Thought from today’s Bible reading from 2 Samuel 22-23; Psalm 57.
The “last words of David” (2 Samuel 23:1) begin with a statement he received from the Lord about those who rule over others.
“The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, ‘He who rules over men righteously, who rules in the fear of God, is as the light of the morning when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, when the tender grass springs out of the earth, through sunshine after rain’” (2 Samuel 23:3-4).
The people who have a righteous, God-fearing man as their ruler are truly blessed. Let us consider a couple of points about this.
First of all, notice that this was not David’s opinion. God was the one who taught this to David, and he is relaying the information. The idea that a righteous, God-fearing ruler is a blessing to his people is not human opinion but divine truth.
Second, it is possible to have a human ruler who is righteous and God-fearing. David was an example of this. It may be difficult to find such an individual today (or at least one that is electable), but it is not necessarily impossible.
Third, the righteous, God-fearing ruler will be like “the light of the morning” that allows man to clearly see God’s great power and providential care (“when the tender grass springs out of the earth, through sunshine after rain“). A righteous, God-fearing ruler will allow the people to see God as the giver of all good things (James 1:17) rather than try to convince the people that he has replaced God as their benevolent provider. A righteous, God-fearing ruler will be content with the people seeing God for who He is rather than try to cloud the truth about God. A righteous, God-fearing ruler does not view God as a threat to his power.
I pray that our country might find such men to rule over us.
Tomorrow’s reading: Psalm 95, 97-99
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
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