Princes, Kings, and Trust

I spent today learning about King Louis XIV…

How he consolidated power and modeled the first centralized state at Versailles;

How he spent 50% of the Gross National Product on the immense palace and grounds;

How he ruled by “divine right” and truly saw himself as a god (the “sun god”).

Shoulder to shoulder with 10,000 other on-lookers, I shuffled through his enormous palace.

I walked through the infamous “hall of mirrors” where the treaty of Versailles was signed.

I saw the small door near his bed for his various partners for, as the tour reminded me, “it was no secret that the ‘sun god’ warmed many beds.”

Then, I walked the sprawling gardens.

All of it, the ultimate salute to the accomplishments of humans…one human…one king. Louis XIV.

But, Louis would go on to die. His great grandson, Louis XV, would rule during a time when everything Louis XIV worked for was lost, destroyed, and erased.

Psalm 146:3-8

Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals in whom there is no help. When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish.

Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous.

I couldn’t help feeling the truth of the passage from Psalm 146 as I glided through Louis’ salute to his own greatness. It is now a tourist trap. Certainly, Louis would be horrified to see what has become of his incredible palace and grounds.

By contrast, the Kingdom of God is not about the self, it is about others. It is not about the creations of people, but about the one who created heaven and earth. It is not about a benevolent monarch providing for his people temporarily, it is about God providing for humanity eternally. It is not about lifting ourselves up, but about God lifting up all those who are bowed down.

May we never take ourselves, or our endeavors so seriously that we forget where God is at in the world. God’s not in the mirror, or in the hall of mirrors. God is in humility. In a silent prayer shared when no one is looking; in a desperate plea for help when no answers are obvious; in the silence we encounter when words fail us; even in this moment, as I write this; and that moment, as you read it…God is here. May he sensitize you to his presence today…and may we trust in the one and only endeavor that will outlast all others; the Kingdom of God.