Devotion for July 06, 2011 – Leaders
Photo: barto (Creative Commons license)
Today's Scripture Reading
Psalm 45:10-17
10 Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear:
forget your people and your father's house,
11 and the king will desire your beauty.
Since he is your lord, bow to him.
12 The people of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts,
the richest of the people.
13 All glorious is the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold.
14 In many-colored robes she is led to the king,
with her virgin companions following behind her.
15 With joy and gladness they are led along
as they enter the palace of the king.
16 In place of your fathers shall be your sons;
you will make them princes in all the earth.
17 I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations;
therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.
Today's Devotion
This is an interesting Psalm in that it is about a king and a queen. Where is God in this Psalm? Most of us today live in places that are not ruled by a monarchy anymore. However, we are all ruled by someone, be it a president, dictator or the equivalent. It is or should be important to anyone who lives in a country, who it is that is chosen to lead, just as it was important in this psalm. The rulers of ancient Israel were thought to be divine or at least have God-like powers. A lot is expected of anyone who has such power and no human is up to the task. Yet we do want our leaders to do good things for us and for our country. We even want our own personal lives to prosper with a good leader.
The queen or wife/spouse of a leader is also important and very much in the public eye. Oftentimes they are the biggest influence on the leader themselves. Sometimes we falsely place too much hope in one human leader and we are usually disappointed in the results. There is after all, only one God. While we can hope for improvements we must also act as a community to get results. Who better than those who live in the day to day life of a community can know the needs of the community? Does the president know which children are not getting three meals a day, not getting the parental support they need? Does the president know who is living in the streets of your community? Who can we count on to keep our neighborhood free from drugs, crime, and keep our children safe?
Yes the king and queen will be known for generations but they can never be revered, followed, loved, or be our fulfillment, when there is One eternal God. We, the people of a specific community must bring fulfillment, and full citizenship to those in our communities who do not see God’s kingdom here on earth through the work of our elected or self appointed leaders. Jesus after all, never claimed a leadership role, but was the revelation and fulfillment of our one true leader and Creator: God.
Today's devotion was shared by