God and Elections

 

 

To whom did God listen

If He listened at all?

No doubt both sides prayed;

Both on Him called.

 

Whose request was honoured?

Did God play a part?

Did he actually set it up

From the very start?

 

Did He cast a vote

Not one but two

And did He influence the voters

In the voting booth?

 

Would it have been fair

In your opinion

If God took a side

In this recent election?

 

Did He decide

The victor and the vanquished

And tell me, if you can,

Did He grant your wish?

 

I would imagine

That Christians prayed

And they voted preferentially

As is the democratic way.

 

However, one side lost

And another won,

Why should not the losers feel

They were undone?

 

Did their faith play a role

In the victory wrought

Hence the lesser faith of the two

Defeat on them brought?

 

All these are questions

That we need to ask

But who can answer them?

Who’s equipped for the task?

 

 

“God puts up Governments

And He takes them down”,

You must have heard this one

Making the rounds.

 

But given its context,

Is this so today?

Does a theocracy and a democracy

Work in the same way?

 

Did the Israel of old

Operate like we do today?

Did they hold general elections

Allowing people a say?

 

And while it is true

The “ayes” favoured Saul,

Concerning the selection of a king,

Was it so for all?

 

Certainly not for David,

The prophet Samuel can attest

And in Father Jesse’s mind

David was not his best.

 

Not a shepherd boy

Who was not in war skilled

Even though a lion and a bear

He had killed.

 

Oh, and by the way,

He had slain a giant too

And put to ignominious flight

The entire Philistine troop.

 

 

No ballots were cast

As in general elections today

And unlike today, generally,

The people had no say.

 

We must not blame God

For the choices we make

When things begin to fall apart

And our hopes dissipate.

 

For while we vote

As is our democratic right,

Christians can only pray and hope

Our leaders see the light.

 

That divine light,

That “thus saith the Lord”

That is the hallmark of leadership

That follow God’s Word.

 

For given the “separation”

Between state and church,

The church is basically regulated

By legal experts.

 

They meet in Parliaments

And they pass the laws

That the church must abide by

Even though flawed.

 

 

God is not a politician

Out begging for a vote

And with that said I will end

On this sober note.

 

Stewart Russell © November 6, 2024