why? Because the glory had to go to him. To the Lord. Time and again the Bible goes out of its way to show us the faults of every hero in the Bible, so that we stop trusting in them and put our trust in the Lord. Because who is the hero in every story? God. The Lord!
In life, you’re presented with this contrast: Trust in human beings or trust in the Lord. The choice is obvious, isn’t it? Remember how the plans of human beings come to nothing? The Lord “remains faithful forever.” He upholds. Gives food. Sets free. Gives sight. Lifts up. Loves. Watches over. Sustains. Frustrates. Reigns. Forever. Remember how human beings cannot save? God did. We couldn’t do it, so he came and saved us himself. Jesus kept his laws perfectly. Jesus died for our sins. Jesus rose to give life. What we couldn’t do, God did in Jesus. This is why you can have hope—now. Jesus came to fill your heart with his love and forgiveness and hope.
Jesus is everything you’re looking for. Actually, Jesus is everything that everyone is looking for. Think of what people are clamoring for in our society. Justice for the oppressed. Food for hungry. Help for the bowed down. Protection for the foreigner and the widow. Defeat for the forces of evil. Who does all of that? Jesus! The Lord is exactly the person we are longing for in our world today. It is a good thing that people are looking for a hero. It is a good thing that you are searching for someone to life you up, to give you hope and a future. Just know there is only One who can do that. Jesus! Not about the latest hero—Jesus! Hope trusts in the Lord.
You know what you say when you figure that out? “Praise the Lord.” This psalm of hope starts and ends with the same phrase: “Praise the Lord.” You know how to say that in Hebrew, right? “Hallelujah!” That’s “Praise the Lord” in Hebrew. Hallelujah! When the author realized he could trust in the Lord, what did he say? Hallelujah! When you see your life doesn’t depend on princes, what do you say? Hallelujah! When you see that the Lord has saved you, what do you say? Hallelujah! When you see that the Lord is faithful forever, what do you say? Hallelujah! “I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.” Hallelujah!
If you’re hoping 2021 is filled with more hope than 2020 was, then try making this verse your theme: “Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.” Hope trusts in the LORD. That doesn’t mean life will be perfect. You might end up oppressed or hungry or a prisoner or blind or bowed down or a foreigner or fatherless or a widow… But you’ll have Jesus. Jesus is the only one who can fill that Jesus-sized hole in your heart. It’s true: “Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.” Hope trusts in the Lord. Hallelujah!
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