Gods Sovereignty (11-7-12)

(The following was written immediately following the 2012 presidential election.)

Psalm 2:1-2 - "Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed."

You have all heard the outcome of the elections, and I have to say that I'm disappointed. But is that a valid response? Shouldn't we be happy that Gods will is being done? These are real questions and real issues that believers struggle with, and I have a feeling that there are a lot more Christians who struggle with these issues than will admit it. These questions have arisen in my own mind over the past twenty four hours. I know that if I were a good or mature Christian, I would simply quote the Scriptures that talk about all authority belonging to God, that God raises and deposes and that He is sitting on the throne and divinely orchestrating the events of mankind, and don't get me wrong, I know all these things are true and that the Bible does in fact talk about these things, but since this is the case why am I disappointed with the results of the election? Am I sinning by being disappointed? Maybe I'm the only one who feels this way and struggles with these things, but I believe that God sympathizes with my weakness in this area and I believe He answers these issues in His Word.

First, I want to establish in our minds that God is, indeed, sovereign. Gods sovereignty is the attribute by which He rules and has complete authority over all creation. David says in Psalm 103:19 - "The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all." The Bible makes it very clear that the Lord is sovereign over all creation. God has a purpose and a plan for this world and nothing that man can do will thwart that plan. God is on the throne above all creation, and that fact will never change. In speaking on the sovereignty of God, C.H. Spurgeon said - "There is no attribute more comforting to His children than that of Gods sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, In the most severe trials, they believe that sovereignty has ordained their afflictions, that sovereignty overrules them, and that sovereignty will sanctify them all. There is nothing for which the children ought more earnestly to contend than the doctrine of their Master over all creation - the Kingship of God over all the works of His own hands - the Throne of God and His right to sit upon that Throne." The psalmist wrote in Psalm 45:6 - "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Thy kingdom." And in Psalm 47:8 we read - "God reigns over the nations, God sits on His holy throne." So God is on the throne despite who our earthly leaders are.
In Genesis chapter 45 Joseph credits God for putting him in a position of authority. He says in verses 7-8 - "God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt." Joseph recognized that what his brothers intended for evil, God used to accomplish His sovereign purpose and plan in preserving the nation of Israel, through which He would bring the Messiah thousands of years later.

We also see Gods sovereignty in that case of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. The Lord says in Jeremiah 27:5-8 - "I have made the earth, the men and the beasts which are on the face of the earth by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will give it to the one who is pleasing in My sight. Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and I have given him also the wild animals of the field to serve him. All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will make him their servant. “It will be, that the nation or the kingdom which will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine and with pestilence,” declares the Lord, “until I have destroyed it by his hand.”" This is interesting. Nebuchadnezzar was a wicked pagan king when he first came into power and yet God calls him "My servant." He said that He would use him and give kingdoms into his hand and his son and grandson, and then other nations would come and conquer them. And that's exactly what happened. We can see the history throughout the prophets, Daniel especially, and see that God raised up this ruler for His own purposes and to direct the course of world events. We read in Daniel 2:20-21 - "Daniel said, “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him. It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to men of understanding.”" Later on in Nebuchadnezzars life I believe He got saved. Daniel chapter 4 gives us an account from Nebuchadnezzar himself about an events that the Lord brought about in his life in order to bring him to repentance. And throughout this account it's interesting to see Nebuchadnezzar's own recognition that God is on the throne. He was given a vision by God that told him that he would be humbled like a beast. And in Daniel 4:17 he recounts that the vision ended with this decree - "This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers and the decision is a command of the holy ones, in order that the living may know that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whom He wishes and sets over it the lowliest of men." As Daniel interprets this vision for the king, he says in Daniel 4:25 - "that you be driven away from mankind and your dwelling place be with the beasts of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes." And again in Daniel 4:32 a voice spoke to Nebuchadnezzar from heaven saying - "and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes." And then we read at the end of the chapter in Daniel 4:34-35 - "But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, 'What hast Thou done?'" You'll notice that the emphasis throughout this chapter is that God is ruler over the realm mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes. You'll notice also that God is referred to again and again throughout the early chapters of Daniel as the "Most High." Mankind has their rulers, kings and presidents, and all other sorts of political leaders, but though we may consider them to be in a high place of authority, they don't compare in power and authority with God, the Most High. Because all power and all authority belong to Him. In Daniel chapter 5 Daniel was recounting this event to Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzars grandson, and he says again in Daniel 5:21 - "He was also driven away from mankind, and his heart was made like that of beasts, and his dwelling place was with the wild donkeys. He was given grass to eat like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he recognized that the Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind and that He sets over it whomever He wishes."

