“Why are the nations so angry? Why do they waste their time with futile plans? The kings of the earth prepare for battle; the rulers plot together against the Lord and against his anointed one. “Let us break their chains,” they cry, “and free ourselves from slavery to God.” Psalms 2:1-3 NLT
I am not a big pundit on the geopolitical landscape of our globe. However, as I see it, there is someone, somewhere that is shaking their little dictator fist at the heavens and with that little squeaky voice of a shrunken toy screaming, “I am the king!” And, with either their hand positioned over an imaginary “nukes” button or control over the flow of massive natural resources, they just rant and rave nonsense and wield unfettered power over the masses of their domain. You know who they are, I don’t need to write down any names, lest their virtual tech-terrorists turn to torture me as well.
The psalmist, in his own wisdom of his time, asks a really good question. “Why are all these Kings so angry?” And, when David say they plot against God and “his anointed” one, we see the words as the messiah or Jesus. Likely David was talking about the supernatural plans of God in choosing and using the “rulers” of this world to do His will. Just Google “world’s worst rulers,” and you’ll be shocked at who shows up on that search.
However, even the worst of them were certainly wicked smart, paranoid and eventually mental! We’re they angry? I’m sure they were. They must have figured out how they could get away with anything they wanted while in power, and could wield unfathomable fear on the masses, but they could not BE God.
Sadly, people see God through these warped lenses of being like a dictator. In every one of those men in history or current events (And, it is almost 100% men) there’s a seen struggle to break free from “slavery” to God. Why does humanity want to get away from their own creator? If you see yourself saying, “But I’m not a dictatorial leader,” or don’t you believe this selfish thread runs in your own DNA, you would be wrong. It’s in all of us, it’s sin, it’s free choice constantly choosing the wrong path, the shiny selfish route.
We all have these little voices saying, “let’s break away and free ourselves from God.” Weird huh? It takes faith and fortitude to keep looking for God options, narrow paths, tough choices, suffering over revenge, generosity over stingy, and service over power. Godly results yield a life more free of anger and definitely control. The real freedom Jesus gave me was the freedom to chose to run to God, not away from Him.
Prayer
Dad,
I am so glad you are in control and I’m not! I’m so glad that you hold all truth, justice and finality in your hands – not mine. I’m so thankful for mercy instead of what I desire. And, even though I can’t completely understand why you allow wicked men so commonly rule and cause enslavement, suffering and death for far too long, I can trust you because you are God. I trust you with my life.