Put Your Hope in the Lord, Not Princes

Jul 26, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: When Imitation Reveals Our Heart’s Leader

A child copies her brother’s every leap and question, unaware her mimicry exposes a deeper longing. We all chase examples, grafting our hopes onto influencers, leaders, or self-made ideals. But mortal guides—whether celebrities, politicians, or personal ambitions—crumble like ash. Their breath fades; their power evaporates. What if our restless imitation points to a deeper need for an eternal model? [35:28]

Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground. On that very day their plans come to nothing. (Psalm 146:3-4, NIV)

Reflection: Whose voice most often shapes your decisions this week? How might their limitations reveal your need for a leader who cannot fail?

Day 2: The Shelf Life of Earthly Saviors

Tech billionaires build rockets to escape mortality. Politicians campaign for legacy. Celebrities chase relevance. Yet death mocks every human rescue plan. We stitch together ideologies, podcasts, and self-help strategies like a patchwork quilt, only to shiver when winds rip through. Temporary fixes cannot warm eternity’s cold. [45:46]

It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in nobles. (Psalm 118:8-9, NIV)

Reflection: What temporary “savior” have you quietly relied on this month? Where does its expiration date demand your honesty?

Day 3: The God Who Outlives Pyramids

Pharaohs built tombs, yet decay claimed their bones. Yahweh needed no monument—He split seas and toppled gods with a word. The same God who freed slaves still lifts the burdened, feeds the hungry, and dignifies the forgotten. His reign needs no reelection, His power no battery. Eternal help wears no crown but Calvary’s thorns. [54:44]

You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.” A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. (Psalm 90:3-4, NIV)

Reflection: What current crisis feels too heavy for human solutions? How might God’s timelessness reshape your urgency?

Day 4: Blind Eyes Opened at Camp and Clinics

A girl with stitches testified to nurses about Jesus’ blood. Her pain became a pulpit. Christ’s kingdom advances not through influence campaigns but through ordinary people—plumbers, nurses, campers—who trust a King who healed the blind and ate with sinners. Eternal impact wears work boots, not velvet robes. [01:02:48]

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. (Isaiah 40:29-31, NIV)

Reflection: Where has God placed you to “stitch and speak” this week? How can your mundane moment become a throne room?

Day 5: Citizenship Papers Stamped in Blood

We pledge allegiance to nations, teams, and brands—all temporary flags. Communion cups remind us: our King traded a scepter for a cross. His resurrection ratified a borderless kingdom where prisoners walk free and orphans inherit thrones. To live here is to invest in forever, one ordinary obedience at a time. [01:05:52]

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16-17, NIV)

Reflection: What earthly allegiance needs loosening? What single step today deepens your identity as heaven’s citizen?

Sermon Summary

Psalm 146 starts with praise and then asks the real question underneath so much of life: who is worth following, trusting, and looking to for salvation? David, even as a king, refuses to point to himself or to any other person with power. Princes have authority, influence, resources, policy, money, and followers, but princes are still just people. Psalm 146 says their breath departs, their bodies return to the earth, and “on that very day, his plans perish.”

Mortality exposes the problem with putting ultimate trust in politicians, business leaders, celebrities, influencers, authors, bosses, or even a carefully assembled life plan. The human heart often does not choose one prince. The human heart picks and chooses from many voices, trying to build the good life out of diet, work, money, relationships, podcasts, news, and personal control. Psalm 146 still gives the same warning: princes will perish. Even the self-made prince in the mirror cannot overcome death, loneliness, loss, or the end of earthly meaning.

Psalm 146 then turns from dying princes to the living Lord. Blessed is the person whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God. The Lord is not just a title for power. The Lord is Yahweh, the personal God who rescued Israel out of slavery, judged Egypt’s false gods, brought the people through the wilderness, and gave them a land flowing with milk and honey. God reigns in glory because God creates, keeps faith forever, executes justice, feeds the hungry, frees prisoners, opens blind eyes, lifts the bowed down, and upholds the widow and fatherless.

David knows that even a good king is not the Savior. Israel wanted a king, Saul failed, David sought God’s heart, and David still died. The answer is not a better temporary prince but the King of kings. Jesus is the Son of Man, fully human, and yet the works of Psalm 146 mark his life. Jesus heals the blind, feeds the hungry, lifts the broken, teaches righteousness, calls sinners to repentance, and brings salvation.

Jesus gives lasting hope because Jesus enters mortal life, dies for sin, rises from the grave, and promises eternal life. Life in his kingdom begins with repentance and faith, grows through worship, generosity, serving, and consistency, and moves into everyday places. The kingdom goes into work, family, suffering, and hospital rooms. Pain is real, sin is serious, and Jesus is still King.

Key Takeaways

1. Princes cannot carry ultimate hope Princes have real authority, but Psalm 146 strips away the illusion that authority equals salvation. Every earthly plan is tied to breath, and every human breath eventually departs. The warning is not that leaders do not matter, but that finite people make terrible saviors. [40:33]
2. Self-rule still ends in dust The heart often avoids trusting one leader by trying to become its own little king. A person can assemble habits, opinions, success, health, and relationships into something that looks like control, but the body still fails and titles still end. The psalm presses the same truth onto self-made kingdoms: the plans perish when the person does. [47:58]
3. Yahweh’s name carries rescue history The Lord is not a vague religious idea or a distant force with power. The name points to the God who met Moses, judged Egypt, redeemed slaves, and proved stronger than every false god. Trust rests on God’s revealed character, not on wishful thinking. [51:29]
4. Jesus fulfills the Lord’s own works Psalm 146 describes the Lord opening blind eyes, freeing prisoners, feeding the hungry, and lifting the bowed down. Jesus steps into history and does those very things as the Son of Man and the Lord in flesh. His kingdom is not theory; it is God’s saving reign made visible. [56:44]
5. Kingdom life goes everywhere Following Jesus does not stay trapped in a Sunday habit or a private spiritual moment. The kingdom shapes generosity, serving, work, family, prayer, suffering, and witness. Even pain can become a place where the blood of Jesus is named with joy.

## [62:48]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[35:28] - Hearts Look for Someone to Follow
[37:15] - Cultural Voices and Influence
[38:53] - Psalm 146 Read Aloud
[40:33] - Princes Will Perish
[43:55] - Mortality Exposes False Saviors
[47:03] - Building a Self-Made Kingdom
[49:57] - Blessed Is the One Who Hopes in God
[51:29] - Yahweh the Rescuing Lord
[55:02] - Israel Wants a King
[56:44] - Jesus Is the King of Kings
[59:03] - Begin, Repent, and Trust
[60:16] - Build Consistency in the Kingdom
[62:48] - Bringing the Kingdom Everywhere
[64:29] - Communion and the Blood of Jesus

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Psalm 146
“Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. 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!” [39:06]

Exodus 3:14-15
“God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel: “I AM has sent me to you.”’ God also said to Moses, ‘Say this to the people of Israel: “The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.” This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.’”

1 Samuel 8:4-9
“Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, ‘Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.’ But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, ‘Give us a king to judge us.’ And Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.’”

Observation questions

In Psalm 146, what happens to princes when their breath departs, and what happens to their plans? [40:33]
What kinds of people does Psalm 146 say the Lord cares for and helps?
In Exodus 3:14-15, what names does God use for himself, and how long does he say he is to be remembered? [51:29]
In 1 Samuel 8:4-9, what did Israel ask Samuel for, and how did the Lord describe that request?

Interpretation questions

Psalm 146 says there is “no salvation” in princes. How should that shape the way a believer thinks about political leaders, cultural leaders, and other powerful people? [43:55]
Israel wanted a king “like all the nations.” What does that reveal about the human heart’s desire for visible, human control instead of trusting the Lord as King? [55:02]
Psalm 146 describes the Lord opening blind eyes, feeding the hungry, lifting the bowed down, and caring for the weak. Why do those same works matter when thinking about who Jesus is? [56:44]
The Lord’s name in Exodus 3 is personal and tied to his rescue of Israel. How does remembering God as the God who redeems strengthen real trust in him instead of vague religious belief? [51:29]

Application questions

The heart keeps looking for someone to follow. Who has been shaping your thinking most lately—politicians, influencers, authors, career voices, family expectations, or your own instincts—and how can you tell when that influence has started to become trust? [35:28]
Many people do not trust just one prince; they piece together a whole life from different voices and try to rule themselves. Where are you most tempted to build that kind of self-made kingdom right now—health, money, work, relationships, image, or control? [47:58]
Princes perish, and self-made plans do too. When life feels fragile, what do you run to first for security, and what does that reveal about where your hope is actually resting? [48:27]
Blessed is the one whose help is the God of Jacob. What would it look like this week to move from admiring God in a general way to actively asking for his help in one real area of need? [49:57]
Jesus is not just an example; he is the King who saves. If trust in Jesus has become casual, distant, or intermittent, what would repentance and fresh trust look like in a concrete way this week? [59:03]
Life in the kingdom grows through consistency in worship, generosity, serving, and prayer. Which one of those has been most neglected lately, and what is one realistic step toward faithfulness? [01:00:16]
The kingdom goes into work, family, suffering, and even hospital rooms. Where is God giving an opportunity right now to bring the hope of Jesus into an ordinary or painful place? [01:02:48]

Sermon Clips

57s

#KingOfKings

“``This is the king of kings and lord of lords. This is God in the flesh. He is the one finally who had come for us to follow and put our faith and trust in. He is the one in whom we find salvation. He is the one in whom we can be redeemed. He is the one who gives us the example, our savior. It's Jesus who shows what it looks like to have God in the flesh on earth. And the beauty of it is that he invites us into his kingdom. He promises eternal life to overcome that mortality, to overcome that death that looms for us all whether we're a tech billionaire or just someone who's trying to make ends meet. He promises us something that we can have lasting hope in. He promises us himself.”

40s

#LeadersAreMortal

“See, what what David is is already getting at so quickly is that the people in these positions are finite, that they are human beings just like you and me, that their lives are just as short, that they're mortal, that they will end, and with them, so does their power, their influence, their authority, and so many of those plans that they had been making. And they have so little control over when that end comes. Whether it's by the sword or by sickness or by old age, it is coming. They can't save themselves, let alone save us.”

48s

#FaithInGod

“And blessed is the person who puts their faith in God. Blessed is the person who looks to God for salvation. Now who is this God? This is a God who reigns in glory. That word glory in the Old and New Testament has slightly different meanings, but the same overall arching meaning is the is this he has he has weight to him. He has bright light shining from him. His actions, his purpose, his love, his very nature emanates from him and he is worthy to be praised. Like the Psalm begins and ends, we should lift up our God because he is a God who could fulfill his promises. He is a God who has power. He is a God who creates. He is a God who is worthy to be loved and followed. He is a God who can save and will save. He is a God in whom you can trust. He is the God in whom you put your faith in.”

54s

#HopeInJesus

“That's what that looks like, that we have an opportunity to say, yes, there is a real pain and suffering and agony in this world. And as Christians, we have the most sober look of that. We do not cover our eyes and pretend it's not there. What we do is we say, yes, that's exactly what the bible describes when we talk about the perils of sin. And at the same time, we live with hope because Jesus is king, because we want to follow him, because we love him, because he loves us and he showed us that love so much so that he died for us to give us a hope, to overcome that death, to show us an eternal life that is one that does not have tears, one that does not have sorrow, one that does not have pain and suffering, has joy and peace and people who love us and people whom we love. That's what it looks like to follow the king of kings, and so we get to a point where we start to bring that everywhere we go.”

65s

#TemporaryPower

“See, what David is saying is that the mortality of people shows that they ultimately can't save themselves, let alone save us. They may protect us for a moment. We may see success in a military battle. We might have overcome something and see joys and success in business or in life in some other way, but it is short lived. It's a puff of smoke from Ecclesiastes. vanity and disappears just as quickly as it came. The leaders that we look to, the people that influence us, the people that we have in have given over to to show us the right course of how to define our lives, whether it be in politics or business or on social media that seems so happy and so content until their marriage falls apart or until something else comes out about them. It's all just a puff of smoke. They can't save us.”

62s

#SonOfMan

“Jesus called himself the son of man more than anything. This was this epithet, this nickname, this this banner that he used to describe himself as because he continued to show people in his ministry that he was human. Intimately relating to the other people around him, he was fully human. He was a man who walked and talked and ate and slept and he was human. But radically different, he was also the Lord. Look at that passage again that I just read. This marks the ministry of Jesus. So often he's healing the sick, giving the blind sight, feeding the hungry, healing other people who who can't hear, who can't walk. He's teaching with authority. He's giving people the path of righteousness. He's critically coming at people who are self righteous or who are unrighteous. He's calling people to repentance. This is the life of Jesus, the ministry of Jesus, fully man in the way that he walked and talked and lived and fully God in his authority and power.”

47s

#EternalGod

“That is the God that we worship. That is the God that he is writing about, and that is the God that is over and abundant different than the people in positions of power for temporary times because he is an eternal God. He is a God that reigns forever. He is a God that fulfills those things. How can we trust that? The word Lord, l o r d capitalized in your Bible, it doesn't just mean like someone who has authority. It's not just like a a nickname for for God. It is an a name for God, a personal name for God that we get from the book of Exodus when he introduces himself in ways to Moses. He's showing a particular God. This is the one true God of the Bible, the God over all of the other gods that are listed in especially in the Old Testament. It is Yahweh, the Lord.”

47s

#FleetingPleasures

“And yet the warning is still the same, princes will perish. If we are just trying to look to create a life that brings us as much pleasure or as much joy, as much satisfaction as we can in this moment, in this temporary time, it too will come to an end. And we will exercise and diet and have the body that we want in the mirror maybe, and then two years, ten years, fifteen years from now, it will continue to fail us. We'll see success in business or success in our work and continue to gain the things that we want and then at some point, we will have to stop working. We will retire and then the meaning that we got from having that title, having that paycheck, having that position will end.”

44s

#GodRedeems

“And in fact, in the midst of it, the people of Egypt are just grateful to have them lead, that they're gathering all kinds of resources like gold and silver and giving them to the Israelites, just go, take it. Almost like a tribute to the God who's brought so much pain and suffering into them as the judgment for worshiping false gods and false idols that they begin to leave with all of this stuff because God is a God who can save, God is a God who can rescue, God is a God who redeems the Lord. He is the God that you could put your faith in. He is the God in whom you can place your trust. He is the God that you should worship and follow. Not man, the Lord.”

42s

#TakeCommunion

“Like that is what we're doing here. We're not just like it's not a I don't know, like a concert with a TED talk. It's a waste of time. We worship God and we have been called to follow a God who entered into this life with us so that we could follow him into eternity. This morning, we're gonna take communion together. And so if you're a believer, this is an opportunity for us to repent and reflect on on the realities of the sin in our lives and the forgiveness that we have in Jesus by the blood that he has shed. It's an opportunity for us to remember that we do have a God who is worthy to be followed, a God who saves us.”

24s

#WorshipTheKing

“but only because David knows that he is not the one that they should truly trust. He is not the savior of God's people. He is not the redeemer. He is not the one to follow. Ultimately it is God. And so he puts his trust in God and tries to seek his will, obey his word, and call all people in his kingdom to worship the one true king.”

44s

#GodOfExodus

“We translate it lord because that name, for ancient Jews, we shouldn't have said out loud because of his glory because it's we are unworthy to speak it. We should know it, but but we shouldn't even say it, and so they would make little notes around it to say lord. So today, we still translate it Lord that way, but this is a personal God, a God who rescued and redeemed the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. You know the story. Maybe you've heard of it. At least Moses was just a man, kind of a man on the run even, a man who who certainly wasn't worthy to lead God's people and yet by God's grace, he calls him in in this moment of of mercy and he tells him that he is gonna lead his people out of slavery”

62s

#StartFollowingJesus

“So how do we live that out? What does life in the kingdom look like? There's a few things. First, begin So many of you are are here every week and I'm so grateful for that, but many others are here just kind of intermittently. You're you're trying this out just as much as you're trying out another podcast or a new book and and making some habits that you wanna try and and see if that'll help bring you some some peace or some joy or some success. And I just wanna encourage you, like, start doing this regularly. Make the commitment to begin You've come but you haven't really put your faith in Jesus. You've come but you haven't repented of your sin. You've come but you're not really sure where this should take you. Start now. Cry out to God in prayer and and repent and and call to him and say, God, I wanna put my faith in you. I wanna trust in Jesus that he is the king of kings and I want him to be the king of my life. Draw me into your kingdom.”

