Praise Adonai, my soul!
2 I will praise Adonai as long as I live.
I will sing praise to my God all my life.
3 Don’t put your trust in princes
or in mortals, who cannot help.
4 When they breathe their last, they return to dust;
on that very day all their plans are gone.
5 Happy is he whose help is Ya‘akov’s God,
whose hope is in Adonai his God.
6 He made heaven and earth,
the sea and everything in them;
he keeps faith forever.
7 He secures justice for the oppressed,
he gives food to the hungry.
Adonai sets prisoners free,
8 Adonai opens the eyes of the blind,
Adonai lifts up those who are bent over.
Adonai loves the righteous.
9 Adonai watches over strangers,
he sustains the fatherless and widows;
but the way of the wicked he twists.
10 Adonai will reign forever,
your God, Tziyon, through all generations.
Halleluyah![Complete Jewish Bible]---------------------
What verbs would describe the ways you experience God at work in your life of faith at the present time? Verses seven and eight suggests some words to capture God's engagement in our world--God sets, opens, lifts, loves and watches. Today in the United States elections are taking place which will simultaneously excite and disappoint people of good mind, heart and conviction. How will God show forth through what is enacted this day? While new "commandments" will likely emerge as a result of our collective voting today, let us not forget the Greatest Commandment--to love the Lord our God with heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Sovereign God, let your mercy and compassion and wisdom be made manifest in the leadership and legislation of this and all countries. Amen.
Russell Britton
Bethany Lutheran Church, Cherry Hills Village, Colo.
Master of Divinity , 2014
Psalm 146:1 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my life long.
3 Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help.
4 When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish.
5 Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God,
6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever;
7 who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free;
8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
10 The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord![New Revised Standard Versiion]
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