I am writing this on Tuesday afternoon, and soon all the midterm voting will be concluded and folks all around me will either be elated (to soon find out their enthusiasm was premature) or devastated (to soon find out that life will go on as before). The majority of us will be glad that our text message inboxes will be less targeted for season, and that the commercials on our televisions will soon be back to advertising terrible products other than politicians.
It’s good to be writing this during that very short window after most votes are cast and before we know the results. Because, I can write without questions regarding my biases, since I have no idea who will win key elections as I type these words. (Except, of course, our friends: Eileen, Gayla, and Jimmy - shoo-ins!) But, the truth is that it doesn’t really matter if I know the results, or even what the results might be, because the Bible helps us navigate these scenarios regardless.
In Acts 2, Peter is giving the sermon that will launch the church. In that sermon, he uses a unique Psalm written by the great king David to springboard his proclamation of the gospel. He quotes from Psalm 16 in Acts 2:25-28, and then comments:
“Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses."
Peter’s point is that a son of David would always sit on David’s throne, but the problem was that all of David’s descendants kept dying and rotting in their graves. All except this most recent one - Jesus’s flesh never corrupted or decayed, because he rose from the dead to rule in perpetuity. Romans 6 tells us that death no longer has dominion over Jesus, so this Risen King will never die again. There is only one eternal sovereign, and thankfully for us, he is also the only pure and righteous sovereign. King Jesus is good and he will reign forever.
None of our politicians are good. So, thankfully none of them will reign forever. Like their predecessors, they also will die, and their policies and edicts will decompose alongside their bodies. We can vote earnestly, prayerfully considering who might lead our country in best possible way. However, when we see the results and sense increasing delight or impending dread, we would do well to remember Psalm 16, and Psalm 2 as well. “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed...He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” (Psalm 2:1-6)
- Josh Light
PS. One more just for fun.
The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart. - Proverbs 21:1-2
It’s good to be writing this during that very short window after most votes are cast and before we know the results. Because, I can write without questions regarding my biases, since I have no idea who will win key elections as I type these words. (Except, of course, our friends: Eileen, Gayla, and Jimmy - shoo-ins!) But, the truth is that it doesn’t really matter if I know the results, or even what the results might be, because the Bible helps us navigate these scenarios regardless.
In Acts 2, Peter is giving the sermon that will launch the church. In that sermon, he uses a unique Psalm written by the great king David to springboard his proclamation of the gospel. He quotes from Psalm 16 in Acts 2:25-28, and then comments:
“Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses."
Peter’s point is that a son of David would always sit on David’s throne, but the problem was that all of David’s descendants kept dying and rotting in their graves. All except this most recent one - Jesus’s flesh never corrupted or decayed, because he rose from the dead to rule in perpetuity. Romans 6 tells us that death no longer has dominion over Jesus, so this Risen King will never die again. There is only one eternal sovereign, and thankfully for us, he is also the only pure and righteous sovereign. King Jesus is good and he will reign forever.
None of our politicians are good. So, thankfully none of them will reign forever. Like their predecessors, they also will die, and their policies and edicts will decompose alongside their bodies. We can vote earnestly, prayerfully considering who might lead our country in best possible way. However, when we see the results and sense increasing delight or impending dread, we would do well to remember Psalm 16, and Psalm 2 as well. “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed...He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” (Psalm 2:1-6)
- Josh Light
PS. One more just for fun.
The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart. - Proverbs 21:1-2
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