Administration

1 Chronicles 19:14 ESV

So David reigned over all Israel, and he administered justice and equity to all his people.

As I drove the length and breadth of a few states one reality seemed to dominate the countryside, so and so for (insert office). Turning from one news pod cast to another the impending election and all it could mean for the United States dominated news coverage. Our nations landscape and air waves are dominated by the one reality that we as a free people must choose who will lead us. As I come to scripture it is interesting to see what issue dominates the evaluation of an administration. What issues were the writers of the biblical text concerned with recording as they evaluate a King and his courts government.

The verse above comes at the end of a chapter in which the physical safety of the people of Israel was assured by the Kings defense policies and the chapter previous was a seal of approval on the governments religious policies as David is promised the son who would always sit on the throne before God. From here we find that David “administered justice and equity to all his people”. The courts and how laws are applied to the populace were a dominate evaluator of the nation’s government but that only after the physical safety of the nation was secured.

The verse following this verse tell us how this was accomplished. How the borders were secured, justice was administered, and religious stability achieved. Verses fifteen through sixteen tell us that all this was accomplished by getting certain men in the right positions.  No, they did not elect them, yet the Kings ability to accomplish the mission of God for his nation was only accomplished by placing certain men in positions necessary for the goal. They were a collection of fallible men with personal vendettas and varying morality, yet they were used by God to accomplish his purposes.

We are given a far more difficult job as Christians in a democratic state. We are called by God to pray hard and research well, that we might act as David in putting the right men and women in the right positions that we might flourish under their leadership and administration. As we attempt this feat, we must recognize that the issues have not changed much. Religion, defense, and the courts, are still the dominate concerns of the people. We might add economics to our list but I would hesitate to say that this should be a primary consideration for Christians. If we have the freedom to exercise our faith as God has convicted us, the safety to build our homes and cities, and the firm assurance that justice will be administered equitably, a people need not fear economic deterioration.

The prayer of every Christian is that God would give us the government we need, not the one we want, and not the one we deserve. God has providentially worked to give this nation Christian men and women to vote in and pray for its election process. In his divine providence he has given this nation you to pray for, evaluate and vote for it.

CRUCE, DUM SPIRO, FIDO