As I type these words, it is Sunday, November 3, 2024. On Tuesday, America will elect all of its members of the U.S. House of Representatives, thirty-four Senators, assorted state and local officials, and one President who will bring his or her assemblage of department heads and staff members to form a new Executive Branch.
The nation is divided in its support of one candidate over the other and more so than any time I can remember. It has actually sparked severe hostility in families and communities.
The results are consequential.
However, when the results are tabulated, those who are happy with them and those who are unhappy with them will need to find a way to work together, because, in our country, we have a government of, by, and for the people. No people; no government.
The king is us collectively.
I am looking toward Wednesday. While I am praying about the election itself and praying for the right leader to be chosen, I am also preparing to work with and pray for whoever the people choose. We will get our choice and what we ask for, maybe what we deserve.
We will have three tasks for sure:
One, pray for that person. Two, support that person’s righteous policies. Three, oppose and speak out against unrighteous policies even from our own side of the political spectrum.
There is also a fourth assignment. That is to start talking with each other.
Wednesday will matter. I am calling for a national conversation I am calling Wednesday in America.
But first, we still have Tuesday to get through.
Our psalm for today is 146. I am going to walk you through that and Psalm 72 as a sort of Tuesday and Wednesday platform for voting, praying, and acting as a people in response to our chosen leaders.
Psalm 146 NRSVU
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 all my life long.
Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortals, in whom there is no help.
When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
on that very day their plans perish.
Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their 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 strangers;
he upholds the orphan and the widow,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
The Lord will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord!
In contrast to trust, dependence, reliance and subjugation to human leadership that always dies, even our own leadership with its termination date in the future, God models leadership that lasts.
Do you want to leave a legacy? Check out the priorities of God from Psalm 146. To the extent that our leadership, and any sphere of influence, reflect and honor these, something lasts when we are dead.
These are the things God does:
- God made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them. (We cannot add to that, but we can respect it and respect His creation.
- God keeps faith forever. (We can be leaders of integrity.)
- God executes justice for the oppressed. (He is always for the "underdog."
- The LORD sets the prisoners free (America leads the world in mass incarceration.).
- 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.
- God upholds the widow and the fatherless.
- God brings the way of the wicked to ruin.
- Here is a model for people/leaders who want something to survive after their plans perish with them.
"Don't bank on the power brokers of this world" is what the compiler and editor of the psalms identifies as the core message of Psalm 146.
They can neither make you nor break you.
God is on the side of the powerless.
The powers of this world are temporal and finite. The best they can do is bestow upon you some fading glory or wealth.
The worst they can do is kill you.
They cannot destroy you.
Nor can they preserve their own power forever.
God's power is over all and He sets prisoners free, opens the eyes of the blind, lifts up those who are bowed down, loves the righteous, watches over the sojourners, upholds the widow and the fatherless, and frustrates the ways of the wicked bringing them to ruin.
There is no hope intrinsic in our political system or in any system of human power.
There will be seasons of righteousness, but they cannot command our ultimate trust and confidence.
Good people come and go and represent various political philosophies, but they are and shall remain, human.
We are admonished not to put our trust in princes.
This is from the Psalms. The founder and first sponsor of the Psalmist Institution was, himself, a prince. So, he ought to know the limitations of power as well as the responsibilities of power.
His successors would also know that, for they would live to see princes who, unlike God and those who do have a heart for God see every plan of their lives perish with them. They do not create something out of nothing.
- Evil, earthly princes, who lust for power, have no power to save.
- Nor do they keep faith forever. Human powers are always beset with integrity issues. Even David struggled with serious character flaws.
- They do not execute justice for the oppressed.
- They do not give food to the hungry.
- They do not set prisoners free.
- They have no concern for opening the eyes of the blind.
- They do not lift those who are bowed down.
- Ungodly, human princes have no bias toward the righteous, but expediently align with those who can help them achieve their own ends.
- God is a true independent. He is not swayed. He loves righteousness and aligns with the righteous because the righteous align with righteousness.
- Evil, earthly princes have no regard for sojourners (AKA: foreigners/aliens).
- They do not uphold the fatherless (AKA: those without a guardian/spokesman/protector - the powerless).
- They do not thwart the ways of the wicked.
God, on the other hand, can be trusted to do the right thing and to win!
Hear the Word of the LORD and let us model our leadership after His example.
Here is a great pattern for praying for leaders:
Psalm 72 NRSVU – of Solomon
Give the king your justice, O God,
and your righteousness to a king’s son.
May he judge your people with righteousness
and your poor with justice.
May the mountains yield prosperity for the people,
and the hills, in righteousness.
May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the needy,
and crush the oppressor.
May he live while the sun endures
and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.
May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass,
like showers that water the earth.
In his days may righteousness flourish
and peace abound, until the moon is no more.
May he have dominion from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
May his foes bow down before him,
and his enemies lick the dust.
May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles
render him tribute;
may the kings of Sheba and Seba
bring gifts.
May all kings fall down before him,
all nations give him service.
For he delivers the needy when they call,
the poor and those who have no helper.
He has pity on the weak and the needy
and saves the lives of the needy.
From oppression and violence he redeems their life,
and precious is their blood in his sight.
Long may he live!
May gold of Sheba be given to him.
