Day 166.
3 Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.
As the presidential election comes closer, the rhetoric for the candidates gets louder. Each side plays on the fears of the other in an effort to motivate people to vote. Conservatives and liberals get worked up and become polarized and frenzied in their support for their candidate. In the days leading up to one of the previous elections, several famous celebrities were so fearful of one candidate getting elected that they said they would move to another country if that happened. They voiced the sentiments of many, really. This sentiment exposes our tendency to think that our future – and our salvation – is wrapped up in a candidate. While Christians should be engaged as good citizens in politics and voting, we must remember that they are just men. It is God who steers human history and gives authority to those who exercise it. Neither Obama nor Romney can “fix” our nation. Only God can do that. The problems aren’t external, solved by a change of laws and circumstances; the problems are internal, and only solved with a new heart that learns how to love and live from an increasingly Biblical worldview. So our hope must remain in God. He is our salvation.
5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
7 who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free;
8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the sojourners;
he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. (Ps 146:3-9)
