AP

Psalm 72:1-2    Of Solomon.  Endow the king with your justice, O God, the royal son with your righteousness.  He will judge your people in righteousness, your afflicted ones with justice.

Solomon knew from his father, David, that the mandate of the Anointed King over God’s people was always to REPRESENT the LORD God among his people, and never to rule in his own right, as if HE WERE God!  It is clear from the psalms of David that this principle would have been drilled into Solomon, as the Successor to David, from a very early age.

When Solomon became King, the LORDspoke to him in a dream and said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”, to which Solomon replied, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart.  You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.  Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David.  But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.  Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number.  So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.  For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” (1 Kings 3:5-9).  As the history of God’s people unfolded, we see that Solomon’s aspiration was never fully met, even in his own life, until it was perfectly demonstrated in his Descendant, King Jesus.

Nevertheless, the general principle remains.  The Apostle Paul endorses it: “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.  The authorities that exist have been established by God.  Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.” (Romans 13:1-2).

How important it is, therefore, that, as we come up to the government elections, firstly, that we pray earnestly that the people who come to power will be people whom God will use to carry out HIS purposes and agenda, and secondly, that we continue to pray earnestly and often for whoever IS elected, that God WILL show us mercy as a nation and grant us stable and effective government – that righteousness and justice will be characteristic of all the deliberations of government.  Especially, let us all pray that those placed in authority will recognise that they are NOT God, and that they are accountable, first and foremost, to HIM ALONE.  In the light of all this, when things go wrong in the affairs of state, and God’s Word is at worst opposed, and at best ignored, does the principal blame rest upon God’s people, his Church, the Bride of Christ, who have failed to persevere in prayer for those in authority?