Good Reminders from God’s Word about a Nation’s Leaders

Let it out—a four-year sigh of relief—another presidential election is over.

For Christians, it was patently obvious that the winning candidate was friendlier to Christianity than the other. At his rallies, there were chants of “Christ is King!” Whatever the motivations for this chant, we can be thankful that our country has a measure of tolerance and even promotion of the name of Christ (cf. Phil 1:18), a name for which Christ Himself promised we would suffer (Luke 21:12, 17).

At one of her rallies, the shout “Jesus is Lord!” was met with what was most likely a taunt to provoke the cheers of her attendees: “Oh, you guys are at the wrong rally.” Though it was quarrelsome for these protesters to interrupt her rally (cf. 2 Tim 2:24–26), we learned much about her and her attendees with their response to the truth of “Jesus is Lord.”

Whatever the next two months or four years hold, the truth of God’s Word about leaders is timeless and endures forever. The following thoughts are simple but good reminders from God’s Word about our civil rulers, whoever they may be.

We should thank God for righteous leaders.

Mentioned above, our incoming president shows a measure of friendliness towards Christians. If we consider his election as the answer to the prayers of many Christians (i.e., considering the alternative candidate who was obviously unfriendly to Christianity), we can rejoice in the anticipation of civil righteousness and the continued tolerance of Christianity in America (Prov 11:10; 28:12). May he be a minister of God for our good and punish evildoers (Rom 13:4).

We should obey our leaders.

As long as we are not being told to obey men instead of God in some way, we should obey our leaders. At the very least, God instituted government to protect its people (cf. Gen 9:5–6), and this governance requires taxes to fund those who “bear the sword” (cf. Rom 13:4, 7). We obey them because God has put them in leadership for our good.

We should pray for our leaders to rule righteously.

We pray for kings and governors to lead in such a way so that we might live peaceful and quiet lives (1 Tim 2:1–2). We please God with these prayers because, as He answers them, we are able to give the gospel freely, in keeping with God’s desire for the salvation of all men (1 Tim 2:3–4). He sent His very Son for a ransom for all, and we give testimony to this truth (1 Tim 2:5–7).

We should pray for the salvation of our leaders.

Nations and their leaders often seek to break themselves free of the Father and the Son (Ps 2:1–3). God laughs and warns them of wrath unless they submit to Him (Ps 2:4–9). He addresses them specifically and commands them to be warned, serve Him, and show homage to His Son (Ps 2:10–12). Let’s pray that they do so that they can be blessed like us who have found refuge in Jesus Christ (Ps 2:12b).

We should trust God alone.

As great as any leader might be, if he is not Jesus Christ, he does not provide salvation as God does through Jesus Christ. We do not trust in these leaders as we would trust Christ because they are men who die, depart, and return to the earth, taking their best plans with them (Ps 146:3–4). God alone reigns forever and has the power to save (Ps 146:5–10). We should give our fullest trust to Him alone.

We should pray for earth to look like heaven.

Jesus teaches us to pray, “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:10). In heaven, angels obey. The saints who have gone before us join them in worship day by day. What a wonderful thing it would be if the world and its leaders would live and rule in such a way as to make earth look like heaven!

We should pray for heaven to come to earth.

We also know that earth will never look like heaven until the coming kingdom of Christ, a kingdom hastened by our prayers (Matt 6:10). Christ will bar unbelievers from entering this kingdom (Matt 25:31–46) and rule with a rod of iron (Ps 2:9; Rev 2:27). And it gets even better after that—His kingdom gives way to a perfect creation in which the Father Himself comes down to dwell with man (1 Cor 15:24-28; cf. Rev 21–22). Let us pray for His kingdom to come.

We praise God for leaders who are friendly to Christianity. We are thankful for an election that gives Christians a sense of peace for years to come. And better yet, we pray that these leaders, presidents included, would know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and rule as Daniel and Joseph for the good of the church until Christ comes again.

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David Huffstutler is the pastor of First Baptist Church in Rockford, IL. He blogs here, where this article first appeared. It is republished here by permission.

Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay