Place Not Your Trust In Princes

When we trust people, we are trusting them only to certain degrees and in certain capacities. For example, I am trusting the experts at Les Schwab in Rathdrum to fix my brakes as I write this. I will soon get in my truck and drive away, demonstrating that trust by reaching 70 mph on Highway 95 as I journey home. When the time comes to brake (and it will), I am fully expecting that the processes of deceleration will work as they ought to work. I am trusting these good folks with the work set before them.

Just because I can trust a Les Schwab employee to fix my vehicle, that trust does not translate into every area of life. I need not trust that same employee, for example, with filing my taxes, babysitting my kids, or guiding me on a backpacking trip through Kazakhstan. Again, we trust people to certain degrees and in certain capacities.

I've been thinking about trust quite a bit lately as it pertains to our various tiers of magistrates and elected officials. Like many Americans, I have experienced some frustration as of late with policies, statements, and what look like potential coverups in our government.

Now, to be clear, I'm not a political expert, which is part of my point. I'm a pretty average guy when it comes to following the news and tracking the broad sweeps of what happens in Washington, D.C. From this average guy's perspective, there have been a few proverbial eyebrows raised at some of the decisions made by our leaders recently.

If you're like me, you were pretty excited at the election of President Trump and all the nifty gifts that came with him. You liked his tough stances on key issues. You liked his promises to oust corruption in the Capitol and in the city streets. You liked his plan for American wealth and a better economy, and so on. You likely were also excited about many of his picks for cabinet members and officials; experts who were ready to get their hands dirty in bringing about a great return to fundamental principles of justice, prosperity, and security.
To a great extent, many of these ideals and promises are being pursued and accomplished, and I'm grateful for that. I still like the things I've listed here. In no way am I regretting casting my vote the way I did.

At the same time, just like the way the "new car smell" eventually fades away and the "check engine" light is sure to blink to life at some point, even the most conservative Americans are being reminded that President Trump has not and will not usher in heaven on earth. Speaking for myself, I've been at times slightly disappointed (and at other times downright aghast) at some of his statements and choices. His support base is divided on issues like involvement in various foreign wars and a failure to release long-promised information regarding child trafficking and high-level corruption, to name a couple.

Now, my purpose here is not to bash our president, but to remind you all that, just like the Les Schwab employees, we need to keep things like trust in perspective. The president is not our god, our guru, or our messiah. We have entrusted certain things to him, but not all things. Perhaps, on certain issues, you've been recently disappointed in our leader. "I've already bought the MAGA hat," you're thinking. "What now?"

The solution is not to become disillusioned with the entire system or to discontinue our prayers and support for our leaders. You don't have to burn your bright red hat or peel the bumper sticker off your truck. The solution is to place all the players back in their correct position according to biblical revelation.

Psalm 146:3 says this:
Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. (ESV)

Similarly, Psalm 118:9 tells us,
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in princes. (ESV)

Let's briefly consider what God says to us here. Compiling the truth found in these two verses, we conclude the following:

Human leaders are not worthy of trust in the same way God is worthy of our trust. Why not? They can not bring salvation (Ps. 146). They are not able to provide refuge in the same way or to the same degree as can God in heaven (Ps. 118).

This does not mean that human leaders (princes) are useless or irrelevant. It simply means that our trust in them must be tempered in light of God Almighty. God alone saves, and God alone provides security and refuge in the most meaningful and permanent sense. We also know from Romans 13 that it is God Almighty who delegates authority to these earthly princes, and that he intends for us to trust in them to certain degrees and in certain capacities. 

When we maintain this biblical perspective, we realize that an immense amount of pressure is released from the situation. When President Trump (or any president) acts screwy or wickedly, our first reaction must be to remind ourselves of the order of things. God is God, and the president is not. Our trust ultimately does not rest in this man, his cabinet, or whether or not he releases the Epstein Files (though he should). Our trust ultimately rests in God's great plan of salvation through his Son, Jesus Christ, and the pardon he's brought to undeserving sinners.

Before you react to the next blunder to come out of the District of Columbia, start here. If your universe is in danger of being shattered because your president does something foolish, just pause. Remember where your trust rests. From there, pray fervently. Write your congressman. Work for local change, etc. Keep participating and calling for integrity. Keep supporting your leaders, and don't give into the trend of "cancel culture." But do it all with God's hierarchy in mind. No matter what bill is passed, no matter what policy is implemented, no matter what takes place at our nation's highest level - there is a higher level to which we can and must appeal.