Psalm 146
Yesterday’s Psalm 145 ended that strong set of ten psalms “of David”; today begins the Psalter closing with five “Hallelujah” psalms as we close out our own wondrous year.
It took me no time to choose a verse today: … a son of man … When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. (vv. 3-4) My younger brother, Dickie died sometime in the past few days. When he didn’t show up for Christmas dinner, another of my brothers went looking for him and found him in bed, unresponsive. He had dealt with prostate cancer and liver failure, so his death was not totally unexpected. Still, death comes harshly to those of us on this side of life.
Dickie was, by his own admission, an atheist. Carol and I talked extensively with him about God, about Jesus, about our own changed lives. Still, his forever question was, “Prove to me that God exists.” Sometime in the last few days he met Jesus, face-to-face. He now knows that God exists. We pray that he found need in his last few hours to ask the Lord to reveal Himself, to show him as He showed Moses, “I am Who I am” (Exodus 3:14). We can only hope that Jesus saw more faith in Dickie than we did, and that He had mercy on him.
If you have loved ones who don’t believe, don’t let up. The eternal cost is too great!