This is going to be very short. One of the ongoing themes in the songs of prophets and prophetesses is that the justice of God will overturn the arrogant and the proud.
1Hannah prayed and said, “My heart exults in the LORD; my strength is exalted in my God. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in my victory.
2“There is no Holy One like the LORD, no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. 3Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. 4The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble gird on strength. 5Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry are fat with spoil. The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn. 6The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up. 7The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low, he also exalts. 8He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and on them he has set the world.
9“He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness; for not by might does one prevail. 10The LORD! His adversaries shall be shattered; the Most High will thunder in heaven. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king, and exalt the power of his anointed.”
Any wise politician knows that they have power and influence but for a season, and it really does not matter if they have term limits or not. Unless the system is rorted, (as it is, for example, by gerrymandering in the US) your popularity will wane and you will lose power. There have been many Prime Ministers of NZ who have won three elections and been in power for nine years, but only two have won four.
We therefore should not glorify in our giftedness, our athleticism, our beauty, our intelligence or our charisma. For all these will go. Instead we should seek wisdom and righteousness. It is not what we say that is the test of our lives, but what we do.
And on this we all stand guilty. It is but in Christ that we can do good.
1You were dead through the trespasses and sins 2in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. 3All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. 4But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us 5even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – 6and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God – 9not the result of works, so that no one may boast. 10For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.
Do not, as the psalmist says, rely on princes. Princes rise and fall, and policies change. Instead seek Christ, who can save us from the very habits of the flesh which lead to death, and which we also love.
