The Morning After

The morning after the election, there are many emotions across the United States this morning.

Some are elated at the possibility that a political outsider might shake things up enough to root out entrenched corruption.

Some are despairing that a public figure so prone to reactive and harmful speech will now represent this great nation on the world stage.

Some people are profoundly hopeful this morning.
Others are deeply afraid.

The Word of God, as contained in the pages of the Bible, and made flesh in Jesus Christ, outlasts every single one of these fleeting emotions.

God's Word has stood through democracies and dictatorships; through plagues, and wars, and economic booms, and economic busts...
And through it all, one consistent message is that whenever we base our hope (or even our despair) on frail humans, we are missing the point.

Our hope comes from the God who is still reconciling the world to himself (2 Corinthians 5:19)...and that work is not dependent on the work of any government. Instead, as followers of Christ, we get to participate in the work of reconciliation. And we do that best together. Playing partisan games or spending energy hating each other over any other human being is an absolute waste...because, as the eternal words of Psalm 146 remind us, "when their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day, their plans perish."

So, to those who are elated this morning, and those who are despairing this morning: May we ALL  read the words of Psalm 146 and take both warning and comfort from the eternal words "do not put your trust in princes, in mortals in whom there is no help."

Take some time and read the Psalm below, letting God's Word speak to you, challenge you, comfort you, and remind you that our hope is in God alone...

Psalm 146

1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
   I will sing praises to my God all my life long.

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

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

The Lord sets the prisoners free;
8   the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
   the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the strangers;
   he upholds the orphan and the widow,
   but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

10 The Lord will reign for ever,
   your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord!