Psalm 2:2,5-6 “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed…Then He will speak to them in His wrath…”As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”
It’s voting day in the US, and let me start by saying that I am voting today. Voting is a civic duty, a somber stewardship, and a gracious historic anomaly and I would urge anyone who is able to vote in the US elections to do so. However, that being said, this image is set before my mind’s eye as I head to the polls.
Political parties in and of themselves are institutions of the flesh…which means, in and of themselves, they are—like all institutions rooted in human effort and purposes—following the course of the “spirit of the age,” (Eph.2:2, 2 Cor.4:4) which is opposition to God in Christ. Whether it is anti-Christ exaltation of self and seeding of divisions and a brand of wisdom and power that opposes the definitions given to these realities on Calvary, or whether it is anti-Christ distortion of nature and the pursuit of a Moloch-ian slaughter of the innocents, in either case (and much more could be added on both sides), power rooted in human institutions will trend in the direction of the “god of this world” who holds sway over all flesh, whatever its political orientation.
However, there is—as we see in Psalm 2 —a King, a true King, enthroned on Calvary, reigning from heaven, who is Ruler of rulers and whose victory at the cross has triumphed, is triumphing, and will triumph over all flesh-rooted power. He is the one who wields all earthly powers according to the will and glory of His Father, and He is the one in whose side we, Christian, are hidden as His People, His City, His Bride.
And so, because we know *this one* wields all authority, we have confidence to vote and to prayerfully use other effective, “this-worldly” means to bring about change, knowing that if any good is to come from these necessary efforts, it will not be because of the worldly powers themselves, but because the One reigning from the Altar-Throne of heaven holds and wields all things for the sake of His Name which is His people’s good and His Father’s glory.
