Psalm 146Amplified Bible
The Lord an Abundant Helper.
146 Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2
While I live I will praise the Lord;
I will sing praises to my God as long as I live.
3
Do not trust in princes,
In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation (help).
4
When his spirit leaves him, he returns to the earth;
In that very day his thoughts and plans perish.
5
How blessed and graciously favored is he whose help is the God of Jacob (Israel),
Whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6
Who made heaven and earth,
The sea, and all that is in them,
Who keeps truth and is faithful forever,
7
Who executes justice for the oppressed,
Who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets free the prisoners.
8
The Lord opens the eyes of the blind;
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
The Lord loves the [a]righteous [the upright in heart].
9
The Lord protects the strangers;
He supports the fatherless and the widow;
But He makes crooked the way of the wicked.
10
The Lord shall reign forever,
Your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum!
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
This beautiful Psalm is a song of praise that rejoices in the unalterable character and eternal beauty of the Lord.
It extols, it glorifies, it magnifies the greatness of His character, and it rejoices over the unalterable, unchangeable glories and indescribable majesty of our Creator God as, verse after verse, Psalmist reflects on the wonder of His name.
The author reminds us that the Lord is very great and highly to be praised.
The Lord our God is clothed with majesty and honour and brings justice to the oppressed. The Lord provides food for the hungry, sets the prisoners free, cares for His people, opens the eyes of the blind, lifts up those that are bowed down, and He is a righteous God Who loves the righteous, who loves justice and mercy.
The psalmist meditates on the greatness of his God and encourages us all to do the same.
He rejoices in the eternal faithfulness and gracious wisdom of the Lord and ponders over the majestic works of His hand.
The thoughts and the meditations of the Psalmist build into a crescendo of praise as he centers on the steadfastness of the Lord his God, Who is from everlasting to everlasting.
And finally he bursts forth from his joyful meditation on the insurmountable wonders of the Lord his God, by crying out.
“I will sing to the LORD as long as I live. I will praise my God to my last breath!”
The joy of the Psalmist is inescapably contagious, for when we spend our days reflecting on the eternal faithfulness of the Lord and turn our hearts, souls to meditate upon the beauties of His name, we will also rejoice in His wonderful works, His grace and mercy, His wisdom and might, His faithfulness and love.
As like the Psalmist we will blend the noisiness of our joyful, joy-filled voices with the heavenly choir that proclaims, “Holy, holy, holy.” Hallelujah! Amen.
Isaiah 9:6-7 Amplified Bible
6
For to us a Child shall be born, to us a Son shall be given;
And the government shall be upon His shoulder,
And His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7
There shall be no end to the increase of His government and of peace,
[He shall rule] on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From that time forward and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.
Immanuel, God with us and within us!
Jesus – our Wonderful Counselor!
Immanuel, God with us and within us!
Jesus – our Mighty God!
Immanuel, God with us and within us!
Jesus – our Everlasting Father!
Immanuel, God with us and within us!
Jesus – our Prince of Peace!
Say it over and over and over again ….
Sing it over and over and over again ….
Shout it over and over and over again ….
All of heaven needs to be shaken …. needs to reverberate …. Hallelujah!
Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, existed long before he was born on this earth. As God, He does not have a beginning; He IS the source of all things.
Before the world existed, he lived in eternal glory and had perfect communion with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
He was the Word that was with God in the beginning (John 1:1-2).
He was coequal, coeternal, and consubstantial with God.
He was not created; He is one with the Creator. “Through him all things were made,” and nothing that was made was made without him (John 1:3).
The universe was in God’s mind before the foundations of the earth were laid.
The starry worlds were created by him.
He measured the waters of the seas in the hollow of his hand and weighed the dust and the sands, all the rocks and trees of the earth on his precision scale.
He called by name each and every one of the stars in the heavens, and none of them is lacking in splendor. He brought into existence the things that did not exist and created everything from nothing, for his glory and our enjoyment.
As our ultimate provider and protector, the Son born to us is called Everlasting Father; Wonderful Counselor; Prince of Peace! He loves us and came to save us!
Psalm 146:1-2Amplified Bible
The Lord an Abundant Helper.
146 Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2
While I live I will praise the Lord;
I will sing praises to my God as long as I live.
Psalm 146 is a rousing song of praise that celebrates God’s faithfulness.
And today, as we say “Merry Christmas,” as we sing “Merry Christmas,” as we shout “Merry Christmas” back into the heavens we celebrate the birth of Savior Jesus, reminded within this psalm to praise the Lord, put our trust in him alone.
For the name of God and God alone alone is worthy to be exalted, deep into the deepest and furthest depths of the infinite expanse of all of the heavens above.
For God and God alone is worthy to be glorified and praised!
For God and God alone is worthy to be honored, magnified, worshiped!
For God and God alone “reigns forever . . . for all generations.”
“A Christmas Alleluia”
is a contemporary song by Chris Tomlin celebrating the day of Christ’s birth.
It recalls the scene and song of the angel hosts of heaven, singing,
“All glory to our God and King!”
And it calls us to sing “Alleluia,” which means “Praise the Lord!”
We give praise because “Christ, the Savior of the world . . . has come!”
We sing “Alleluia” because Christ’s is the highest name of all.
Joy to the World (Sir Isaac Watts, 1674-1748)
1. Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
let every heart prepare him room,
and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven and nature sing.
2. Joy to the world, the Savior reigns!
Let all their songs employ;
while fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
repeat the sounding joy,
repeat the sounding joy,
repeat the sounding joy.
3. No more let sins and sorrows grow,
nor thorns infest the ground;
he comes to make his blessings flow
far as the curse is found,
far as the curse is found,
far as the curse is found.
4. He rules the world with truth and grace,
and makes the nations prove
the glories of his righteousness,
and wonders of his love,
and wonders of his love,
and wonders of his love.
With joy and expectation, with highest anticipation, we are reminded in Psalm 146 that God is the Maker of all things and that “He remains faithful forever.”
With the coming of Immanuel, God fulfills his promises to send the Messiah, the Savior; to be forever with us and forever within – us he is faithful forever.
Immanuel – our Mighty Counselor, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace …
Jesus, Christ our King is born!
And because of his birth, life, death, and resurrection, He demonstrates his supremacy over all. He comes to uphold “the cause of the oppressed” and to give “food to the hungry.” He “sets the prisoners free . . . gives sight to the blind,” and “brings justice and mercy,” “lifts up those who are bowed down.”
And because Christ Jesus Lives,
And because Christ Jesus Reigns forever,
we sing “Alleluia” to our Eternal King; we “Praise the Lord all our life!”
we shout “Alleluia!” to our Eternal King; we “Praise the Lord all our life!”
we PRAY “Alleluia!” to our Eternal King; we “Praise the Lord all our life!”
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
“I will sing to the LORD as long as I live. I will praise my God to my last breath!”
Joyful, joyful, we adore thee,
God of glory, Lord of love;
hearts unfold like flowers before thee,
opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;
drive the dark of doubt away.
Giver of immortal gladness,
fill us with the light of day!
Mortals, join the mighty chorus
which the morning stars began;
love divine is reigning o’er us,
binding all within its span.
Ever singing, march we onward,
victors in the midst of strife;
joyful music leads us sunward,
in the triumph song of life.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum!
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 