The Real King-Maker

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It would be safe to say that our friends to the south are feeling some anxiety as November approaches. I don't blame them. How do you choose when there appears to be no choice? And we in the north have our problems too when it comes to those in political and economic authority who have lost contact with the real world of their constituents—if they were ever connected at all!

Well, Isaiah has an observation for all of us who are feeling a little, or a lot, overwhelmed.

"Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told to you from the beginning?
Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
He [God] sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
 and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
He brings princes to nought
and reduces rulers of this world to nothing.
No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff" (Isaiah 40:21-24).

The psalmist writes: "No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt a man. But it is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another" (Psalm 75:6, 7). The context of these two verses of the psalm tells us that God sometimes makes choices that will bring judgment on a nation.

The section from Isaiah come at the beginning of the what is known as the "Suffering Servant" passages, a series of messages of comfort and encouragement to the people of God in the face of the punishment that was ordained for them because of their rebellion.

The Lord promises that no matter how grim the future looks, God is working behind the scenes and He will shepherd His flock through the twists and turns of whatever will come.

We forget. I forget. It doesn't take much to forget.

But perhaps the more important question to ask is why God has left us with a choice that is no choice at all, or allowed us to put into place people whose bent is to evil and not to good?

Is it true that we get what we deserve—even when it comes to presidents, prime ministers and premiers?

If the message to us is the same as it was to His people of begone days, then God's people need to be on their knees, not asking for better choices in leaders or better government, but in repentance.

God's message to Solomon is this: "...if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:140).

What else does He need to do to get our attention?