Sovereign Over Political Mess

Watching political news and soap operas is really not all that different.

This week if you watched Days of Our Lives and cable news for an hour a day you would get about the same product.  Politics is messy, confusing and intensely personal.  Outside of people coming out of comas at regularity there isn't much difference between the two genres of programming.

This week I read 2 Samuel chapters 3 and 4 and I could have just watched The Bold and the Beautiful.

In the span of two chapters you see: civil war, a man trying to love more women than The Bachelor, political butt kissing, two kings fighting over the love of the people, the simultaneous demise of twenty-four young men in battle, a man killed for not leaving another man alone, a general accused of treason and an affair, a backstabbing of a former political ally, a revenge murder and a highly politicized funeral.  And the next chapter is just as crazy.  How's that for a week on FOX News or CNN?

The life of David and the nation of Israel is drenched in messy, ugly, vengeful politicking.  Yet it is in all this and through all this that God keeps His promise to David.  For seven-and-a-half years after the death of Saul this was the state of David's life.  David thought he was at the finish line after Saul's death and then spent the equivalence of from now to Fall 2026 in the mess of a violent reality show before becoming king.

While reading through this section of 2 Samuel a few things are clear.  First, there is a difference in reading Biblical narrative as description and prescription because there are few things the characters do in this passage that I would suggest anyone do.  The other is that God is sovereign in the mess of politics.

Whether you are on the far Right, the far Left or anywhere in between, we can agree that there are times when it looks like God has taken His hand off the steering wheel.  There are things in my nation and in our world that both horrify me and embarrass me.  But God is in control.

God is always in control and He is always keeping His promises.  This truth is not changed by civil war and messy politics in ancient Israel or modern day Iowa.  

So, be active when you want in the messy business of politics, go ahead and be perplexed at how God is using all this to accomplish His will, but always rest easy knowing that God is in charge of it all no matter how ugly it looks from our seats. 

Trust our Sovereign Lord today.