Do Not Trust In Princes

Psalm 146 is a great passage for us to consider during the upcoming election season:

1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 I will praise the Lord while I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

3 Do not trust in princes,
In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation,
4 His spirit departs, he returns to the earth;
In that very day his thoughts perish.

5 How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
Whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 Who made heaven and earth,
The sea and all that is in them;
Who keeps faith forever;
7 Who executes justice for the oppressed;
Who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free.

8 The Lord opens the eyes of the blind;
The Lord raises up those who are bowed down;
The Lord loves the righteous;
9 The Lord protects the strangers:
He supports the fatherless and the widow,
But He thwarts the way of the wicked.

10 The Lord will reign forever,
Your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord!

We may be tempted to put our trust in “princes”, counting too much on those we elect and in the political process to change our state and our nation.

This Psalm reminds us it is God who is sovereign; it is God who provides; and it is God who saves. This means we do not put too much hope in the choosing of human leaders. Neither do we become discouraged or distraught over the outcome of elections.

Certainly we take advantage of our rights and responsibilities to vote and in other ways participate in the political process. However let us remember that our trust ultimately rests in God.