Psalm 72:1-20
Key Verses:
1-4
“Please
help the king to be honest and fair just like you, our God. Let him be honest
and fair with all your people, especially the poor. Let peace and justice rule
every mountain and hill. Let the king defend the poor, rescue the homeless, and
crush everyone who hurts them.” CEV
Here in the US, as of yesterday
at noon, we have a new President. No matter what we think of our new president,
we can join with the Psalmist praying our president would be the kind of ruler
described here in this passage. The psalmist asked god to let the new king be God,
honest and fair, especially to the poor. Let there be peace and justice, let
him be a ruler who looks to the needs of the poor, the homeless and let all
those who hurt them be crushed. The psalmist does not ask for a king who looks out
for personal needs and desires, who adheres to the psalmist’s politics, but
instead asks for peace and justice, honesty and fairness, someone who looks out
for the homeless and the poor. And this the psalmist sees as a ruler who is
like God. I am not sure when we think of having a “Godly” ruler we usually
think of honesty, fairness, justice, peace, especially in regards to the poor,
the needy and the homeless. Yet this is how a Godly ruler is described here. The
psalmist asks God that their new king be like God in these ways. Later on in
the Psalm it says, “Only you can work miracles.” A ruler who leads and governs
as God is a miracle indeed, but yet this is what we pray for, this is what we
ask God for, knowing that only God can work such miracles. And this is a
miracle we all need, every person, every country, to have a leader who governs
with God’s honesty, fairness, who seek God’s justice and peace, and who defends
the poor, and rescues the homeless. This is who our God and this is the miracle
we desire for God to work in our nation.
Things to
Think on
What would
it mean to truly have a leader who governs as God would govern?
Read the Psalm
again, what attribute of a godly ruler surprise you?
Pray for
our president (or the leader of your nation) this morning. Pray as the Psalmist
would pray
A Prayer
for Today
Oh, God, I
know you are not a part of partisan politics. Everyone around me, including
myself have our own ideas of what a good leader for our nation would look like.
I have ideas of what policies that person would enact. I have opinions as to
whether our leader is good or fair or is the right person for the job. Let me turn
away from my ideologies, the policies of the political party I support. Let me
instead turn to you. Let me look to your character and instead of desiring the
person I want to rule the way I would wish for them to rule. Let me desire a
leader who is like you, in all ways. Better yet, instead of attempting to put
my trust in a leader, a political party or a political system, let me put my
trust in you. Let me look to you to perform miracles in me, in my life, and let
me trust you to perform miracles in the political system and in the hearts and
lives of those who govern. Let me not put my trust in them, but in you, knowing
you can work in and through them. – Amen
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