Though two and a half months have passed, I think I still have whiplash. The 2024 U.S. presidential campaign left us all rattled, shook, gobsmacked—and really, really ready to leave the whole ugly mess behind us. Thankfully, we survived the political roller coaster of the summer and fall, cast our vote on November 5, and now here we are on the cusp of the forty-sixth presidential transition in American history.
Perhaps you’ve had January 20 marked on your calendar since the morning of November 6; you absolutely cannot wait for the inaugural ceremonies. Or, maybe you’re nervous about what the next four years will mean for our country. More assassination attempts? More terrorist threats? Deeper and uglier divisions? Or, perhaps you’ve become callous and indifferent to the whole thing and would prefer to watch the Hallmark Channel. Regardless of your feelings on this auspicious day for our nation, your heart, like mine, needs to be anchored to truth to keep it from veering into enemy territory.
Only One Leader Endures Forever
While we may think that a new leader every four or eight years is a big deal, imagine how the nation of Israel felt when their leader of forty years—the only leader any of them had ever known—was about to die just before the entire nation undertook its biggest challenge yet: conquering the Promised Land. I don’t know when exactly Moses wrote Psalm 90, but I like to imagine that he read (or sang) it to the people one last time before he died. In this psalm, as Moses reminds the listeners of who their true Leader is, he begins with a statement of Yahweh’s eternality.
Lord, you have been our refuge in every generation. (Psalm 90:1)
No matter what Israel has seen—and no matter what she will see in the future—God is her refuge. While a few kings would have the kind of tenure Moses enjoyed—David, Solomon, Uzziah—many kings would rise and fall. As you read through the books of the Kings later in the Old Testament, you sometimes read about two or three in the space of just a few verses. This may strike us as confusing and jarring, but through them all, both good and bad, one Leader remains on His throne undaunted, undeterred, unflappable: Yahweh Himself reigns.
As I write this, we’re just days out from the news of the death of Jimmy Carter, thirty-ninth president of the United States. Though he lived longer than any president in the history of our nation, he too has passed into eternity. No matter how mighty, wicked, wise, or valiant a leader may be, his or her time in power has an expiration date, as does their time on earth.
I don’t know how you feel about Donald J. Trump, but love him or hate him, he will (barring any unforeseen circumstances) be our president for the next four years. And that’s it. In 2028, we’ll do the whole thing over again, probably with two fresh candidates. That doesn’t make the next four years inconsequential or insignificant. Certainly, they matter a great deal. But they’re not paramount. We cannot—must not—attach our hope to a leader with an expiration date.
Only One Leader Is Sovereign
While Moses spends much of Psalm 90 discussing the eternality of Yahweh, he also mentions another critical attribute we should remember this Inauguration Day. Only one Leader is sovereign; only one Leader has power over life and death.
You return mankind to the dust, saying, “Return, descendants of Adam.” (Psalm 90:3)
I’m grateful to live in a nation whose forefathers had the foresight to build checks and balances into the constitutional order, ensuring that neither the president, nor Congress, nor the judicial system have too much authority. After all, we all know what absolute power does.
Once again, I don’t know what the next four years will bring. What laws will be passed? What rulings will be handed down or overturned? What executive orders will be signed? While the answers to these questions are unknown, we don’t have to give anxiety the upper hand when we consider them. They matter, to be sure, but they’re not ultimate.
No matter what happens we must “entrust [our] souls to a faithful Creator while doing good” (1 Pet. 4:19 ESV). He’s the Creator: He gives life and takes it away. Nothing will come to pass without His knowledge and wise approval.
David, author of Psalm 103, put it this way:
The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. (Psalm 103:19)
Donald Trump is not sovereign. Vladimir Putin is not sovereign. Benjamin Netanyahu is not sovereign. No terrorist group, insurgent, dictator, or despot is sovereign. Only one Leader is in complete control, and in Him we can place our hope and our faith.
Only One Leader Demands Our Worship
Psalm 90 takes an unexpected turn in verse 7. Moses shifts from eloquently describing the eternality of God to a somewhat frightening explanation of God’s wrath. Suddenly, “we are consumed by your wrath” (v. 7) and “all our days ebb away under your wrath” (v. 9). The wilderness wanderers would have understood. Since the day that the people refused to enter the Promised Land because of the bad report of the ten spies, the nation had buried hundreds of people every day as the rebellious generation perished without ever setting foot in Canaan. You could say that their days did indeed “ebb away” under the wrath of God.
Moses wants us to understand that this eternal God is holy and just. He will not stand for sin. He is also a God to be feared.
Who understands the power of your anger? Your wrath matches the fear that is due you. (Psalm 90:11)
Only one Leader is worthy of the worship and reverence of every heart in the world. Yes, we should respect and submit to our earthly, finite, temporal authorities (Rom. 13:1). However, we cannot let our hearts drift into worship of a human leader, regardless of how appealing his or her policies or actions may be. That type of veneration must remain reserved for the one true King. May we look forward to the day when the knees of all people will bow in honor of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords:
So that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—in heaven and on earth and under the earth—and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:10–11)
Only One Leader Truly Satisfies
When I was younger, I understood presidential voting to be the “good guy” versus the “bad guy.” If the “good guy” won, then all was well. If the “bad guy” won, then—well, we don’t even want to talk about that. However, if I’ve learned anything in the past eight years, it’s that voting is not nearly as binary as I once believed.
But what if I could draw up the perfect candidate? Someone principled who held to my beliefs on all the big policies who also had the charisma, platform, and social capital to win a national election? What if that person were elected? What then? Even though this is pure fantasy, I know the answer: that person would still prove to be flawed. And even if their presidency were perfect in my estimation, it would neither last nor satisfy. Four or eight years later, we’d be back to the drawing board looking for someone else to do all the right things in all the right ways.
Only one Leader can truly satisfy. The eternal, sovereign, awesome King Himself. So, on this inauguration day, we all need the prayer of Moses:
Satisfy us in the morning with your faithful love so that we may shout with joy and be glad all our days. (Psalm 90:14)
Only when we’re truly satisfied by the King Himself can we go into the next four years with hope, joy, and peace.
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