Grounded - Part 2

 

Tuesday, January 12, 2021

I am suffering and in pain.  Rescue me, O God, by your saving power.  Then I will praise God’s name with singing, and I will honor him with thanksgiving.  For this will please the Lord more than sacrificing cattle, more than presenting a bull with its horns and hooves.  The humble will see their God at work and be glad.  Let all who seek God’s help be encouraged.  For the Lord hears the cries of the needy; he does not despise his imprisoned people.  Praise him, O heaven and earth, the seas and all that move in them.  For God will save Jerusalem and rebuild the towns of Judah.  His people will live there and settle in their own land.  The descendants of those who obey him will inherit the land, and those who love him will live there in safety.      Psalm 69:29-36

Yesterday’s prayer of King David (O God, you know how foolish I am…) claims his personal responsibility for the depths to which his relationship with God had fallen.   This was no blaming of God or anyone else; he accepts the full weight of his sin. 

I saw in that a good bit of identification with the beleaguered president of our nation; not confession (that’s not his public kind of response to trouble), but rather the reality that, like David, the president’s muddle is a mixture of the nature of being at the center seat of power – much of it is self-inflicted because of choices made. 

While yesterday’s devotion ended with a call that we pray for Mr. Biden as he takes over on January 20^th it in no way diminishes (for me) the level of prayer I offer for the outgoing president.  The Scriptures we read today are the result of King David’s confession, which resulted in God’s forgiveness and restoration of the land.  This is what I pray for Donald Trump and all the leaders of our nation – that a revival of trusting in God, marked by humility and confession, fuel a blessing of righteousness. 

It is not too late for Mr. Trump to do the most important work of the past four years of his administration, and even of his entire life – that to which we’re all called, to bow before Heaven’s throne as King David did.  The apostle Paul unveiled for the believers at Rome what the result is for all who do that:

If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.  Romans 10:9-10

Salvation is of a personal nature, and it is my heartfelt prayer that Donald Trump has, or will, commit his life to Christ.  It is not for me to judge what God alone can.  But a good dose of humility in plain sight would be a welcome medicine for the anger and division existing in this country.

For You Today

Whether you’re a card-carrying Democrat, Republican, or any other party affiliation, or no party affiliation, this isn’t about politics; this is about praying for the troubled nation in which we live, and the souls of our leaders. 

It’s much like the proverb about speaking-up…it only takes a bit of silence for evil to prevail.  In this case, the speaking-up is in the direction of God’s throne room. 

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

For other posts on this text see When Your Choice is the Lesser of Evils and Whom Do You Trust?      

 

Grounded

 

Monday, January 11, 2021

Save me, O God, for the floodwaters are up to my neck.  Deeper and deeper I sink into the mire; I can’t find a foothold.  I am in deep water, and the floods overwhelm me.  I am exhausted from crying for help; my throat is parched.  My eyes are swollen with weeping, waiting for my God to help me….  O God, you know how foolish I am; my sins cannot be hidden from you.  Psalm 69:1-5

The pathos of a king, despised by the masses, headed for ruin, and drained of all emotional and spiritual strength, pleading to the silent heavens for relief, is heart-shredding.  This was David, the king of Israel, loved by God, lauded by the people, and ultimately fallen from the heights of splendor. 

When a ruler falls it is more than just a brief news cycle; when a king falls, historians realize their job security has risen.  In David’s case the fall was a personal misstep, a poor choice which allowed his humanity to replace God’s will as his governor.  David’s prayer (O God, you know how foolish I am…) claims his personal responsibility for the depths to which his relationship with God has fallen.  To his credit David does not blame God or anyone else; he accepts the full weight of his sin.

King David described his situation as being up to his neck in floodwaters, sinking deeper and deeper in the muck of his choosing.  As I was reading this Psalm, I could not keep from seeing Donald Trump’s image on David’s throne.  Edgy does not describe the angst of this situation.  Mr. Trump’s precarious hold on the presidency these past months has been a collective holding of breath for the nation.  I’m a certified news-junkie, but of late it is hard to turn on the news channels. 

I’ve not been a fan of the way President Trump has governed, but I am even less a fan of the turmoil which has been the result.  Misguided loyalists of an unwell ruler storming the halls of Congress is a terrible way to hold a eulogy for an administration.  Yet, perhaps, it is fitting; the people spoke four years prior, and now the people must dine on those words.

Yet, there is something of a glimmer to which we can turn our attention.  It is the hope of course-correction over total disintegration.  President Thomas Jefferson was in favor of revolution as a perpetual cleansing agent for our experiment in self-governance.  To be certain, Jefferson did not advocate bloody revolution, rather he favored a revolution of ideas over legislative paper piles.  Rather than build storehouses of legal ropes with which we bind ourselves to King David’s malaise of unanswered prayers, an entanglement of rules that overburden a society, our third president favored letting freedom ring, starting over with nothing but fresh-faced commitment to liberty.

It is difficult to keep a noble dream alive, let alone a dishonorable desire.  It is not for me to theorize on whatever drove Mr. Trump’s imagination and energy towards the presidency and induced such fanatic allegiance by his “base” of political support.  I’m not qualified to explore that rabbit hole.  But, of the resultant unravelling of the 45^th president’s leadership, I surmise much will be written and debated in the coming years.  Of this I’m certain, it will not be pretty or flattering!

But I do offer one hopeful perspective; this quadrennial experience of the brass-ring to be grasped, a door opened to the Oval Office, and, unquestionably the most powerful seat on earth, is neither for the faint of heart, nor for those with a short supply of character.  Neither is it a place for personal aggrandizement.  It is a place for those who would remember King David’s confession, O God, you know how foolish I am….  It is playing out in a very public, and excruciatingly painful manner, that the American public will not abide those who can’t – or won’t – pray that way.

One last thought; I take no pleasure in having written these words.  Only God and time will reveal whether they are true or not.  If my assessment here is true, it is a sad truth of the grounding of reality.  If untrue, time will blow away these words like an errant king’s dalliance. 

For You Today

Pray for the new president to be inaugurated; #46 has a tough act to follow.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

GO TO VIDEO

[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

For other posts on this text see When Your Choice is the Lesser of Evils and Whom Do You Trust?