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
