Our Help and Hope

“Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God” (Psalm 146:5, ESV).

This short psalm of praise emphasizes God’s delivering power. The psalmist declares his enthusiasm to worship God (vv.1-2). For even the mighty among men are a frail hope (vv.3-4), but God is able to help (vv.5-9)—and to judge! (v.9). He is the everlasting King, worthy of praise (v.10). Verse five, at the heart of the psalm, declares the wisdom of trusting in the Lord. There is a fine parallelism captured in the translation, that the blessed man has the Lord for his help—that is, has his hope in Him.

We are tempted to hope in other things, but only God can save. Only God can satisfy, and all the offers of the world are illusory. The key to the blessed life is absolute trust in Jesus. That is the classic secret of Christianity, and it remains true through all the changes of the world.