Source: White House / D. Myles Cullen
A few months ago this photo of Vice President Mike Pence’s coronavirus taskforce praying in the White House drew a firestorm of criticism on social media and elsewhere. Last week government leaders and clergy met for the annual National Day of Prayer. In these days where the growth of secular progressivism feels as irresistible as the rising of the tide, the fact that our elected leaders pray together is a remarkable public acknowledgment by the government of the existence of a power greater than itself. While some may mock these moments as a waste of time or merely a crass political move by hypocritical politicians shamelessly pandering to a major voting bloc, truth is still truth no matter who says it, and prayer during a global pandemic certainly can’t hurt.
One of the truths that is often publicly acknowledged in moments of prayer like this is this statement from the 33rd Psalm, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD.” This verse occurs in the middle of a hymn of praise, a song that acknowledges the creative power of God’s word, his ever-dependable nature, and his irresistible sovereignty. The verses immediately preceding this promise of blessing highlight the inevitable advancement of the purposes of God throughout all of human history.
8 Let all the earth fear the LORD;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
10 The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11 The counsel of the LORD stands forever,
the plans of his heart to all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people whom he has chosen as his heritage! (Psalm 33:8-12)
Having summoned the inhabitants of the world to stand in awe of the LORD, the psalmist observes that mankind has its own plans in mind, and these often do not include an acknowledgment of God. The first nation-state recorded in scripture, Babel, demonstrated that it is the tendency of humans to collectively resist the rule of God, wanting to make themselves the arbiters of truth. Believing that working together they could do away with the need for a higher power, many nations since have actively turned away from God’s laws and designs for the human race to pursue their own utopian visions.
However, verse 10 tells us that the LORD is sovereign “who brings the wisdom of the nations to nothing and frustrates the plans of the peoples.” It’s not as if God is actively frustrating global leaders as some kind of divine spoiler. It’s simply that the working out of plans that are contrary to nature and nature’s God are going to be counterproductive. A nation that does not value life or care for its members as equals in the sight of God is going to eat its own. A society that values individual autonomy over the family will suffer from loneliness and all the ills that accompany fractured families. A culture that subsumes the individual to the needs of the collective will come to see its citizens as mere cogs in a machine that are malleable, expendable, and soulless. God is not throwing a wrench in the works of the nations. Rather, the nations are sowing the seeds of their own destruction by the lies that they believe about the nature of human beings and the nature of this world.
History is filled with examples of nations and leaders who thought they would take the place of God and bring about heaven on earth. And while those utopian visions were never realized for the masses who desperately wanted to believe in them, their leaders had their own little short-lived utopia, gorging on the flesh of those under their boots. The LORD is sovereign over the affairs of the nations, and a nation that works against the purposes of God will find itself frustrated at every turn. Their grand schemes will come to nothing. All the great nations and empires of the world have turned to dust while God’s reign through his church endures, fulfilling the promise of Isaiah, “and of the increase of God’s government and peace there will be no end” (Isaiah 9:7).
In contrast to the frustration of the nations which reject the fundamental realities of the moral universe and human nature, the nation which follows the lead of God is blessed. The reason for this is simply that the wisdom of the LORD is eternal and true, it corresponds to reality. In addition, God is completely sovereign, in that his will, his desires, and his purposes will be done without exception. This is the prayer the LORD Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Not only is God absolutely real and true, but he is solidly in control of all things.
So know that this principle is still true today even when what is happening in the world might seem to imply the absence of God’s presence and sovereignty. “The plans of his heart endure to all generations,” and they will be accomplished. You and I are blessed when we align ourselves with those purposes, and so is any group of people or nation who chooses to follow His lead.