Psalm 146:4

Psalm 146:4

Their plans come to nothing

This verse of the Psalm puts death into perspective, doesn’t it? All the princes, rulers, leaders, and heads of state who daily make the news headlines are simply going into the ground at the time of their death! The headlines will end, the images and photographs will cease, the fancy speeches and camera opportunities will terminate and that is it! 

Interestingly we are told here that the moment of death is when the spirit departs. Yes, we may stop breathing, yes, our bodies may let us down and cease to function, but our spirits do not die, they depart! As we have reflected, many times, the psalmists and their contemporaries believed that Sheol was the place of departed spirits, and all men and women were destined to go there. They also came to believe that the spirits of the godly or righteous, and the wicked, were treated differently but they had no understanding of resurrection and heavenly glory, it was Jesus who made these possible and opened the door into paradise. Thus, the death of princes and sovereigns and all who put themselves up to lead others was a stark and hopeless moment, there was nothing before them except the torment of the place of departed spirits. However successful they may have been, however powerful their reigns, whatever plaudits might be uttered at their funerals, the end result was the same, their spirits departed and their bodies returned to the ground. Returned because Genesis tells us that God made us from the dust of the earth!

On the day in question, many things happen, people are hungry for leadership and immediately the wheels of succession start to turn. But, something else happened too, all the plans, the schemes and the hopes and ambitions of princes die with them, however ambitious the projects that ferment in men’s minds, they come to nothing on the day of death. So, why do they bother? Why do we bother? Let’s just put our hope and trust in the ~Lord and anticipate His plans and His ambitions for us. Hallelujah! 

 

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