This is the third Sunday of Advent and we continue the theme of Living in Expectation.  Psalm 146 calls us to not trust in experts of the day, in mere men or women (v. 3).  Rather we are called to hope in the Lord our God (v. 5).  There are at least two ways to lose our grip on hope.  First, ongoing discouraging circumstances can cause hope to run thin.  God’s redeeming and saving ways can seem remote and out of reach even though He is always near.  Second, hope can be lost when things are going well.  When plenty of food, rest, safety, health, security, etc., is ours we easily deem ourselves self-sufficient.  Who needs God when we have good government, close family, advancing technology, military superiority, college education and financial security?  This psalm presents the question:  In whom do we trust?  Verse 5 says, “Blessed is the one whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God.”  This is true whatever our circumstances… when things are well, when things are not.