Psalm 146: Happy is he...whose hope in the Lord

Psalm 146

¹Praise ye the LORD.
      Praise the LORD, O my soul.
²While I live will I praise the LORD:
      I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.
³Put not your trust in princes,
      nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
⁴His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth;
      in that very day his thoughts perish.
⁵Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help,
      whose hope is in the LORD his God:

⁶Which made heaven, and earth,
      the sea, and all that therein is:
      which keepeth truth for ever:
⁷ Which executeth judgment for the oppressed:
      which giveth food to the hungry.
      The LORD looseth the prisoners:
⁸The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind:
      the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down:
      the LORD loveth the righteous:
⁹The LORD preserveth the strangers;
      he relieveth the fatherless and widow:
      but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.

¹⁰The LORD shall reign for ever,
      even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations.

Praise ye the Lord.

Nowadays we put hope in our morning cup of coffee - that it will wake us up and get us going in the morning. We put our hope in technology - that it will make our lives easier and more organized.  We put hope in - big titles and big promotions, that those things will help us worry less about money and feel more satisfied.  As addicts we put our hope in our addictions, that those things will help us to relax, or feel better, or forget our problems.  However, we all know those hopes are false.  They leave us only wanting and needing more.  This never-ending cycle of desire, gratification, desire, turns our lives upside down and leaves us wicked.

Truly happy people are those who are able to put their hope in our higher power - God.  His hope leaves us satisfied, feeling whole.  He gives us all that we need.  When we are at the end of our rope, when temptation has us in its traps, when there seems nothing left to live for - we can turn it all over to Him.  That is if we're ready to trust in Him.  We come to learn that our addictions are more powerful than us - and so only God can free of us these chains.  When we're ready, he does free us of those chains.  When we're ready he shines a light.  He sets us on the right path, and on the road to recovery.  So, put your hope in the Lord and recovery will follow.  This you can believe.

Dear Lord, thank you for your blessings.  Thank you for sobriety - after years of knowing nothing but intoxication.  Thank you for the chance to serve.  For it has been in serving that I have found my place.  Thank you for your lessons, which You teach everyday. The lessons teach me patience, humility, calm, honesty, and to be more like Your son, Jesus.  For I am only human, and left to my own devices, I will be selfish, greedy, proud, and deceiving.  Most of all I thank you for You hope.  I ask that you be with the addicts that still suffer.  Help them find hope in You.  Bring them a message that will help find the light that You shine.  The light that leads from the pit of addiction to path of recovery.  Be with them because the world of addiction is a confusing place.  One where, as You well know, life makes little sense.  Addicts need You to be the hope that brings sense and purpose to the world.  In your name I pray - AMEN.

Thanks for letting me share.