Trust Not in Man...

"Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
When his breath departs he returns to the earth: on that very day his plans perish.
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God,
who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever;
who executed justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. 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."
-Psalm 146:3-8

I am reading my Bible rather early this morning, and since my Bible journal is in a dark room with someone sleeping, and I don't wish to wake her up, I decided to put my thoughts on my blog (perhaps not the SAME exact thoughts as would have gone in my journal, but I assure you they will be very similar *smile*).

As I read Psalm 146 this morning, I was struck with the memory of the way people looked at President Obama during his speeches and election. It was literally like they saw a god--a savior. I thought this extremely disturbing at the time of course, but these verses, even though I've read them so many times, have suddenly presented themselves as a wonderful passage AGAINST a big government that has the ability to provide EVERYTHING you need.

OK, maybe that's a bit of a stretch :) But these verses above most definitely speak against putting one's trust in MAN and instead command trust in God. Simple, huh? I wish! When was the last time you found yourself asking GOD for what you needed, instead of just going and getting it yourself. When you really saw God as providing everything you have rather than your dad, or co-worker, or boss, or (this is my biggest one) yourself. Sure God can use these people to provide, but ultimately the providence comes from HIM and from him alone. I find myself convicted that I don't thank God enough for the little things, the basics. And I also find myself wanting in the communication area: God wants us to ask him for what we need. It's like a father/child relationship that he finds very precious...

And then, as I always like to do, we can apply these verses to our government/political system... Working at H&R Block, I saw people come in there all the time who looked on the government as their provider, and were plenty ticked off if they ended up OWING taxes rather than getting their "fair share" from the government. As a side note, I think lots of people are fed up and ready to expose the government for what it is, but perhaps for the wrong reasons... Anyway, there is a mindset fed by our political leaders promising us everything under the sun if they get elected, and ending with us as human beings becoming so easily ensnared and tricked by the promises of mere men.

The long and short of it is that we as humans should never put our FULL trust in men. We shouldn't look to our fellow humans to provide what we need. This is a major error on our part since God alone has providentially provided everything good. Give God the praise he is due--trust not in man.