Hope Makes a Way 

Psalm 146

 

 

Hoping for Justice 

Do not put your trust in princes, 

in mortals, in whom there is no help. 

     Psalm 146:3

 

The morning after any election, I read or sing Psalm 146. One of my seminary professors taught me this practice: he said it served him well in years of living in a country where elections were often rigged and unjust. 

 

I need this psalm both when I’m excited by the results of an election and when I’m disappointed. On mornings when I am celebrating the results, I need the reminder that my hope is not ultimately in a political candidate but in the work of God in the world. And on mornings when I fear that candidates elected will not be equitable rulers, I need the reminder that God is the one who protects all who cry out for justice. 

 

We are called to see the world with God’s eyes and to work alongside God to move the world toward the wholeness, the shalom, that God intends for all of creation. And God is finally our hope for the world. 

 

O God, may I put my trust in you, see the world through your eyes, and follow you as you move the world toward wholeness. Amen. 

 

Erica L. Schemper, Saint Paul, Minnesota

From “These Days, Daily Devotions for Living by Faith”

Presbyterian Church, U.S.A.