May prayer be made for him continually
and blessings invoked for him all day long.
May there be abundance of grain in the land;
may it wave on the tops of the mountains;
may its fruit be like Lebanon;
and may people blossom in the cities
like the grass of the field.
May his name endure forever,
his fame continue as long as the sun.
May all nations be blessed in him;
may they pronounce him happy.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous things.
Blessed be his glorious name forever;
may his glory fill the whole earth.
Amen and Amen.
The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended.
First, is to acknowledge that justice is a gift from God. It is imparted, as is righteousness. It is not inherent in leadership or position. Grace makes us just and right and we want that for our "kings." Pray for it.
Second, once given, justice and righteousness are to be tools for the good of the people. Judges, in the Bible, refer to leaders and decision makers.
Righteousness means to be right with God and man and on the "right track." It embraces reconciled relationships. Justice means fairness and equity.
Therefore, and third, the prayer is really that our leaders will be enabled to make good decisions that bring people together, right decisions that treat the poor fairly.
Verse 3 leads us to pray for the prosperity of the people flowing from the natural resources and the land itself. What would that look like? What if all the people benefited from the resources around us that we share?
What if we made sure that everyone had equal access to the means, from our commonwealth, to build a life for their family?
Just praying here.
So, the leader, in the fourth place, must sometimes be a defender, as in verse 4.
That person must defend the cause of the poor because the poor so easily are forgotten and passed over. That leader must also give deliverance to the children of the needy because the voice of the children is so often silenced.
Oppressors, or at least their power to oppress, must sometimes be crushed.
Yes, oppressors are people too. Yes, God loves all people. Yes, sometimes, oppressors don't even know they are oppressors or oppressing; they are just caught up in an oppressive system. In that case, the systems that oppress must be crushed.
It is easy to miss one phrase, "May he judge YOUR people."
Leaders must remember that the people are not theirs, but God's.
What if all of our systems of leadership and elected shepherds would understand that the people do not exist to serve them? The people are not theirs; the people are God's people and all the people they serve are precious to God.
And God goes out of His way to mention the poor and the children - not to be given favoritism, but special attention that they not be forgotten, trampled, or oppressed.
May he live while the sun endures
and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.
May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass,
like showers that water the earth.
In his days may righteousness flourish
and peace abound, until the moon is no more.
Leaders like those for whom we are praying help to create an atmosphere of reverence for God. "Reigns" like that are like rain from the heavens.
People praying for their leaders like the psalmist prays in verses 1-4, can be instruments of grace for those leaders and days where the righteous flourish and peace abounds are possible.
We pray for days like that. We pray for leaders like that. We pray for our leaders to be like that.
May he have dominion from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
May his foes bow down before him,
and his enemies lick the dust.
May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles
render him tribute;
may the kings of Sheba and Seba
bring gifts.
May all kings fall down before him,
all nations give him service.
We pray that our leaders will be held in high esteem. We pray that they might evoke the respect of other leaders. This, we pray, will not come through oppression, but righteousness and justice.
We know this, because it is spelled out in verse 12-14:
For he delivers the needy when they call,
the poor and those who have no helper.
He has pity on the weak and the needy
and saves the lives of the needy.
From oppression and violence he redeems their life,
and precious is their blood in his sight.
How well we prayerfully back up and encourage our leaders to do what is right by the needy and helpless, coming to the aid of the oppressed is what determines the prestige of our own nation, state, or city - wherever we live.
We ought to pray the same for the leaders of other nations and this ought to be what drives our policies toward the nations more than our own self-interest. Jesus taught us to expand our view of neighbor (and, I think, "countryman," to include all people).
Long may he live!
May gold of Sheba be given to him.
May prayer be made for him continually
and blessings invoked for him all day long.
May there be abundance of grain in the land;
may it wave on the tops of the mountains;
may its fruit be like Lebanon;
and may people blossom in the cities
like the grass of the field.
May his name endure forever,
his fame continue as long as the sun.
May all nations be blessed in him;
may they pronounce him happy.
Look at these words, "May prayer be made for him continually ..."
I wonder how well I have followed this path. Actually, I know. I have not prayed continually for my leaders. At times, I have been silenced through intimidation by those who think it is more righteous to berate them and criticize them.
My bad.
God grant these prayers of the psalmist apply to those whom we have elected locally, statewide, and nationally to represent us.
We hold them accountable, but we also, and more so, hold them up in prayer.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous things.
Blessed be his glorious name forever;
may his glory fill the whole earth.
Amen and Amen.
This honors God - to have leaders like this and to have people who pray for leaders like this.
The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended.
The last verse is important because it reminds us that the leader himself is asking for such prayer.
Take a moment to pray for your President, Governors, Congress, Councils, Courts, Mayors, Leaders and Legislators of other nations, and all those who represent and lead you today - judges, sheriffs, supervisors, civil servants - all who come to mind. Include those elected, to be elected Tuesday, and those who are now moving through the ranks.
Commit to be a part of local and national conversations.
Remember your key obligation in acting out the gospel in this world is a two-part proposition: Love God; love your neighbor. Live it.
Follow Jesus.
Remember that your primary citizenship is Heaven, but pray and live, “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”
The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended.
But ours continue.