Power and authority change with perspective. If you’re the dominator or the dominated, it might seem obvious who holds the power, but 146 turns that upside down.
As Jesus ushers in the Kingdom of God, he says the same: power is paradoxical. It’s often the opposite to what you think or see.
Don’t trust in those with earthly power—they can offer you nothing of eternal worth says the psalmist. The prince and his power and his plan disappear with death.
The one in whom to hope is the one with their eyes on the eternal. And how can you tell who they are? Well, start with observing what they care about: justice for the oppressed, food for the hungry, and placing their hope in bringing freedom to these.
The penner of 146 knows where real power lies. It’s not in the one who can imprison but in the one who can set free. The one who opens the eyes of the blind and lifts up the oppressed. It’s in those who use their privilege to encourage and restore, not to dominate. In the ones who go shoulder to shoulder with the widow and the fatherless. It’s in the justice-seekers.
We sang yesterday: ‘In the fullness of His grace, in the power of His name, He lifts us up’.
God metes out His power so differently to earthly power because it is fused with grace. He has all the ability to crush or restore, but in the fullness of His grace, He lifts us up. He watches over us, drifters and straight-liners alike.
If there’s an emphatic exclamation mark to end 146, it’s the final verse contrasted against the third. Earthly kingdoms return to the earth but our Lord will reign forever and ever. While kingdoms rise and perish, God endures unchanging on. Praise Him!