Who’s in charge?

Psalm 46 is a great encouragement to put our trust and hope in God as our refuge and strength. In verse 6 it says:

“Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.”

We are always in danger of giving too much weight to sensationalist media narratives and exaggerating present circumstances. But I think it is fair to say that in the UK we are facing one of the most divided and uncertain times I have known – and Christians are not immune to the prevailing fear, anger or cynicism.

We need not fear. It is good to be reminded that the chaos of national and international politics does not control the future – God does. And we can have a quiet contentment in that. Christians need to beware of investing too much hope in human institutions and becoming angry and frustrated when they fail.

We also need the humility to recognise that many of our political views are matters of wisdom and judgement and we don’t have the monopoly on that; only God is all-wise and only his decisions are always just.

As we see truth distorted and selfish motives playing out in the public sphere, we must not lose hope. In God’s common grace things can improve and he has been very kind to us as a nation in times past. But we also know that this present conflict, and the ultimate failure of all political systems, is rooted in our individual sinful hearts; these are what need to be changed.

In God’s goodness – and with love for our neighbour – we must do all that we can to hold back the tide of evil. But in the end moral campaigns will not make the big difference. We need God to work in a revival so that many, many people become followers of Christ. Only then, when the masses want to honour God and put him at the heart of our nation, will our society really be changed. We need to work and pray for this – not for our comfort but for his glory.

Politically and spiritually, when “he lifts his voice, the earth melts” (Psalm 46:6).