We see this again in Isaiah 44:28-45:1 where the Lord says - "It is I who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd! And he will perform all My desire.’ and he declares of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’” Thus says the Lord to Cyrus His anointed, whom I have taken by the right hand, to subdue nations before him and to loose the loins of kings; to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut." The Lord called Cyrus, another pagan king, "His anointed." Cyrus was king of Persia when Babylon was conquered by the Persians during the reign of Belshazzar. God used Cyrus, not only to conquer the Babylonians, but also to perform His work. Cyrus was not saved and we have no record of him turning to the Lord like Nebuchadnezzar did. However, the Lord used Cyrus to allow the Jews who had been taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar to return to their own land and begin reconstruction on the temple of God and on the city of Jerusalem which the Babylonians had destroyed. In all these things we see the truth of Proverbs 21:1 - "The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes."

And one final example of Gods authority in earthly government, John 19:10-11 says - "So Pilate said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”" Jesus stated to Pontius Pilate that the authority he had over Christ had been given to him by God Himself. Jesus said in John 10:17-18 - "For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father." Pilate couldn't take the Lords life form Him if He hadn't first laid it down. God appointed Pilate, an earthly ruler, to deliver Jesus up to be crucified, but God was divinely orchestrating the events of that night in order that Jesus might bear the sin of the world in His own body on the cross, that all those who come to Him might live through the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that we night live for God having been reconciled with Him through the blood of Christ. And God used an earthly ruler to hand Him over to death. Romans 13:1 says - "Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God." God appoints leaders to govern the earth. And even the wicked rulers are His servants whom He has appointed for His own purpose. We read in Proverbs 16:4 - "The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil."

Okay, I think we've clearly seen from Scripture that God is sovereign. But I'm still left with my questions and disappointments. Is it wrong for me to be disappointed with the outcome of the election? Is that a sin? Shouldn't I be happy with the results knowing that God is sovereign? I don't think it's wrong to be disappointed, and I'll tell you why.

There are several examples in Scripture that illustrate my point, but the one I want to look at is found in the Old Testament book of Habakkuk, because I think it's spelled out here very clearly. Habakkuk prophesied in the time just before Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel, was taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian empire. God revealed to Habakkuk that the Babylonians were going to come up against them and that He would give Israel into their hands. And this troubled Habakkuk, he was confused as to how God could allow them to be taken captive by such a wicked nation with such a wicked king. So He asked God about it, and this is what the Lord said to him in Habakkuk 2:4 - "The just shall live by faith." And this answer changed Habakkuk's perspective. So he says in Habakkuk 3:16-18 - "I heard and my inward parts trembled, at the sound my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones, and in my place I tremble. Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, for the people to arise who will invade us. Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation." Habakkuks circumstances didn't change but his attitude did. He still wasn't happy about the coming invasion, and the change of power that was about to take place in his nation, but in the midst of that he was able to rejoice in the Lord. He talks about trembling at the thought of the coming invasion and captivity and it's not a pleasant thought. But he knew by faith that God in His sovereignty was divinely orchestrating the events of human history. He knew that God had raised up that army to invade them and take them into captivity, and it caused him to tremble. The circumstances disappointed Him, it's not a sin to be disappointed with the events of this world, but he was living by faith, not faith in the circumstances, but faith in God. He wasn't happy about the change of power, it caused him to tremble, but at the same time he was able to say "yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation." Only faith can cause you to live like that. I don't rejoice in the president of the United States, frankly the outcome of the election disappoints me. But in spite of that I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation." We don't rejoice in the events of this world, we don't rejoice in our circumstances or possessions, we rejoice in the Lord. That's the only way it's possible to "Rejoice in the Lord always" like Paul exhorts us to do in his letter to the Philippians. You'll remember that when Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians he was in prison. His circumstances sure weren't great. He was under the authority of a king who later took his life from him, certainly not a godly leader, but all throughout that letter Paul says again and again "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I will say rejoice." Paul wasn't rejoicing in his ungodly leaders, he was living by faith and choosing to rejoicing in the Lord. It's a choice. We can by faith, trust in the Lord and have joy in Him in spite of our earthly troubles, knowing that, yes, the Lord raises and deposes according to His sovereign plan, and, yes, those earthly leaders will always disappoint, but we can have peace in our hearts in spite of adverse circumstances.

Habakkuk 3:16-18 - "I heard and my inward parts trembled, at the sound my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones, and in my place I tremble. Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, for the people to arise who will invade us. Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation."