Thursday, January 21, 2021

Manna for Today: Psalm 72


 

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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