Psalm 146 - Coach Your Soul

Psalm 146:1-10 NIV

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.

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Psalm 146 is another litany of praise quite similar to Psalm 145. It begins with a personal call to worship. The psalmist beckons her own soul to praise the Lord.

Do you ever coach your own soul? It's sort of like talking to yourself, but at a deep level where you are likely to encounter God. After all God lives in those who believe the good news that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world.

Follow the example set for us in Psalm 147. The psalmist addresses her soul inviting praise to the Lord. She commits herself to lifelong praise. That's a colossal commitment, like marriage. She is in covenant with God through His promise to her and her promise to Him. She tells her soul that only the Eternal One is worthy of such trust. She does not ultimately give her heart to kings and princes and other human leaders. They die and their plans die with them. Hope in the God of Jacob/Israel, she tells her soul.

After making her commitment to praise the Lord she recounts the many praiseworthy reasons. Yahweh is creator, faithfully sustaining the universe. He cares for the oppressed, the hungry, the prisoner, the blind, and the beaten down. God watches over the foreigner, not just the Hebrew. He provides for the struggling orphan or widow. God is just and frustrates wicked plans.

The psalm ends addressing the whole of Israel. She celebrates that the Lord reigns forever. She acknowledges that she is in covenant with all who worship the God of Zion. She is not alone in her praise. Her soul joins countless millions over the generations. With a heart of praise she offers one last Hallelujah, the very word that opens the psalm.

When you catch your soul complaining, worrying, fretting, cursing or plotting, turn to your own soul and coach yourself to praise the Lord. For the Lord is faithful to those who trust in Him. Your way will be blessed, not frustrated, when you commit to a life mission to praise the Lord.