To compare the current political climate to a dumpster fire would insult dumpster fires everywhere. We all know things are crazy. Our nation is angry. Politicians jockey for positions of power and click-seeking media influencers pump rage into our veins. Many struggle with fear and a genuine sense of despair if their ideal candidates don’t win at the ballot box.
The sentiment isn’t much better among God’s people. We struggle to reconcile our faith in God’s sovereignty with current events: Is this event a sign of God’s providence for our nation . . . or a sign of judgment? Does God know things are this unstable? Does he care? Will God allow his people to perish and the wicked to win?
Politics is important, so it’s good for Christians to be active in an election season. But politics isn’t ultimate, so we shouldn’t be anxious in an election season. Still, in a media climate so oriented around hyperbole and scare tactics, fighting political anxiety is easier said than done.
My weapon of choice has been the second psalm.
Introducing Psalm 2
Even though David wrote the second psalm 3,000 years ago, his Spirit-inspired perspective is as fresh as ever. Nations raged then, and they do today (v. 1). Wicked leaders opposed God and his Christ then (vv. 2–3), and they do so today (although you won’t see that truth in the headlines). Psalm 2 reminds us that our favorite candidate will not usher in a utopian society, nor will our least favorite candidate destroy the world as we know it.
When I meditate on Psalm 2, my perspective zooms out from the current turmoil of the world to see the true eternal drama unfolding. As I see who truly reigns over history, my anxiety turns to worship. This psalm motivates me in three specific ways.
1. Psalm 2 inspires me to rejoice in God’s sovereignty and justice.
How does God respond to the world rulers rebelling against him and his Christ? He doesn’t wring his hands in despair or think, What am I going to do! Verse 4 says bluntly, “He who sits in the heavens laughs” (emphasis added).
God laughs because he has set his King on the throne of the universe—and his rule isn’t challenged by term limits, opposing parties, or voter fraud. He’s the eternal King with “all authority in heaven and on earth” (Matt. 28:18). Current turmoil doesn’t surprise him. Revelation teaches us that Christ is on his throne through the famines, wars, plagues, and revolutions of history. It was the same for the first two world wars and will be the same if a third breaks out. Christ owns the ends of the earth (v. 8) and will smash the disobedient nations to pieces with a rod of iron in judgment (v. 9).
Christian, don’t let raging nations or rebellious politicians suffocate your faith; they’ll one day be Jesus’s piñata as he ushers in his perfect reign on earth. Because he has a firm grasp on the steering wheel of history, we can hope in him beyond the headlines. And according to this psalm, today’s political leaders can too.
2. Psalm 2 challenges me to pray for the conversion of world leaders.
Verses 10–12 conclude the psalm with a call for rulers to escape the Son’s wrath by “[serving] the LORD with fear, and [rejoicing] with trembling.” Every politician who makes your blood boil can escape Jesus’s wrath by bowing before him in reverent humility.
God, the perfect Judge of the universe, could have skipped this part of the psalm—I’ll dash my enemies to pieces because they deserve it. And yet our God is also merciful, desiring all men to be saved. He calls us to pray for the salvation of “kings and . . . all who are in high positions” (1 Tim. 2:1–4). While many world leaders will continue to rebel against the Lord, some will heed God’s warning and take refuge in Christ.
Do you pray for the conversion of world leaders as if it were possible? Don’t forget, with God all things are possible (Matt. 19:26). Why would God offer this command in 1 Timothy 2 if he didn’t plan to save some? What a glorious thing it would be to see Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, Nayib Bukele, Kim Jong-Un, Xi Jinping, and Vladimir Putin worshiping King Jesus with saints from every tribe and tongue and nation in heaven. Think of the eternal difference you could make by praying for world leaders instead of complaining about them.
As the political temperature rises around us, let our prayers rise as well.
3. Psalm 2 motivates me to rest in Christ, our refuge.
If you’re in a major storm and finally reach shelter, how do you react? You breathe a sigh of relief—and rest. The same is true when we pay homage to the true King of the universe (v. 12). When our sins are covered and we no longer fear his wrath, we rest. When we trust his perfect justice, we rest. When we see his sovereign hand over the past, present, and future, we rest. This is no ordinary rest; it’s a blessed rest (v. 12).
From this place of rest, we can engage our political world with a perspective like that of the early church. Instead of letting politics and injustice derail their mission, they were motivated by Psalm 2 to trust God’s sovereign hand and go on the offense by praying for boldness to proclaim the gospel of God’s Son (Acts 4:23–31). Christ’s blessed rest fueled their mission to advance his kingdom, and it can fuel ours as well.
Call to Worship, Not Worry
Every election cycle gives us a choice (and not just the big one at the ballot box). Will we let sinful anxiety overtake us, or will we battle our political fears with gospel truth? Don’t let the consternation of our day harden your heart so you fail to enter Christ’s rest (Heb. 3:7–4:15).
When political anxieties rise in you, filter the drama through God’s eternal purposes expressed in Psalm 2. Remember who’s on the right side of history: Jesus, God’s anointed King, along with all who take refuge in him by faith. Remember past rulers and kingdoms live now only in history books while the true and living King expands his kingdom with unstoppable force across the continents and millennia (Matt. 16:18). Remember his grace saved a wretch like you and can save the worst of humankind. Instead of worrying, we can worship God for the truth and security found in his Word. These days of distress might present our greatest opportunity to exalt the King of kings in a world desperate for hope.
This article originally ran on The Gospel Coalition.