Pastor’s Corner: “God is Bigger than this Election!”
Psalm 146 (NLT) – 1 Praise the Lord! Let all that I am praise the Lord. I will praise the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath. 3 Don’t put your confidence in powerful people; there is no help for you there. 4 When they breathe their last, they return to the earth, and all their plans die with them. 5 But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the Lord their God. 6 He made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. He keeps every promise forever. 7 He gives justice to the oppressed and food to the hungry. The Lord frees the prisoners. 8 The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down. The Lord loves the godly.9 The Lord protects the foreigners among us. He cares for the orphans and widows, but he frustrates the plans of the wicked. 10 The Lord will reign forever. He will be your God, O Jerusalem, throughout the generations. Praise the Lord!
This has been one unimaginable year: Covid-19, Lock-downs, face masks, economic woes, Black Lives Matter, rioting and violence, hurricanes, wild fires, unprecedented political division (just to name a few) have had a permanent impact on our world. In the middle of these events, in fewer than 4 days, we in the United States will participate in a national election. Psalm 146 provides us with Godly Wisdom and a better perspective in an Election Year. We need this!
In an election year, we will choose our candidate. We are God’s image bearers with the task of partnering with God in the governance of the good creation. As citizens in a democracy, that task expresses itself in part through our voting. However, even good women and men will falter. God alone – the Creator of all who is always faithful – can be absolutely trusted. Therefore, God’s kingdom – God’s rule alone – deserves absolute loyalty. Especially in an election year, as God’s people, we must remember to give our ultimate loyalty to God’s kingdom, to God’s rule. Hope ultimately in God alone.
But, again, as stewards of God’s good creation who live in a democracy, we have the privilege and responsibility of voting for a candidate who will be president – a fellow image bearer. In this Psalm (and throughout the Bible), God outlines the issues that should determine our vote. If we only had two issues to focus on (there are many more), the two that should most inform and impact our vote as a people who desire to honor our heavenly Father are Sanctity of Life & Religious Liberty. We are called to fight and advocate for the unborn because they cannot speak for themselves and they are also made in the beloved image of our creator and are precious in His sight. We also advocate and fight for the right to speak freely and share the Good News of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior; we will not be silenced or ashamed!
No matter what happens, when all is said and done, the most exciting Wisdom for an Election Year the Lord shares with us in this Psalm 146 is …“The Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord” Psalm 146:10 (NIV). EAGERLY WAIT FOR GOD’S REIGN!
Even as we move forward with our responsibility as image bearers, partnering with the Creator in governing this good creation (in part, by voting), we pray for the day when God’s kingdom will come and God’s will is done on earth as in heaven. In the meantime, we bear witness with integrity to that longing by following God in our personal practice and politics. Nevertheless, only when Jesus comes will the kingdom – God’s rule – be established in its fullness. We long for that day, when we can celebrate: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah” (Revelation 11:15). In this election, we eagerly wait for God’s reign!
In His Grace,
Pastor Hamilton