Deutsche Version | Wiki Start | Topics Collection ix

No Trust in Princes ...

Monday, Feb 20, 2017. This morning I have been searching for a bible text which talks about the purity of life, about good goals and sustainable tasks. I thought: there should be something in the psalms - and I started to look through them, from Psalm 1 on. And there are so many things here, but it starts to come back to ethics from the very beginning, it talks about redemption, about help, about food and protection all along. With Psalm 146 I got to my points, somehow. Have a look first:

The Trust of your life …

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 while I have my being. 3 Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. 4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. 5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his 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 sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. 10 The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord! (Psalm 146)

The point is: what is my life building upon? What is it I trust? What is it I put into the center? Who is my fortress? Who is my goal?

Perhaps we do not realize what it is we put our trust in. Perhaps we try to gain some approval by authorities or colleagues? Of course we need some kind of success to do our job. If you run a business, you need to do well to survive. But is this success what is the center of my life? Is the applause of people the driving part of my value? Yes, we need food and housing and much more. But it cannot be the core part of life!

The Center …

Perhaps we look for fun, for games, for joy, for sports. Everyone is different - some of us are more influenced by fear than others. Some are more forward looking, others are more living in themselves. Even with a small family of five heads you already see the big differences in preference and style, in focus and talent. But in all of it, whereever you look, you will only find sustainable joy when you have a sustainable basis of your life.

You need the creator, you need God, you need Jesus. He is the only source of life, since he is the source of creation. He is the only perspective of life, since he is the beginning and the end. All other philosophy is, ultimately, empty. It can only see very small parts of reality, and usually it is ignoring very important ingredients. Do not put your trust in princes - ultimately they cannot help! You will be severely disappointed. But put your trust in God, and you will find a wide space for your life!

Trust the Lord, and you will find his miraculous power in your life. Trust him, and then see what he can do. He will help you, he will be your saviour and your fortress. He has possiblities which are far beyond your imagination - and much better and deeper than the solutions you might suggest to him. His heart is pure and full of love … (Roland Potthast) ... more texts