Election Day

Today is election day, or depending on when you read this, election day was a few days ago, or last week, or whenever. Many, many people in the United States of America are full of emotion right now: apprehension, excitement, fear, anger, hope, etc… There’s a feeling that the country is at a crossroads and something is going to change. Some think it’s going to change for the better and some for the worse, and the truth is that all of those feelings are held by people across the board, on both sides. There are those who feel strongly positive about one candidate or the other and proudly support them. There are people who dislike both and are just voting for what they think the “lesser of two evils” is. There are some who refuse to do that and abstain, but almost everyone has some sort of strong feeling about the election and the candidates.

I’m not here to tell you who to vote for or why, but I want to take a minute here to look at a passage from Psalm 20. You may be familiar with this chapter, or at least with one verse from it.

“May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble!
    May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!
May he send you help from the sanctuary
    and give you support from Zion!
May he remember all your offerings
    and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah

May he grant you your heart's desire
    and fulfill all your plans!
May we shout for joy over your salvation,
    and in the name of our God set up our banners!
May the Lord fulfill all your petitions!

Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed;
    he will answer him from his holy heaven
    with the saving might of his right hand.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
    but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
They collapse and fall,
    but we rise and stand upright.

O Lord, save the king!
    May he answer us when we call.”

People are looking for protection, support, recognition, success, happiness, to be heard, to belong, and they look to Presidential candidates, to Congress, to government, to leaders for these things. They hear promises, but the thing is that, so often, these promises and statements are hollow, or they are targeted and narrow. “You will have a voice and a purpose and a place with ME, because we will exclude and silence those others.” However, we can’t place our hope and desire and purpose on people and governments. They will, inevitably, let us down, even the best people and governments will let us down because every one of them is affected by the Curse of Sin.

God, however, is over and above all of that. He is Almighty and Perfect and Pure and Just and Loving. He is the one who gives us our place and purpose and voice and sense of belonging. This is not a “kumbaya” gathering where there is no accountability or expectation; God is still just, and sin is still real. However, God’s invitation is open to all. His love is available to all. His protection and salvation are not exclusive to certain groups of people based on gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, political affiliation, socio-economic status, etc…

God is constant, never changing or shifting. His love is constant. His expectations and requirements are constant. His sacrifice is constant. His invitation is constant.

So, while “some trust in chariots and some in horses”, some trust in Democrats and some in Republicans, some trust in Socialists and some in Capitalists, some trust in Government, “We trust in the name of the Lord our God.” He supersedes every power on this earth, and while standing for what is right and what you believe in is important; while, I believe, taking part in elections within this country is important; while, being excited and impassioned for certain things to happen, or to stop happening, is important, we need to always remember that it is all secondary to our love for and devotion to Christ. If we are Christians we stand under His banner, so proudly display that banner and don’t muddy it with smear or hatred, don’t neglect it out of fear and anxiety, and don’t outshine it with love and praise of political systems over our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.