52s

#DontIdolizeLeaders

“What David is is pointing out is that the people in these positions are people. They're human beings. Whether politicians or or merchants, whether, kings or today, presidents or or emperors, these are people. It's undeniable that they have authority. It's undeniable that they influence the culture. It's undeniable that they have a position in which they can lead and that others will follow, and yet should we put our ultimate faith in them? Should the people reciting this psalm that begins with praise the lord and moves into describing these people in positions of of power, should we trust that they are the ones that's gonna that are gonna save us?”

28s

#QuitSelfIdolatry

“And so we have this semblance of this is the people that we listen to and the authors that we read and and the news channels that we watch and we try to continue to cultivate a sense in which this is the life that we want for ourselves because really what we do is we don't look for others to be the kings or princes in our lives. We we try to make ourselves those people. Individually, self self centered and sometimes selfish, we look to try to create a life for ourselves.”

57s

#PrincesWillPerish

“So David is writing this psalm and penning just a response. And in the position of king, you would think maybe he would point to himself. Maybe he would point to the authority and the power and the wisdom and the success and the military victories that the king has shown. And instead, he starts with this as our first point, princes will perish. See, princes have power. This word, princes, can be translated a few different ways but it's describing someone who has authority over a particular region. It's describing somebody who has influence and power in their position that they can continue to control, continue to influence the people around them, that they have a power to to influence the economy, they have power to gather resources, they have influence over people's lives, that that people in those in those positions have control.”

38s

#WhoDoYouFollow

“She just wants to do everything that her big brother is trying to do right now. And I just realized as I was getting ready for this sermon this week that all of us is just like my daughter. Like, our hearts look for someone to follow, someone to set the example of some for us, someone to to look after and seek after doing what they are doing to have a life like theirs. And for her, that's him right now. And I'm sure by the time she's 16, it will no longer be him. But right now that's who it is for her. Who is it for you? Who do you look to to have the answers to to follow, to seek the approval of or from, and who is it that you're trying to just model your life after?”

34s

#ServeOthers

“It's serving others. That's what it looks like to be on a team. It's a team is not just simply like I have a skill set or an interest and I wanna do something with that, it's it's I wanna use the gifts that God has given me to impact others' lives. I've experienced something with the gospel. I've experienced something in following Jesus that I want others to experience as well. And so as we begin to dive into that, whether it's in kids ministry or youth ministry or the host team or the band, like you get to do that for the glory of God and it's part of how God has made you and wired you and he wants you to do those things.”

28s

#FaithInAction

“Jordan just shared in our huddle, we have a volunteer huddle every morning and he shared about one of the girls at our camp who fell and just hit her knee pretty hard and so she had to go to the hospital to get some stitches, but in the midst of that, she was able to talk about Jesus with every nurse that came in, just having this joy about what God was doing at camp and how she was experiencing that and how she wanted others to know that and so while she was getting stitched up, she's telling others about the blood of Jesus.”

35s

#NotOurSaviors

“And in those positions, the people underneath them would look to them as a savior, as someone who would be the one to protect them in the times of military insurrection. They would be the ones to help make sure that their economy is is safe and structured. They might be someone who could help in the midst of a drought or natural disaster where they would have resources saved up in order to provide for the people so that they wouldn't starve. There's a lot of responsibility that the people, these princes have, and at the same time, there's a reality that these princes are leading out of their own plans, out of their own desires, out of their own hearts.”

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Put Your Hope in the Lord, Not Princes

Devotional

Day 1: When Imitation Reveals Our Heart’s Leader

Day 2: The Shelf Life of Earthly Saviors

Day 3: The God Who Outlives Pyramids

Day 4: Blind Eyes Opened at Camp and Clinics

Day 5: Citizenship Papers Stamped in Blood

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Put Your Hope in the Lord, Not Princes

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