November 20, 2002
Reading: Psalm 113 ff

 

“The LORD is high above all nations” (4)

 

In these days of global unrest and terror, it is easy to accept the concept that everything is out of control. Nations we do not trust present a threat with their “weapons of mass destruction” programs, and we trust our government to make the correct decisions and protect us from harm. This is the society in which we live and is the only hope we have – unless you are a born again Christian. Those of us who love the Lord have a hope and trust that supercedes any earthly government. The Bible constantly exhorts us to put our trust in the Lord and not in human governments. “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes” Ps 118:8-9.

Asa, king of Judah, is a good example of a man who placed his trust in a human government instead of in the Lord. He asked for, and received, assistance from Ben-Hadad, king of Syria, in his war against Israel. Shortly after, a prophet named Hanani, went to Asa and condemned his action, “Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the LORD your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand. Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the LORD, He delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars” 2 Chron 16:7-9.

History records that “Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God” 2 Chron 14:2-3, except when he trusted in worldly authorities. The result was that Asa experienced wars for the rest of his life. It does not matter how powerful and influential a nation is, it is still made up of men and women, and therein lies the problem. “Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; And their horses are flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD stretches out His hand, both he who helps will fall, and he who is helped will fall down; they all will perish together” Isa 31:3.

What a helpless situation it is when our greatest hope is in an authority of weakness. But, if our hope is in the Lord, we trust in His strength and authority as the Supreme Ruler of all nations. God rules from His throne and “humbles Himself to behold the things that are in the heavens and in the earth” (5-6). “It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless” Isa 40:22-23. This is the One in whom we trust. Men, when weighed on God’s scales, are nothing but “vapour,” and the Psalmist exhorts us not to trust them. “God has spoken once, twice I have heard this: That power belongs to God” Ps 62:9-11.

“Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God” Ps 146:5. Herein lies the Christian’s rest, hope and peace. Let the nations rage, our hope is in the Lord.

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit” Jer 17:7-8.