by Brian Shilhavy

Read Psalm 146

Do not trust in princes, in mortal man, in whom there is no salvation. His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

As I have previously written in the foundational articles on the Created4health.org website, there is a spiritual world that co-exists alongside the physical world, the kingdom of light, and Jesus is the ruler of that kingdom and we enter that kingdom through re-birth – being recreated spiritually. Once we are members of the Kingdom of Light serving our new King Jesus, we realize that all earthly kingdoms and governments of men are physical and temporary.

As this verse in Psalm 146 exhorts us, we are not to put our trust in mortal men who cannot save us, and whose lives are temporary. When they die (or leave their political office), their ideas and programs leave with them.

Note: In many of the biblical times the government was a monarchy, king, and the “princes” ruled much of the kingdom as judges. If you could get on the good side of one of the princes who then succeeded his father to the throne, you would have political favor. Hence the word “princes” in this verse refers to government officials.

Are you trusting in your government today to meet your needs? Do you expect the government to take care of you if you get sick, or to make sure that you are eating healthy food?

While we certainly should seek the well-being of our elected or appointed officials over us in government, and pray for them, it is very clear that we live in a different kingdom and are to put our trust for our daily needs elsewhere.

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free; the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous. The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. The LORD will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the LORD!

As members of the Kingdom of Light, our hope and trust is in the King who will rule forever, the Lord Jesus! While this psalm was written before Jesus was born and refers to Jehovah God the LORD, Jesus is the king who was born in the line of David and was given the kingdom of heaven and earth by God the father. Jesus is the creator of the physical world, and he is the ruler of the spiritual realm. Our hope is in him! Look at the 11 positive statements the Psalm writer writes about him here:

1. He made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them. That includes you! Do you want to put your trust in human officials you never even met, or the ruler of the universe who knit you together in your mother’s womb and knows every detail about you??
2. He keeps faith forever. Not one of God’s promises ever fails, and his love never ends. Can we say that about any human leader?? So who is more worthy of our trust?
3. He executes justice for the oppressed. Human judges and leaders may not always judge or rule fairly and may fail to carry out justice. But this life is temporary and you can be sure that if you have been wrongly accused or oppressed that the judge of the universe will make it right in due course! There is a time of judgment where justice will be carried out.
4. 4. He gives food to the hungry.  There is much more to write about this truth, but all food is created and supplied by God. Trust him for your food and seek natural and organic food as much as possible, not man-altered or highly processed food that you cannot trust! The government cannot completely protect you from harmful foods.
5. He sets the prisoners free. Even if you are sitting in a jail cell reading this today, you can be totally free in the spiritual realm and walk in the kingdom of light! By contrast, there are many people outside prison walls walking in “freedom” and yet they are prisoners in their spirit jailed in their minds to guilt or fears they cannot control.
6. He opens the eyes of the blind. Jesus did this for those physically blind, but he also does it for those spiritually blind. The rebirth opens our eyes to see the truths of God’s word and the Holy Spirit gives us spiritual eyes to see spiritual truth! No government official can do that for you!
7. He lifts those who are bowed down. Are you bowed down with worries and cares today? The government might simply tax you more during difficult times, but put your trust in the Lord Jesus and he will lift you up and carry you through those tough times, carrying your load for you! Who is more worthy of your trust?
8. He loves the righteous. He loves you so much he went to the cross and died a brutal death to forgive you of your sins. Who else can you trust to do something anywhere near that to show their love for you?
9. He watches over the sojourners. All of us walking in the kingdom of light are pilgrims or travelers through this life on our way to the eternal kingdom of Jesus. He who calls us to himself is faithful to be sure we complete the trip. Government on the other hand is simply concerned about the present needs and problems of this life.
10. He upholds the widow and fatherless. These represented the helpless in biblical times – those who could not take care of themselves. It is far better to trust in the Lord for our care if we are without family members to take care of us, then to trust in the government to take care of us.
11. He will reign forever – to all generations. We don’t have to worry about elections or other transitions of leaders with Jesus’ rule, because it will never end!

All human government is temporary, so let’s put our hope and trust in the Creator of the universe who loves us and cares for us! If we put our hope and trust in the Lord Jesus for all our needs, we won’t be so disappointed when human government lets us down or even takes advantage and mistreats us.

Remember that if we have been recreated spiritually we are members of Jesus’ kingdom, and our dependency each day is on his unfailing love for us and his eternal reign over our lives. He has promised to never leave us, so his government is the one we need to trust! He cannot be impeached, he does not face re-election, and he has already been assassinated and come back from the dead. He rules in Heaven and in the spiritual realm, and he is coming back one day to set up his physical rule on earth as well.

So who do you trust?