Trust Not in Rulers

“Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.”

 (Psalm 146:3-4 ESV)

We are truly blessed to live in the United States of America. We have freedoms here that are enjoyed nowhere else in the world. For that, I am truly grateful. And it’s for this reason that we will soon celebrate the Fourth of July.

However, as Christians, we often go to an extreme when it comes to our love of country. For many of us, our nation has become almost an idol. Even though our Constitution guarantees us the freedom of speech, and even though men and women have died defending that freedom, we act as if anything negative said about our nation, or if people express a viewpoint other than our own, they are unpatriotic. We may even question their faith when they do so.

In the same vein, although I use it a great deal from the church standpoint, and although I love to share life with family and friends around the world on this platform, I can barely stomach Facebook any longer. A vast majority of what is posted is political in nature. And, once again, the viewpoints of many Christians border on idolatry.

Many Christians make it seem that our current president is almost equivalent to Christ himself. They make it seem that he is the Savior of our nation. Others, however, make it seem as if he’s equivalent to Satan. They make it seem as though he is drawing us away from the Lord and his will.

For these reasons, we would do well to pay attention to the above verses of Scripture. Even though the Bible does tell us that God appoints people to their positions of authority, we are told here that we are not to put our trust in princes. We are not to put our trust in men. And we are not to do so because, in them, there is no salvation.

Men are very limited. Their power is only temporary. They will one day die. And, on that day, their plans and intentions perish along with them.

Our salvation is found in Christ alone. And in Christ alone is our hope. We must look to him and only to him for the blessings and the salvation that we so desperately need.

And rather than putting so much time and energy into spouting politics, we would do better to point people to Christ. Instead of trying to convert others to our political viewpoint, we would do better to reach out to them with the gospel. As citizens of this nation, it is our God-given duty to vote and to hold the feet of our politicians to the fire. However, our primary focus must always be upon Jesus and the salvation of souls.